Lindsay Lohan looks better than ever as she leaves rehab for dinner with friends

Rehab certainly seems to be agreeing with Lindsay Lohan.

The actress looked radiant and healthy as she left her rehab facility in Palm Desert, California to head for dinner with friends last night.

The 24-year-old actress showed off her healthy figure in a short tasselled grey dress and black cowboy boots.



The Mean Girls star has been in court ordered rehabilitation at the Betty Ford Centre in Rancho Mirage, California since October 22.

She is being treated for an addiction to cocaine.

After failing a drug test Lohan narrowly escaped jail time for a probation violation stemming from her 2007 DUI arrest.

She has been ordered to stay in rehab until January 3.

Blake Lively shows her unique style as she gets into the Christmas spirit

As Gossip Girl's Serena van der Woodsen, Blake Lively is a veritable clothes horse, changing in quick succession from one highly stylised outfit to another.

So on her days off it would only be understandable if she revelled in the rare chance to choose her own clothes.

The actress, who famously refuses to use a stylist, she teamed red tights with a black mini, tan boots and a bejewelled turquoise and silver jacket.


While the colour scheme may have been somewhat mismatched, Blake was clearly feeling like a million dollars as she unveiled the Swarovski Star that will crown the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York.

The 23-year-old wore her blonde hair tied back and simple hoop earrings.

She has previously admitted that her own wardrobe has much in common with her characters.

'I own half her wardrobe, so it’s far too similar to the way I dress,' she told Nylon magazine.

'I feel ridiculous at times with her - because I’m, you know, killing someone or marrying someone, but I look like me.

HTC Merge emerges on Verizon site a little early


If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer with an affinity for QWERTY-keyboards, Android, and HTC, listen up. The HTC Merge, an Android 2.2 handset that is anything but a secret, briefly appeared on Big Red’s website today. The 360-degree view module, which is a treatment all Verizon phones get, was briefly live on the company’s website. The gang over a Android Central managed to grab a video of the hot little number before it was vanquished back into obscurity. Hit the read link if you want to check it out and let us know in the comments if you plan on picking one up.

Read here

Archos 101 now shipping, Android tablet game really heating up


We were really digging this 10-inch Android tablet when we spotted it back in August, and now it's shipping for a totally palatable $300 pricetag. It's powerful enough to play 720p video, has a 1024 x 600 screen, HDMI out, 802.11n WiFi and even a front facing camera. Plus there's even the somewhat comforting notion that this isn't Archos' first time to the Android tablet rodeo. Of course, the big drawback is the lack of Android Market, but there are always hacks to solve that, and Archos preloads some good apps to get you started. The tablet is shipping with Android 2.1, but Archos pinky swears it'll be getting 2.2 by the end of the month. Can't handle 10 whole inches of Android? Try the 7-incher Archos 70 on for size. You can't say they aren't trying.

Ah Sa surprises William with an early birthday celebration, William anonymously replies with a kiss on Weibo

Since going public with their relationship, William Chan and Charlene Choi have kept their relationship relatively quiet on Weibo. The night before, William uploaded a photo of a cake on Weibo. In fact it was a birthday surprise presented early from his girlfriend. William Chan and his company's "big sister" Charlene Choi appear to be relaxed and sweetly in love. Even though the both of them are busy with their individual work, the night before, William did not forget to post a photo of his birthday cake on Weibo and writing: "I'm really too pleasantly surprise! Thank you guys! muah*" Although neither of them spoke openly about it on Weibo, in fact his girlfriend had prepared this pleasant birthday surprise for him.

Yesterday when William attended a video game function, it was hard for him to cover his good mood: "I'm really happy!" With this pleasant surprise making him extremely happy, he commented: "That day, she called me asking if I wanted to go out to eat. Originally I was in the recording studio until around 11pm so I was thinking not to go. But my girlfriend (Ah Sa) asked me to just go up and sit for a bit. When I got there, there was no one there and nothing to eat. She said it's too late at night so everyone's left by down. At that point I was really feeling down. At that moment, a whole group of good friends rushed out from another room. Turns out she arranged it for so many people to celebrate (my birthday) with me, I'm really happy!"

