January 31, 2012

Fly On The Wall

• Artist: Miley Cyrus
• Label: Hollywood Records
• Director: Philip Andelman

Amy Poehler Amy Smart Andre Agassi Andrew Flintoff Andy Garcia Andy Murray

Confirming rumors that first broke the previous night, Paula Abdul is a judge on “The X Factor” no more.

The 49-year-old released an official statement on the matter on Tuesday (January 31), as she told, ?Yes, it?s true; I won?t be returning to The X Factor next season. I?ve learned through my longevity in this industry that business decisions often times override personal considerations.?

Miss Abdul continued, ?Simon and I, along with Fox and Fremantle, have been communicating about this for a while now, and I have absolute understanding of the situation. Simon is, and will remain a dear friend of mine and I?ve treasured my experience working this past season with my extended family at Fox and Fremantle.?

With the exit coming after just one season, Paula’s wished the show well going forward, as she added, ?I want nothing more than for The X Factor to exceed ALL of their wildest dreams. This truly has been a blessing and I am most grateful.”

Ali Landry Ali Larter Alicia Keys Alicia Silverstone Alyson Hannigan Alyssa Milano

A Very Bieber Christmas

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Possible Rhapsody UK launch on

The UK’s streaming music arena could be set to welcome the arrival of a heavyweight contender by way of US giant Rhapsody.

Rhapsody has just announced its European expansion through the acquisition of?Napster International, following its takeover of the Sean Parker founded company in the States back in October.

And, although the company is stating that it will operate the Napster service in Germany and the United Kingdom, how long before it ditches the Napster name (as it has Stateside)?

Not long, we’d imagine – meaning a full-blown global war with Spotify. A war of music though, not weapons – just like John Lennon would have wanted.

Rhapsody is backing the Napster brand for now though, stating that “it is widely recognised, based on an independent brand awareness study”. Napster subscribers will be migrated to Rhapsody’s infrastructure in March and their music libraries will stay intact.

“We have always been and will continue to be committed to offering music fans the most flexible, comfortable way to consume and discover music – wherever and whenever they want,” said Thorsten Schliesche of Napster International.?

“The acquisition is another important milestone. Combining Napster International subscribers with Rhapsody’s massive base in the US will further strengthen our position as the leading music subscription service.”

Spotify may have something to say about that though…..

Tags: Audio Streaming Rhapsody Napster Spotify Digital music

Rhapsody takes the fight to Spotify with European Napster buy-out originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:35:54 +0000

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Today on Buzz Out Loud we are joined by the Rumor Has It girls Karyne Levy and Emily Dreyfuss. The Galaxy Nexus has crash landed in America and SOPA is set for a vote on amendments today in the Washington. We play a round of Into It..Not Into It and discuss what the world searched on Google in 2011.

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EPISODE 1570

NEWS:

-Verizon Wireless to sell Galaxy Nexus tomorrow…TODAY

-Samsung-Galaxy-Nexus

-Tons Of Amendments Proposed For SOPA

-An Open Letter From Internet Engineers to the U.S. Congress

-Judge gives Universal Music 24 hours to explain takedown spree

-Will.i.am: I Did Not Authorize Megaupload Video Takedown

-Universal has ‘Tech News Today’ episode yanked from YouTube for reporting on MegaUpload promo video

-Timeline: Now Available Worldwide

-7 day grace period

-Zeitgeist 2011: How the world searched

-Bill Gates speaks out in Sydney … on Microsoft, Steve Jobs, and the weather

-Samsung’s snarky TV ads have harshed the iPhone’s vibe

-New Mobile Obsession: U.S. Teens Triple Data Usage

RUMORS:

-Apple bringing ultra-high-resolution display to MacBook Pro?

-Google’s Majel to fight Apple’s Siri?

