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'Paranormal Activity 2' fends off the 'Blair Witch' curse. But will there be a 'Paranormal Activity 3'? Should there be?

10/25/2010 06:56:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments


When Paramount Pictures first announced it was making a sequel to the horror phenomenon Paranormal Activity, a lot of people were highly skeptical — including me. Like The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity seemed like one of those fluky, out-of-nowhere smashes that couldn’t be repeated. Greenlighting a sequel so quickly — and then hurrying it into production just seven months after the first movie hit theaters — felt like a classic case of trying to get lightning to strike in the same place twice. After all, we all know how the Blair Witch sequel, Book of Shadows, turned out: it bombed big time, making less than a tenth of what the original film did at the domestic box office, dashing any hopes of a Blair Witch 3. When you think about it, how many really worthwhile horror movie sequels have there been anyway? For every Dawn of the Dead or Scream 2 or Evil Dead II (which was really more of a beefed-up remake than a sequel), there are a whole lot of Poltergiest II: The Other Sides and Exorcist II: The Heretics. So it’s a pretty stunning achievement for everyone involved in Paranormal Activity 2 that they didn’t just beat expectations with the movie’s $41.5 million opening weekend — they smashed them to a bloody, horror-movie pulp.

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Galaxy Tab WiFi-only model hitting Best Buy for $499.99, Sprint 3G model on sale November 14th?

10/25/2010 06:56:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments


We knew it was coming, now the WiFi only Galaxy Tab looks to have leaked with pricing in a Best Buy advertisement. According to some extracts obtained by Pocketables, a silver WiFi-only Tab will be available for $499.99 (a buck more than its WiFi-only iPad rival). Best Buy will also be selling a black 3G model (Verizon) and silver 3G model (Sprint) with contract or month-to-month plans. The "and up" verbiage is probably a hat tip to the $599.99 on-contract price that Verizon announced for the 3G Galaxy Tab it will begin selling on November 11th. Unfortunately, no date was revealed for the Best Buy offerings but a second rumor sourced from an inventory spreadsheet (pictured after the break) by the cats over at AndroidCentral has the Verizon Tab coming to Sprint on November 14th. In other words, it's safe to expect Best Buy to start selling Samsung's 7-inch Android tablet in November in the run-up to the holidays. See a screengrab of that after the break.

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Adobe announces Air 2.5 for TVs, tablets and phones, launches Adobe InMarket to package apps

10/25/2010 06:55:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments


Adobe's making a serious play for the app space today, and it's not limiting itself to phones -- its new Air cross-platform runtime environment is designed to toss apps on your smart televisions and tablets as well. Air 2.5 supports accelerometers, multi-touch gestures, cameras and microphones, GPS data and hardware acceleration in a variety of silicon. What's more, the company wants a piece of the action, so it's going to help developers bring their Air 2.5 apps to market by partnering with the stores themselves, and charging a mere 30 percent to take care of your hosting, billing and app store approval -- though we're informed the service will be free for the first year if you sign up today. The newly-christened Adobe InMarket won't help you get into the iTunes App Store, as you might expect, but it should assist with the Intel AppUp store... and perhaps a pair of brand-new marketplaces from RIM and Samsung as well.

Remember when Samsung said it had a single platform for TV and phones late last week? We think this was what the company was talking about, because we have Adobe's word that the Samsung SmartTV will run Air 2.5 apps when it launches in early 2011. Air will also come standard in RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, but it's not just for fun, productivity and games there -- Adobe told us that the PlayBook's entire UI is built on Air. We're not sure quite what we think of Adobe's role as encapsulated software middleman in the TV and tablet spaces, but we suppose that's what the firm's been doing on desktop PCs for years -- after all, what's Adobe Reader but a free way to open licensed PDFs? You should find the Adobe Air 2.5 SDK available on the company's website today.