Se7en and Park Han Byul model together for ‘Singles’


‘Official Couple’ Se7en and Park Hyun Bul were selected to model in America for fashion magazine “Singles“.

The two participated in the magazine’s ”California Dreaming” concept, which was held in San Francisco. Since they’ve dated for years, they posed very naturally as a couple and showed off their exceptional fashion tastes.

The complete photo shoot can be seen in the December issue of ‘Singles’.

Andy Lau to Show 'What Women Want' in Feb.

A Chinese remake of the American romantic comedy "What Women Want" will hit screens during the Chinese New Year, Sohu.com reports.

The film starring Andy Lau and Gong Li will be screened in local cinemas on February 3, the Chinese New Year's Day, according to the film's producers who made the announcement Thursday at a press conference in Beijing.

The film, called "Wo Zhi Nv Ren Xin" in Chinese, is about an advertising agency manager who suddenly finds he can read women's minds. Lau plays the lead character, and Gong is his love interest.

A trailer released at the press conference shows Lau using his super ability and his crush on Gong Li's character. Scenes of Lau dressed as a woman and applying lipstick were also featured in the trailer.

The film, directed by Chen Daming, is based on Nancy Meyers's 2000 blockbuster starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.

Box office preview: 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' would like your attention

Let’s get straight to it: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 will make a massive amount of money this weekend. We’re talking about a franchise that has accumulated $5.4 billion worldwide, is based on a book series that’s sold more copies than there are people in America, has spawned its own theme park, and has turned innumerable young adults into this. Even if you have no intention of seeing Deathly Hallows, it will one day track you down like a Dementor and pry your eyelids open as if you were Malcolm McDowell. And the box office is due for a huge weekend — there hasn’t been a behemoth opening weekend since June, when Toy Story 3 collected $110.3 million. (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which debuted on a Wednesday, grossed $157.6 million its first five days). So the tricky question for Deathly Hallows is: “How much, exactly?” The movie, which is the seventh in the series, could conceivably earn anywhere from $100 million to $160 million this weekend. In such situations, I find it best to take the middle path, hence my prediction:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1: $130 million

Ready for some numbers? As I write this, Fandango is reporting that more than 3,000 showtimes across the country have already sold out, and that Deathly Hallows has sold more advance tickets than any other Harry Potter movie (and the third most advance tickets ever, behind The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse). Deathly Hallows opens at midnight tonight at about 3,700 theaters, many of which are playing the film on multiple screens and adding showings as late as 3:15 a.m. And the movie will play on 239 IMAX screens domestically — by far the most in IMAX history.

Rock chick: Jennifer Aniston is lovely in leather as she films Wanderlust in New York

Jennifer Aniston donned head-to-toe leather today to film scenes for her new movie Wanderlust in New York.

The actress wore a leather skirt and leather jacket before swapping the skirt for a pair of skin tight blue jeans.


With her immaculately styled hair down around her shoulders and black-rimmed glasses on, the 41-year-old looked low-key yet chic as she filmed a scene with Paul Rudd.

At one point, she was seen holding a white mug of coffee as she tried to stay warm in the cold Autumn New York weather.

And later on, she and Paul filmed scenes inside a real estate office.

It looks like Jennifer has been enjoying her time in the Big Apple.

Motorola Defy review


The Android landscape's certainly getting crowded, isn't it? We can still vividly remember the days when the T-Mobile G1 was the only game in town, and now here we are -- just two years later -- flush with options covering virtually every market segment from the ultra-high end to the ultra-low and everything in between. One niche market that's usually underserved, though, is the beat-the-crap-out-of-your-phone market. You know who you are: you work hard, you play hard, or you've just got an incurable case of butterfingers -- but whatever the case, you need a phone that you aren't breaking, bricking, melting, freezing, or otherwise destroying every few weeks.