-Source Reveals Facebook Is Swimming In Cash

ALSO THIS WEEK:

-IE to Start Automatic Upgrades across Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7

-Verizon LTE Expands to 11 New Markets Starting Today

-PayPal Throwing Its Hat In The Online Daily Coupon Ring

-1986 Apple fan fashion flashback

-Louis CK is a crazy one-man-band, money-making depressive genius

INTO IT…NOT INTO IT

-Twitter launches major redesign

-Moosejaw X-ray app is a catalog peep show

-Motorola Droid Xyboard 8.2

-Gmail redesign rolling out in next few days

-Missing Apple product: Mirror Book Air

-Verizon to launch white Droid Razr on December 15

-Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch: Grand plan for next-gen space travel

-May the Force be with your nuts

VOICEMAIL:

Erin…i’ts ok to get the HP Touch Pad

Kevin – Explains how he uses Siri

Champ – Is there an iPhone 4G????!?!?!?

Does Brian Tong only have a PS3 and it it racist to assume so? Xbox vs. PS3????

EMAILS:

Hey guys,

Did anyone at BoL jump on the ebay refurbished HP touchpad sale this Sunday? I guess it’s no surprise that after hiring former ebay CEO Whitman that they choose to use ebay. Needless to say the checkout crashed minutes after the sale started but plenty of use were able to purchase from ebay.ca and ebay.co.uk. The progress devs have made with android on the TP is impressive. If these refurb. tablets are basically new, I’ll be sending back my brand new Kindle Fire (as much as I love Amazon!)

-Brendan from Maine.

—–

Hey Guys,

Although I already own a first gen iPad, I was looking forward to seeing the Asus Prime. It was awesome hearing about it, but when a company replaces an older device, they ought to replace it soon after release. This release turned out to be awful timing by Asus because right before Christmas when tablets are popular, few are buying their product. Consumers don’t want to get the older model, but want a tablet for Christmas, so they chose another brand with a current model. I work at Best Buy in the computers department and see many consumers intrigued by the features and function of the Asus tablet with its keyboard dock, but when they learn its not the Prime, they decide to go another route, even if it requires a Bluetooth keyboard instead. Even the $100 price difference is not enough for consumers.

Love the show(s),

Danny

—–

I am trying Skout and so far, while it isn’t a bad plan, it feels almost like a Zynga game where, yeah, you can play the game, but if you want to do most things, you gotta chuck out some cash, especially a daily, “”Who checked me out”” function. Just don’t see that it is worth it just yet as it doesn’t seem to have hit critical mass and that Facebook is still such a dominant thing. I know they aren’t the same thing, but so far, I am not as impressed as I was when listening to it being described initially.

Keep up the good work and please come back to once a day, I needs my fixes. And Siri appreciates when you say that you love it.

Chris in San Louie.

—–

Hey guys,
I was watching yesterdays special show about the top 100, and enjoyed the talk about you guys being biased, and BT asking the question as to why BOL gets singled out for that. The answer is simple, you have bigger fan base than all the other shows/sites combined, so you guys have more peeps to give you a hard time.
Or, maybe it is just because Apple products are superior….
Merry Christmas!

Craig Happ
Missoula, MT

—–

http://bol.cnet.com, 800-616-2638 (CNET), buzz@cnet.com

Follow us on Twitter: @mollywood @brian_tong @stephenbeacham @karynelevy @emilydreyfuss @rumorshow

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Google catching up fast

The Q4 2011 tablet results are in and, despite Apple growing its global iPad shipments – increasing 111 per cent year on year – from 7.3 million to 15.4 million, there will be concern in the Cupertino board room that its market dominance is declining.

And that’s because of the rise in status of the Android tab market share; increasing by 3.1 million units shipped in the last quarter of 2010 to 10.5 million units in the same period of 2011.

That means Apple’s ascendancy has waned from 68.2 per cent to 57.6 per cent and Android’s has grown by more than 10 per cent to sit at around the 39 per cent mark.

Still a huge lead for Apple, and all the more astonishing given that it is up against a slew of Android tablets in all shapes and sizes from multiple manufacturers but this is the first real sign that Android could become the dominant tablet OS.

Microsoft sits on a lowly 1.5 per cent share although this is sure to rise once the bevy of Windows 8 tablets hit the shops before the end of the year. There’s no specific mention of BlackBerry, so we presume it’s included in the 1.9 per cent share marked “others”.

Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, said: “Dozens of Android models distributed across multiple countries by numerous brands such as Amazon, Samsung, Asus and others have been driving volumes. Android is so far proving relatively popular with tablet manufacturers despite nagging concerns about fragmentation of Android’s operating system, user-interface and app store ecosystem.”

Overall, global tablet shipments hit 66.9 million units in 2011, a massive 260 per cent surge from 18.6 million in 2010.

Peter King, director at Strategy Analytics, said: “Global tablet shipments reached an all-time high of 26.8 million units in Q4 2011, surging 150 per cent from 10.7 million in Q4 2010. Demand for tablets among consumer, business and education users remains strong.”

It’s a tablet revolution, that’s for sure, and with Ice Cream Sandwich devices expected to land by the bucket load, Windows 8 all set for an assault and the highly anticipated iPad 3 on the horizon, 2012 looks like being a bumper year.

Tags: Tablets Android Apple iPad Google Microsoft Windows 8

Apple doubles iPad shipments but Android gains ground originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

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Streamlined UI detailed

HTC Sense 4.0, the Taiwanese company’s latest Android UI, is set to launch sometime soon, possibly with the rumoured HTC Ville or HTC Edge and mobile site PocketNow is claiming to have the low-down ahead of its release.

It has apparently had a play with a “non final build” of the software and, one of the biggest claims that it makes, is that the software will allow for 50GB of free Dropbox space. The massive allowance will sit as a virtual drive on a Sense 4.0 device apparently, with “deep integration” with other apps such as email.

Back in October, HTC announced that it had partnered with the cloud storage platform to offer 5GB of storage to all of its Android phones. So 50GB would be quite a step-up if the claims comes to fruition.

As well as the cloud space, PocketNow is stating that Sense 4.0 is a “step in the right direction” with “reduced visual clutter” and will bring in a new task switcher and an improved, more info-packing, lock-screen.

Universal Beats support is said to be on board, and the email client has been updated, described as possibly the “best-looking and most functional email client available for Android”.

A bold claim indeed. We’ll probably only have to wait until next month to find out – HTC is expected to unleash its new smartphone range over in Barcelona at MWC.

Read

Tags: Phones HTC HTC Sense Dropbox

HTC Sense 4.0 to boast 50GB of Dropbox space originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:31:38 +0000

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Connelly Jennifer Garner Jennifer Grey Jennifer Holland

Asus prototypes being tested

How would you like to get your hands on (or rather keep them off) a laptop sporting a built-in Kinect sensor? It’s more than just a hollow dream – Kinect packing laptops made by Asus, and Microsoft backed, are already in existence.

The Daily has seen a pair of the hybrid devices and has received word from Microsoft that they are indeed official prototypes of laptops featuring a Kinect sensor. Built by Asus, the laptops are running Windows 8 and feature a number of sensors above the screen and some LED lights below it.

Earlier this month Microsoft confirmed that it would release the Kinect for Windows SDK to developers on 1 February, meaning Kinect drivers and APIs will be available to the general public as well as developers.

Microsoft is said to be working with more than 200 different companies to build applications for Windows that use Kinect and it looks as if this doesn’t just mean with an additional Kinect sensor. The Kinect’s sensor tech, it seems, can be incorporated directly into a device.

We love the idea of a Windows 8 machine running with motion gesture controls. If not just for that fact that it will keep our laptop’s display smudge free.

Tags: Gaming Laptops Asus Microsoft Windows 8 Microsoft Kinect Kinect

Kinect powererd Windows 8 laptops gesturing your way originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:36:00 +0000

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It was about time Kelly Brook posed for one of the sexy magazines and regaled us with some great photos of her killer body. So it was FHM Spain who brought us the sexy British model and actress, who happened to be dressed in the sexiest swim suits paired with high heels and jewelry? nothing [...]

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Back to basics

HTC’s UK boss Phil Roberson has admitted that the Taiwanese company has perhaps lost focus by trying “to do too much”, instead of focusing on the killer handsets that once made the brand the darling of the Android community.