Edison Chen back on stage, gets really high singing with Sammi Cheng

10/25/2010 06:55:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

Edison Chen makes a comeback on the stage for a performance after 2 years of absence. The night before, he attended the East Asia Rises Concert in Shanghai. He won enthusiastic fans' support at the concert, where fans shouted his name and screamed nonstop. Edison expressed that he was suprised that he got support from so many people, he will continue to work hard on his jobs. He performed two new songs and duets with Sammi Cheng, god-father Anthony Wong and FAMA.

Got a 'lemon' (reject) from idol

He invited Sammi to duet his new song Mr. Sandman with him. At first, Sammi said that she felt the song is not her type, so she rejected, but then after discussing more about it, she finally accepted it. She also wanted to give some support to Edison who has not been on stage for a long time. Also, some of the Mr. Sandman lyrics are about girls get molested and touched by their boss at work, does this make Sammi not want to sing it? Edison said that the song gives a dream to people, about girls in this society have it difficult at work and also mentions his own pain and experiences. He hopes to pull in the distance. Edison felt that after going through such tough times in the last few years, people should have dreams in life. After Sammi understood the song, she agreed to sing it with him, making it a "dream come true" for Edison.

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EEG Chairman Unmasks the Making of a Star: This is how Twins became popular

10/25/2010 06:54:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , , , 0 Comments


The start of "EEG Next Station Tin Hau Singing Competition" is quickly approaching. Yesterday afternoon, EEG chairman Ng Yu and overseas CEO Lian Hui arrived in Chengdu and accepted an exclusive interview. Revealing how Twins, Joey Yung, Nicholas Tse, and other EEG superstars' "inside story of the making of a star." From today onwards, a 4-part series will be published reporting the fairytale of the making of EEG stars.

From the first time seeing Ah Sa, knew that she would be popular

Today, our focus is on Twins. But before hearing Ng Yu start his story, you must first get to know what kind of a legend this plump and inconspicuous middle-aged man is. Ng Yu has an extremely high reputation in Hong Kong, previously appointed as TVB's commissioner and afterwards rebuilding the previously near-brankupt Capital Artist Music Company. Nine years ago, after EEG boss Albert Yeung managed to very expensively bring over Ng Yu, EEG's original artists managed to increase in popularity with recently signed artists rapidly rising up the ranks.

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iPad orientation lock switch forever gone post-iOS 4.2 says Steve Jobs

10/25/2010 06:54:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

Apple has made its minimalist reputation by paring down hardware controls to the bare necessities, and one of the more useful switches has been the screen rotation lock on the side of the iPad. Originally intended as a mute switch, as on the iPhone, the control changed function ahead of the slate’s launch and became far more useful in the process. Now, it seems, Apple has decided to reverse engines and, post-iOS 4.2, change the control back to its original purpose with no software workaround.



As with iOS 4.2 on the iPhone 4, screen rotation on the updated iPad is apparently controlled by a software toggle in the multitasking bar. A 9 to 5 Mac reader emailed Steve Jobs to ask if there would be a user-changeable option to revert it back to its previous function, and was told “nope” by the Apple CEO.

It’s a decision that is already provoking strong reactions from iPad owners, who have already got attached to the little hardware switch and its current abilities. Here’s hoping Apple concede and at least put an option in the settings pages to swap it back.

PSP2 Will Be Bigger, Out Fall 2011, Currently Overheating

10/25/2010 06:53:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments


Around the time of the Tokyo Game Show, Sony held a private meeting at its offices in Tokyo's Aoyama. The purpose was to show off the PSP2.

Several sources have confirmed to Kotaku that the PSP2 does have a previously rumored touch panel on the back of the hardware. The touch panel was described as looking like a big mouse trackpad. When Sony showed the PSP2, it did not provide concrete details regarding how the trackpad will be implemented in games and instead is leaving that to the discretion of game developers.

The screen itself is not only sharper than the current PSP's, but about an inch larger. The larger screen means that the PSP2 will be larger as well. In the private meetings, Sony is touting the screen as "HD".

A larger PSP should not be that big of an issue for Sony — especially in a mobile environment with large tablets like the iPad. It also shows that Sony realizes it is no longer simply competing with Nintendo, but also Apple.