It's not that rugged phones haven't existed, of course. Far from it: Nextel and Motorola practically invented (and thrived off of) the concept, and options like AT&T's Samsung Rugby and Verizon's Casio G'zOne series have been available for some time. By and large, though, it's been a field devoid of smartphones -- and these days, that's just not going to cut it. The kinds of people that need a phone that can take a few knocks don't necessarily want to buy them at the expense of power or capability anymore. On that note, Motorola's new Android-powered Defy for T-Mobile USA (and other carriers abroad) is one of the few to take a shot at elegantly combining environmental resistance with a no-compromise smartphone experience, featuring Blur atop Android 2.1 with a 5 megapixel autofocus cam, LED flash, 800MHz TI OMAP3610 core, and a 3.7-inch 854 x 480 display. In other words, on paper, it's no slouch -- but can it hang? Let's find out.

Google Offered to Buy Twitter for FOUR BILLION DOLLARS

Muhahaha! Four, BILLION, dollars. Yes, mister Powers, if you believe a lovely story from Yahoo Financial News you’ll know that earlier this year Google thought through the notion of buying the entirety of Twitter for somewhere around $2.5 billion US dollars. Their offer didn’t end up being officially announced, but apparently it did go down. But that’s not the end, according to YFN again, Twitter felt insulted! And Google offered more.

Instead of the initial $2.5 billion, Google came back with an offer around 3 months ago of $4 billion USD. Of course, Twitter again flipped it’s beak and turned it’s tailfeathers toward the big G. Apparently Microsoft tried the same thing, and was also turned down with feathery butts too.

Breaking Dawn Beach Bods: Kristen Stewart's Bikini vs. Rob Pattinson's Abs!

While the Brazilian police may not have busted Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson for getting hot and heavy at the beach, things were definitely getting sexy in the sand this week.


At least for K.Stew, who showed off an über-toned bod in an micro-mini white bikini. Must be all that pole-dancing practice, dontcha think? Either way, the fab gal could not have looked hotter.

But what about Rob—is he buffed-up man candy or a plain old beach bum?

We'll say this: He's definitely not going abs-to-abs with muscle head costars Taylor Lautner and Kellan Lutz anymore.

But do you care? Acting chops over ab shots, right?

And before you bitch that we're so mean to R.Pattz...well, actually, this time we'll let you do the bitching.

Susan Boyle Holiday Album Makes History On US & UK Charts


Susan Boyle’s latest album has set a global record.

The eccentric Scot has become the first female artist to simultaneously have a No. 1 album in the US and UK twice in less than a year.

SuBo broke the record when newly-released holiday collection, The Gift, arrived at music retailers this month. It means the 49-year-old spinster will be in the history books with The Monkees and The Beatles, who pulled off the act in 1967 and 1969 respectively.

“I’ve never felt happier in my life. This is an amazing result and one I never expected,” the reformed spinister said upon learning the news.

Not only did Boyle boot country sweetie Taylor Swift from the top of Billboard 200, she’s expected to outsell Bajan beauty Rihanna when the numbers for her fifth studio album, Loud, are released next week.

The Gift also took top spot in New Zealand and Holland, selling more than a million copies already.

“The overwhelming positive response to Susan’s new album is a powerful testament to her unique talent. She is able to touch the hearts of her fans around the world, who continue to show their loyal support and devotion,” Steve Barnett, a representative with Susan’s label Columbia Records.

Boyle — of West Lothian, Scotland — shot to international fame after her powerful rendition of the Les Miserables theme “I Dreamed a Dream” on the UK TV show Britain’s Got Talent received more than 120 million views on YouTube. The talent show sensation’s debut album, the aptly-titled I Dreamed A Dream, was released last year and has sold more than 10 million copies to date.

Nokia: some N8 units have a ‘power management’ issue


Following widespread reports, Nokia confirmed on Thursday that some of its N8 smartphones are faulty. The response comes following reports from N8 owners around the world claiming that their devices inexplicably died. Users all complained of similar symptoms — the device wouldn’t reboot, take a charge or even power on after the failure. As some speculated, Nokia confirmed that the issue is related to power management.

There have been some reports in media on the Nokia N8 quality. Niklas Savander, head of Nokia sales and marketing, addresses the issue in a video interview published today in our company blog Nokia Conversations. In a limited number of Nokia N8 devices, there appears to be an issue relating to power management. As product quality is a top priority for Nokia, we have taken immediate actions to address this. As with any product performance issue, this is covered by Nokia’s warranty. Any affected consumers should contact their local Nokia Customer Care. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thankfully, the issue does not affect all N8 handsets and as Nokia’s statement points out, faulty units will be replaced under warranty.