Like the HTC Hero in 2009 or the Desire HD in 2010, Roberson wants the company to make waves with big product launches and to adopt a more qualitative approach.

“We had a fantastic year [in 2011], with 65 per cent growth year on year in the UK,” he told Mobile Today. “But in Q4 we delivered a lot more products than in the past. Now we want to create more of a ‘Hero’ approach. We make great phones, but it is hard to do that when the portfolio is spread too much.”

In Q4 2011 we saw no fewer than five new Android devices from the company, added to the 14 other Android HTC phone launches that year. Throw in three Windows Phone 7 handsets and you’re looking at a barrage of HTC handsets.

“We have to get back to focusing on what made us great – amazing hardware and a great customer experience,” added Roberson. “So 2012 is about giving our customers something special. We need to make sure we do not go so far down the line that we segment our products by launching lots of different SKUs.”

It’s fair to say that Samsung now holds the title as the Fandroid’s champion but it is also a company that seems to announce a new handset every other week. Where Samsung differs though, is it is always clear what its star player is.

HTC, if it is to regain its crown, will have to take a similar approach.

Read

Tags: Phones HTC HTC Hero

HTC to focus on quality, not quantity as it searches for new Hero originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:49:00 +0000

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Asus prototypes being tested

How would you like to get your hands on (or rather keep them off) a laptop sporting a built-in Kinect sensor? It’s more than just a hollow dream – Kinect packing laptops made by Asus, and Microsoft backed, are already in existence.

The Daily has seen a pair of the hybrid devices and has received word from Microsoft that they are indeed official prototypes of laptops featuring a Kinect sensor. Built by Asus, the laptops are running Windows 8 and feature a number of sensors above the screen and some LED lights below it.

Earlier this month Microsoft confirmed that it would release the Kinect for Windows SDK to developers on 1 February, meaning Kinect drivers and APIs will be available to the general public as well as developers.

Microsoft is said to be working with more than 200 different companies to build applications for Windows that use Kinect and it looks as if this doesn’t just mean with an additional Kinect sensor. The Kinect’s sensor tech, it seems, can be incorporated directly into a device.

We love the idea of a Windows 8 machine running with motion gesture controls. If not just for that fact that it will keep our laptop’s display smudge free.

Tags: Gaming Laptops Asus Microsoft Windows 8 Microsoft Kinect Kinect

Kinect powererd Windows 8 laptops gesturing your way originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:36:00 +0000

Heath Ledger Heather Graham Heather Locklear Heidi Klum Helen Hunt Hilary Duff

Justin Timberlake, Will Smith and Kelly Clarkson also make appearances at Vegas convention.

By Kurt Patat

Photo: Steven Lawton/WireImage

<P><b>LAS VEGAS</b> &#8212; In the past few years, the <a href="http://www.mtv.com/geek/event_coverage/ces_international/main.jhtml">International Consumer Electronics Show</a> has slowly morphed from an annual pilgrimage for tech geeks into a star-studded event where celebs lend their rallying cries to a variety of new products and services. One quick stroll around the Las Vegas Convention Center, home of CES, or any of its many offsite events, and you'll quickly find yourselves rubbing shoulders with the likes of Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, Will Smith, 50 Cent, Kelly Clarkson and even <a href="http://www.mtv.com/shows/jersey_shore/season_5/series.jhtml">"Jersey Shore"</a> stars Snooki and Pauly D.

<a href="http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2012/01/12/justin-bieber-ces-mrobo-robot/">Biebs was on hand</a> to introduce the <a href="http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/01/12/ces-2012-justin-bieber-and-the-bot/">mRobo Ultra Bass</a>, a Transformer-like portable MP3 player and speaker that turns into a dancing robot as the music plays, while "Social Network" star Justin Timberlake took the stage at a Panasonic Event and discussed plans for MySpace TV.