It is unclear whether this is the same handheld described by the Wall Street Journal. According to the the paper, Sony is working on a device that mixes a game player, an e-book reader and a netbook computer.

In late September, there were also reports that the PSP2 hardware was in the hands of "numerous" developers.

Currently, the PSP2's hardware is not finalized, and Sony is having problems balancing battery, power and heat. There are apparently overheating issues, but Sony is, of course, aiming to have those issues corrected by the time the hardware is publicly shown.

Sony set the PSP2's goals, but is still tinkering with the portable's innards. The PSP2's tech specs are expected to change.

Sources tell Kotaku that the PSP2's release window is fall 2011. Sony is not yet talking openly about the PSP2.

Sony did not offer a comment in time for publication.

Ortustech unveils world's smallest Full HD display, puts Retina to shame

10/25/2010 06:53:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments


Ever heard of Ortustech? Probably not. But you have heard of Casio, right? Ortustech is a joint venture between Casio Computer and Toppan Printing to develop small and medium sized displays. Today, the company is announcing a doozy with its 4.8-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel HAST (Hyper Amorphous Silicon TFT) LCD with 160-degree viewing angle, 16.8 million colors, and a pixel density of 458ppi. Amazing when you compare that to the lauded 326ppi of iPhone 4's Retina display. However, it still pales in comparison to that little 546ppi panel Casio announced back in 2008 which we still haven't seen put into a consumer product. Doesn't bode well for this one being made available anywhere other than the trade show circuit.

PSP Go price cut to $200 in the US and Japan

10/25/2010 06:52:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Western retailers have already been knocking $50 off the PSPgo's $249 price tag. Today, Sony made the price-cut official in the U.S. official. The cut for Japan, however, is twice as big.


According to Reuters, the PSPgo will be priced at $199 in the US instead of the previous $249 list price.

After less than a year on the market in Japan, the digital-download-only PSPgo will get a whopping ¥10,000 (US$124) price cut.

Starting on October 26, the PSPgo will retail for ¥16,800 ($208), instead of the ¥26,800 ($332) Sony now charges.

Sony Computer Entertainment Kaz Hirai previously said that PSPgo pricing is "perhaps an issue".

The disc-less PSPgo was first shown at the 2009 E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles and went on sale on October 1 in North America for $249 as well as in Europe. The handheld went on sale in Japan on November 1, 2009.

Battle for King of Drama : Kid Turns Up Winner Show Lo : "Sorry, I disappointed everyone"

10/25/2010 06:52:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

The 45th Golden bell Awards were held in Taipei 2 nights ago, and the Best Actor and Actress Awards went to the child actor Wu Cheng Di of "Qing Yi Yue Guang" and idol Rainie Yang. Previously with the highest praise and most favored to win, as his third time being nominated for Best Actor, Show "Xiao Zhu (Little Pig)" Lo brushed past the award again, which caused the large crowd of fans in the audience that were painstakingly waiting extremely unsatisfied, where even some fans stared to cry painfully. Last night, Show Lo updated his Weibo, an excerpt "I will continue to work heart, keep it up. Sorry, I disappointed everyone."

Show Lo as the "Most Dejected Person of the Night"

The most anticipated award of the night was the anchoring award for "King of Drama." Previously, everyone had unanimously believed that Show Lo would be the biggest favorite, reasons because his acting in "Hi My Sweetheart" was widely praised and lauded. This time, Show Lo's acting in "Hi My Sweetheart" could be described as putting is life into it. Not only did he sacrifice his handsome image to play a goofy character, his acting skills also improved by judgement of the audience. This being his third nomination, Show Lo was believed to be the favorite to win. Show Lo himself also minded the awards as well, on the afternoon before, he wrote on his weibo, "It's today!"

But then, 15 year-old Wu Cheng Di from "Qing Yi Yue Guang" won Best Actor of a Drama Series, and Show Lo was left empty-handed, immediately afterward, netizens claimed Show Lo as the night's "most dejected person."

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