$399 iPads, fondue sets appearing at TJ Maxx locations across the country


Sure, we know where you guys go when you're near a strip mall and have to pick up an irregularly sized Tommy Hilfiger shirt, or when you run out of Paco Rabanne cologne before a hot date, but we definitely did a double take when our tipster Aaron sent us these pics he took of a 16GB WiFi iPad that he found at a TJ Maxx in Vernon, NY -- and not just because they're going for a relatively reasonable $399. We made a couple phone calls and found some at stores in Ohio and New Jersey (including one who said they were holding their stock back for Black Friday) while we struck out in other parts of the country. Still, if you're looking to drop cash on one of these guys, we'd make a quick call to your local outlet before heading to the Apple Store. And when you're done, don't forget to swing by Half Price Books and pick up a remaindered copy of A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O'Reilly. Get a closer look after the break.

American Idol Changes: No More Top 24 Contestants

Winning American Idol just got tougher.

According to the show's executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, the competition will be whittled down to the top 12 contestants – and skip having the top 24.

"I didn't think [the top 24] were very good," Lythgoe tells TV Guide of previous seasons. "I was bored with them by the time they got there."

He's also creating more difficult challenges for the contestants, including having them make music videos, promote themselves, and work on awards show-style performances.

The upcoming season with all of its new requirements will coincide with the level of seriousness that comes along with the new judges.

"They both listen intently and don't make glib remarks," Lythgoe says of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. "They give honest critiques."

As for the last original member of the A.I. pack, Randy Jackson has apparently taken on a strong Simon Cowell-esque sense of command.

"Randy is pulling his weight," Lythgoe says. "He really has stepped up. He's essentially come out of himself. He's enjoying being in that position."

Claire Danes returns to series TV with Showtime's 'Homeland'

After earning an Emmy for the HBO biopic Temple Grandin, Claire Danes is ready to star in her first TV series since My So-Called Life. Danes will lead the Showtime drama pilot Homeland, from 24 producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. Loosely based on Gideon Raff’s Israeli television series Prisoners of War, the show centers on an American soldier taken prisoner during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Per the network’s synopsis: Left for dead, the soldier miraculously returns to the U.S. after years in captivity. Danes plays Carrie Anderson, a driven CIA officer battling her own psychological demons, who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to his re-capture was a setup and that this national hero may be connected to an Al Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil. The pilot, set to begin production in January, will be directed by Michael Cuesta (Dexter), and written by Gordon, Gansa and Raff. Casting for the role of Sergeant Scott Brody, the male lead, will be announced shortly.

It's official: 'Medium' is over

Medium series creator Glenn Gordon Caron confirmed via Facebook what his star Patricia Arquette already told EW: CBS has canned the drama.

“It’s true,” he wrote on Medium’s Facebook page. “Allison Dubois will dream her last dream on Medium Friday, January 21st. In what we believe will be a series defining episode, Allison and her family will stare destiny in the eye. And destiny will not blink.”

CBS cut the episodic order on Medium from 22 to 13 last month. The drama is currently averaging 7.1 million viewers.

Hell Freezes Over As MySpace Fully Surrenders To Facebook

It was just a couple of years ago that MySpace wasn’t all that concerned about the fast growing Facebook. Fast forward two years and a handful of CEO changes, and everything has changed.

Last summer MySpace found a way to get MySpace status updates into Facebook. And today at noon at a special press event that everyone was invited to except us, they’ll announce more integrations. And it’s ok that we weren’t invited, because we now know exactly what they’re announcing.

The event is less of a partnership announcement and more of a formal surrender ceremony.

MySpace is sending CEO Mike Jones for the announcement. Facebook managed to rustle up a vice president – Dan Rose. Our sources say MySpace is a little more than embarrassed that Facebook isn’t making someone more senior available for the event.

Here’s at least part of what they’ll announce. Facebook Connect integration so that users can associate their MySpace accounts with their Facebook accounts and then log in to MySpace via Connect. Part of that is already live. MySpace will suck in as much profile information as possible and use it to help with advertising and the interest graph (bands you like, etc.)