<center><embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:724569/cp~vid%3D724569%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Amtv.com%3A724569" width="460" height="260" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" base="."></embed></center>

Will Smith and Kelly Clarkson surprised the crowd at a Sony press conference with Smith promoting the forthcoming release of "Men in Black 3" and Clarkson closing the event by performing her hit "Mr. Know It All."

<a href="http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/01/11/ces-2012-jersey-shores-snooki-shows-off-her-ihip-headphone-designs/">Snooki and Pauly D brought a little Seaside swagger</a> to the convention. Snooks helped promote a series of audio products at iHip's booth, telling MTV News, " I am very excited for my new partnership with iHip and to get started on creating my very own headphone line."

Pauly D announced plans to hook up with SMS Audio and its CEO, rapper 50 Cent, to design a new headphone line. "Having my own headphones has always been a dream of mine, and now that dream is a reality," Pauly told MTV News, while 50 Cent added via a press release, "Pauly D has a true passion for music and I know he'll put that same energy into helping us develop and promote a quality headphone line."

Before you run off and book your ticket to Vegas for CES 2013, it's worth noting that the show is closed to the general public, and unless you are Justin Bieber, no one under the age of 18 is allowed in.

<center><embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:724544/cp~vid%3D724544%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Amtv.com%3A724544" width="460" height="260" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" base="."></embed></center>

<b>Check out <a href="http://www.mtv.com/geek/">MTV Geek</a> for more <a href="http://www.mtv.com/geek/event_coverage/ces_international/main.jhtml">CES 2012</a> coverage!</b></p>

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UPDATE: Seven sets for the Fellowship

Lego has revealed some more details on the Lord of the Rings Lego sets due in August at the London?Toy Fair, and Pocket-lint was on hand to get the inside track.

Shown behind closed doors with a strict no photography policy, we sadly can’t bring you any photos of the new sets, however we are able to bring you plenty of details describing them to the best of our ability on what you can expect.

There will be seven sets in total ranging from ?11.99 up to ?99 and, as with previous sets from Lego, certain sets will come with certain characters from the trilogy of books and movies, ensuring that true fans will have to buy them all.

The cheapest entry-level offering will be Gandalf and Frodo on the hay cart from the opening scene from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

The set will include the cart filled with junk, a horse, now with moveable back legs so you can set them to be prancing, and Gandalf and Frodo. Gandalf comes with a big grey hat, grey beard, and grey cloth cloak. There is no white Gandalf at the moment sadly.?

But to get Gollum, you’ll have to get the Shelob Attacks set (?19.99) from The Two Towers. Gollum as you might expect is just as weedy in Lego as he is in the films, but he does come with a miniature Lego gold ring, while you’ll have to spend 20 minutes, probably, building the spider itself.

Then there is the Weathertop mountain set with Aragon, Frodo, Sam Gamgee, Pippin and Merry as well as a couple of the Wraths on horseback.

The set where you will get the most characters from the Fellowship is the Battle for Helm’s Deep.

The set will costs ?99 will give you Gimli, Eldarion, Kings Theoden?and Aragon as well as a clutch of Orcs to battle against.

There is also a Mines of Moria set (?69.99) including a sledgehammer wielding cave troll that is considerably larger than your average Minifig. Its footprint is a 12 Lego spaces rather than the Minifig’s standard two. The scene is set in the tomb room that has the well in it from the films.

The full line up of sets are: Gandalf Arrives (?11.99), Shelob Attacks (?19.99), Mines of Moria (?69.99), Attack on Weathertop (?49.99), Battle for Helm’s Deep (?99.99), Urukhai Army (?29.99), and Orc Forge (?39.99).?

Talking to a spokesman on the stand we’ve also been told that some of the sets will feature orcs carrying shields with the white hand of Saruman on them and that we can expect Hobbit sets to tie in with the movie when it hits cinemas at the end of this year.

We will keep you posted.

UPDATE: Lego has released two new shots of the new minifigs so you can see what the characters will look like.?

Tags: Toys Lego Lord of the Rings ToyFair2012

   

Lego Lord of the Rings detailed: One brick to rule them all (pictures) originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:45:00 +0000

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