And they’ll also announce that Facebook users will now be able to push all their Facebook status updates to MySpace. So your Facebook stream will appear on your MySpace profile.

Now all MySpace has to do is figure out how to get at least some of those users to hang out at MySpace occasionally, not just at Facebook. Their recent redesign is that effort. In a few months, we’ll all know if it worked and if there is any long term business for MySpace.

iOS 4.2.1 Gold Master Now Available To Apple Developers


It's been over two weeks since Apple made the iOS 4.2 Gold Master available to developers and now we're seeing that the iOS 4.2.1 Gold Master has popped up. But where's a public release of 4.2? We're getting impatient.

[Apple]

Mozilla: $104 Million In Revenues, 400 Million Users, Google Deal Running Through 2011


Mozilla has just published their annual “The State of Mozilla” report. They do this once they’ve filed their audited financial statements for the previous year, so these numbers are for 2009. Still, they’re impressive numbers given how much competition their is in the market — particularly from their biggest benefactor: Google.

For 2009, Mozilla reported revenues of $104 million. That was up 34 percent from 2008 when revenues were $78 million. Notably, that revenue number includes a $104,000 loss from long-term investments, but that’s a huge improvement from 2008 when the same loss was $7.8 million. So where does Mozilla make most of this money from? Firefox, of course, thanks largely to their search deal with Google. In the FAQ section of the report, Mozilla addresses this:

Aaron Yan to throw birthday concert, rumored to pull a Hebe and go solo


With Fahrenheit member Aaron Yan's birthday fast approaching this Saturday, the youngest member of Taiwan's popular boy band plans to hold a birthday concert at music venue hot spot The Wall in Taipei tomorrow night. Aaron especially took the time to learn a special song in the Taiwanese language to sing to his mother, in which he practiced for half a day. Aaron's senior Hebe of S.H.E also had a birthday concert back in late March, and she eventually released her own solo album half a year later.

Rumored plans for going solo and releasing mini-album

Insiders are saying that Aaron is making plans to go solo for his own mini-album, where a reporter for Apple Daily questioned the Fahrenheit member if he was the best singer in the group. The highly modest Aaron shyly laughed and said, "I really want to respond, but I'm sorry." Not much details are known about Aaron's solo plans, but his recent contract renewal confirms that his options allow for such a move.

Source: Apply Daily

2PM achieves an “all-kill” on popular Japanese downloading site


The boys of 2PM are scheduled to hold a showcase titled “2PM 1ST CONTACT IN JAPAN” on December 8th in Tokyo and begin their Japanese promotions in 2011 with the release of their first official album, “1:59 PM,” which will include a brand-new track in Japanese. Even though their debut is still some time away, the boys are proving to be quite popular in Japan.

Recochoku is one of the most popular downloading sites for mobile phones in Japan and 2PM recently achieved an “all-kill” on their MV download ranking, taking all five spots from their top 5 chart.

Jake Gyllenhaal & Anne Hathaway's Naked Cover Shoot for EW


Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway’s new romance, Love & Other Drugs, is arguably the sexiest movie of the year. Throughout the R-rated comedic drama (in theaters Nov. 24), they reveal nearly every inch of their enviably toned bodies. So it makes sense that their photo shoot for this week’s cover of EW would be equally steamy. In fact, the duo’s flesh-baring photo session was so sensual that we decided to put out three separate covers.

Photographer James White, who shot Gyllenhaal and Hathaway in New York, says the costars had an easy rapport. “I thought they’d be a little more tense about it than they were, but it was surprisingly low-key.” he says. “I guess after making a movie like that with each other, it’s not too big of a deal.”

Insiders: If Bristol Palin Wins, 'Dancing' Is Ruined

At first, having Bristol Palin participate in 'Dancing With The Stars' seemed like a brilliant idea. Just like Kate Gosselin before her, casting an admittedly bad dancer who was shrouded in controversy has raked in big ratings and tons of press. But now the joke is on the show's producers, as they fear Bristol is actually going to win this thing.

"This will be a disaster for the show if Bristol wins," one TV insider tells me. "Any creditability the show had will be over. It will go from being a dancing competition to a popularity competition where whoever has the most rabid fan base will always win no matter how little talent they have."

And while it's true Bristol's dancing has dramatically improved since the season began, no one with working eyes would put her in the same league as the other remaining stars, Jennifer Grey and Kyle Massey.

Woz: Android will outpace iOS

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak thinks that the iPhone is tops in overall quality but also that when all's said and done, Google's Android platform will reign supreme in the mobile market.

"The Apple phone has very few weaknesses," Wozniak told Netherlands newspaper De Telegraaf in an interview (translation) posted today. "When it comes to quality, the iPhone is leading."

Wozniak also said, however, that "Android phones have more features" and deliver more buying options for those who don't want to be limited to a single device. In addition, Wozniak told the publication that like Windows in the desktop OS space, Google's mobile platform will become the "dominant" option in its own market.

Beyond that, Wozniak also revealed that Apple had developed a smartphone in 2004, but (obviously) never released it. According to Wozniak, the company "was satisfied with the quality, but wanted something that could surprise the world."

Dell Inspiron Duo finally official, can be yours the first week of December for $549


That's right, just as we had heard, Dell is finally putting an end to the Inspiron Duo's mysterious marketing videos and officially spinning its screen for the world to see! You won't be able to hit the order button on the totally unique 10.1-inch tablet / netbook hybrid today, but according to Dell, it should go up for pre-order sometime soon and start shipping out the first week of December. As for pricing, the base model will start at $549 (£449), and will pack a dual-core Intel Atom N550 processor, 2GB of RAM, a Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator, 250GB of storage, and Windows 7 Home Premium. Naturally, you'll be able to configure it with a larger hard drive, and adding that JBL speaker dock will bring the price up to $649 (no word on what it will cost on its own). We're guessing those are the details you've been waiting on, but undoubtedly you've got to be dying to know what we think of that crazy-looking laptop. Well, we've got you covered there too -- hit the break for our impressions and a brief hands-on video.

'Human Target' bows on Fox; CBS' lineup continues to kill

Human Target returned to Fox on Wednesday but it wasn’t the best homecoming: The drama earned a 1.8 rating/5 share in adults 18-49 and 6.6 million viewers. Still, it was up against some pretty hefty competition from Survivor so may take a while for folks to remember that Mark Valley is still very easy on the eyes. (Either that or folks just don’t care about this comic book-inspired drama). We’ll see how it goes.

With Hell’s Kitchen remaining flat versus last week’s two-hour airing (2.6/7, 5.8 million), Fox finished the night in third place in the key adult demo (2.2/6). Each 18-49 ratings point equals 1.3 million viewers. CBS was first with a 3.0/9, with Survivor winning its timeslot with a 3.5/10 and 11.9 million viewers. Gee, that move from Thursdays to Wednesdays has sure worked out well for Jeff Probst and Co.! Criminal Minds earned a 3.7/10 and 14.2 million (it never fails to shock us at EW that so many of you like the nasty and gritty violence on this drama) while The Defenders earned a 1.9/6 and 9.3 million.

ABC finished second in the demo for the night with a 2.6/8, with The Middle earning a 2.8/9 and 9.1 million, followed by Better With You (2.3/7, 7.0 million; Modern Family (4.7/13, 11.9 million); Cougar Town (3.0/8, 7.1 million), and the People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive special (1.5/5, 4.1 million).

NBC was fourth in 18-49 (1.9/5), with Dateline: A Royal Love Story only earning a 1.6/5 and 6.6 million. Law & Order: SVU earned a 2.1/6, up 5% from last week’s season low (it averaged 7.6 million). Law & Order: LA earned a 1.9/6, up 12% from last week’s season low, and 7.7 million.

CW was fifth for the night in 18-49 (1.0/3) but won the night among female teens.

COD: Black Ops obliterates MW2 sales record $650 Million in 5 Days


After enjoying record launch day sales, Call of Duty: Black Ops has now taken the five-day sales record crown.

Activision announced today that the latest release in the venerable franchise tallied over $650 million in worldwide revenue, according to internal figures, easily besting the previous record set by predecessor Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 of $550 million.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said that with the new mark, "Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for two consecutive years across all forms of entertainment."

The feat, Activision claimed in its statement, bested any release in "theatrical box office, book, and video game sales." But that comparison might be unfair. The average hardcover book usually launches for around $25 or $30, while the average movie ticket costs about $10. Call of Duty: Black Ops on the Nintendo DS retails for $30, but PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game cost at least $60. It's a sizable difference.

iOS And Android Tie For Smartphone Impression Share In October

Mobile ad network Millennial Media is releasing its monthly data on mobile devices and OS marketshare for October today. Millennial, whose ads reach 63 million of a total of 77 million mobile web users in the U.S., or 81% of the U.S. mobile web; is reporting that Android is now tied with iOS as the largest Smartphone OS on
the network, with an 8% increase month-over-month and 37% impression share. Apples iOS also took a 37% impression share, and dropped from a 49% impression share in September. RIM followed Android ad iOS for a 20% impression share in October.

Android ad requests grew 65% month-over-month, and since January, Android has grown 2182%. In contrast Apple requests only increased 12% month-over-month and since January, Apple requests have increased 32%. RIM ad requests grew 43% month-over-month. The iPad saw the biggest growth, with requests rising 112% month-over-month.

General smartphone impression share increased 3% month-over-month and accounted for 61% of the mobile phone impression share in October. Feature Phone impression share only increased 1% month-over- month and represented 28% of the Smartphone, Feature Phone
and Connected Device mix.

Nokia Ovi Store hits 3 million daily downloads


Nokia's Ovi Store has officially hit 3 million downloads per day.

The Finnish mobile phone maker attributed the new milestone to higher global demand for its apps and new smartphones sporting the more user-friendly Symbian 3 operating system.

In late September, Nokia began shipping its N8 smartphone, its first to run under Symbian 3, followed a couple of weeks later by the second Symbian 3 phone, the C7. The new version of Symbian has brought with it a greater variety of new apps in the Ovi Store.

Nokia has also been working hard to lure in more developers. In September, the company launched a new contest offering app developers a total of $10 million in cash and prizes. It also said recently that it would focus solely on Qt as its mobile development platform, helping developers by ensuring that their apps would run under future versions of both Symbian and MeeGo.

Barbie Hsu confirms she is married


It’s official! Barbie Hsu (Da S) made the announcement through her management company earlier today. She and Wang Xiao Fei were indeed married on the 16th in Beijing. They released a photo that was taken at the marriage registration office, as well as a statement from Da S. In the brief message, she even shot back at Dee Hsu (Xiao S) who previously said Wang looks just like her husband Mike, but not as good-looking.

Here is Barbie Hsu's message:

Xiao Fei and I registered our marriage in Beijing on November 16th. Thank you for everyone’s concern and well wishes. Both of our families are very happy! Xiao Fei and I will continue with our work as usual. We would like to ask our friends from the media to give us some room, and be aware of their own safety while they chase after us! Thank you.

P.S. The handsomeness of my husband is no less than my brother-in-law (referring to Dee Hsu’s husband.)

Sincerely,
Da S


Source: Nownews, image: Da S

Winners at the 8th Korean Film Awards


The 8th Korean Film Awards took place on November 18th at the Sejong Center.

Stars who walked the red carpet include SHINee’s Onew, Song Chang Il, Seo Ji Hye, Nam Bora, Song Yun Ah, Gong Hyo Jin, Seo Young Hee, Seo Woo, Jo Yeo Jung, Lee Yo Won, Choi Daniel, Lee Sun Gyun, Kim Sae Ron, Won Bin, Park Shin Hye, and more.

Selina Jen is ready for skin grafting

Selina Jen will soon be ready for skin grafting.

It has been 28 days since Selina's filming accident that caused 50% of her body to be covered in burns.

Her company HIM International revealed earlier that she is recovering very well and will soon be able to move on to the second phase of her recovery which is skin grafting.

Father Jen continues to update on his daughter's condition through his weblog, commenting that she had breathing difficulties a few days ago and started crying. The nurse encouraged her to let out her emotions, so Selina decided to ask Father Jen to cry together with her.

HIM International explained that Selina's breathing difficulties were a result of her existing allergies.

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