WORLD ACTION NEWS: January 2012

Friday, January 27, 2012

Buick Excelle is China’s Best Selling Car in 2011

In North America, Buick is trying hard to shed its blue-rinse, AARP image. In China, however, the brand’s status is very much revered. In fact, to own a Buick in many aspects, is to know that you’ve arrived.
Perhaps its not surprising then that among the best selling cars in China, Buicks rank right up there. In fact, last year, the best selling model of all wore a Tri-Shield logo, the Buick Excelle, sold stateside as the Verano.
With sales of some 253,514 units (by contrast the entire US Buick lineup sold 177,633 cars and SUVs last year), it clearly indicates that GM’s “premium” division is absolutely going gangbusters in the world’s largest auto market.
Other “global” cars that fared well include the Chevy Cruze (which was the third best selling car in China in 2011) and the Ford Focus, which ranked number 10.
2010′s best seller, the Chinese BYD F3, saw demand plummet last year, ranking as 11th on the best seller list. Recently, the Chinese government passed legislation that aims to restrict the sale of some imported cars in an effort to spur demand for home grown vehicles, which so far have been largely overlooked by Chinese buyers, especially in the premium and luxury segments.
Volkswagen, which was among the longest established and largest presence among Western automakers in China, had no fewer than four vehicles on the best seller list last year, the Bora, Jetta, Lavida and Santana.

Nina Dobrev Wears Extensions For Nylon

The Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev is Nylon's February cover girl, and we were surprised by her very un-Elena front-page look. Nina wore big winged liner and unstructured braids that incorporated Featherlocks clip-in feather hair extensions. It's not a hairstyle we're used to seeing on her, but it was actually her idea; Nina apparently brought feather extensions to the cover shoot as part of the "Vegas cowgirl" theme.
Feather extensions were all over the place last year, but they've been keeping a low profile for the past few months, especially after controversies surrounding the ethics of feather sourcing came to light. Given soaring prices and some bad press, we weren't even sure they'd be back in 2012, truth be told. But with the hip likes of Nylon and Nina keeping abreast of the trend, it looks like we've found our answer: you can't keep a good chicken down.

Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx Now Available From Verizon

The Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx is now available from Verizon, and the handset is available for $299 when you sign up to a new two year contract with Verizon Wireless.
The Droid RAZR Maxx is essentially a Droid RAZR with a higher capacity battery and the handset comes with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, although Verizon have said that it will get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in the future.

Specifications on the Motorola Droid RAZR Max include a 4.3 inch qHD touchscreen display and processing is provided by a dual core 1.2GHz processor, and it also features two cameras.
Up front there is a HD video camera, on the back there is an 8 megapixel camera with image stabilization, and the camera can record full HD video in 1080p.
The Motorola Droid RAZR axx features a 3,300 mAh battery, which according to Verizon will give you up to 21 hours of talk time, and it also come with 32GB of storage, 16GB built in and 16GB via a microSD card.
You can find out more information about the Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx over at Verizon Wireless, and the handset is available from today.

Hyundai Santa Fe 2013

What you see here in this post are the clearest and spy shots of the soon-to-be-unveiled Hyundai crossover, the 2013 Santa Fe CUV.
Scheduled to make its official public debut at the up-coming New York Auto Show in April, the all-new Santa Fe CUV will boast a dynamic exterior layout with styling influences from the most recent crop of Hyundai cars (new Hyundai i40 and i30 hatchback).

Up front, the 2013 Santa Fe will sport a “Hyundai family look” with most notable features being the hexagonal grille with layered chrome bars and LED headlamps. The forth-coming crossover vehicle will also feature a strong side character line and attractively designed rear-end with LED tail-lamps and round twin tailpipes having a chrome finish.
Engine options still remain under wraps for now, but there will be a wide range of highly-advanced turbocharged gasoline and diesel engines available from launch. You can expect Hyundai to offer at least one turbo-charged four-cylinder and V6 engine with gasoline direct injection -GDI technology, as well as a four-cylinder diesel unit for the European market.

Top 5 Android Application for Students.

Android is not only famous among Businessman, but also among Teens and Students. That’s why Android is launching too many application for Students. Here is a list of Top 5 Android Application for Students.
1.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Always Students need Dictionary for some or the other reason. And no body wants to carry a huge tomb of good dictionary. So here your smartphone can be useful to you. So just download most famous dictionaries in the world and have free access to huge word database.
2.) WikiDroid for Wikipedia
Many students refer to wikipedia during studies. Now reading wikipedia has become much more easier with wikidroid app. Which formats the articles from online encyclopedia to read on android phone format
3.) Document Viewer
This app is very much useful for the students, as it scans the documents using the phone camera and stores it as a PDF file. Afterwards you can use this file for any purpose.
4.) Math Formulary
If you feel studying math is a difficult subject for you. Than here is a solution for it. Math Formulary app has all the formulas (including basic arithmetic, algebra,geometry, trigonometry,analysis and much more) that you may need in your school and college.
5.) My Student Budget Planner
This app will allow you to manage your finance, which is no more less important for students than studying.

You can also check pdf to flash book for you.

See Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis's Sweetest Moments!

Rumors have been flying about a possible split between Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, but she put the gossip to rest recently by saying the reports "are false." Johnny and Vanessa are no strangers to constant speculation about the status of their relationship, and they've weathered the talk for 14 years. We're celebrating the good news by taking a look back at the couple's sweetest moments including their hot red-carpet appearances, luxurious French vacations, and family time with kids Jack and Lily Rose.

How to Run Android Apps On your Computer

BLUESTACKS APP PLAYER lets you run Android apps on a Windows PC. After downloading the alpha-version app onto a computer, position your pointer over the Android icon on the Windows desktop; a menu of more than ten default apps will appear, each openable with a click, you can also use your mouse and keyboard to interact with the Android apps.
To exit any android app, simply click the X icon at the bottom-left corner of the screen. To open a Windows program running in the background, without clossing BlueStacks App Player, press Alt and Tab on the keyboard.

The BlueStacks App Player runs application from a different operating system on Windows without requiring you to install a separate operating system or console. And since the player runs on Windows, you do not have to boot into another OS to run the apps on your PC.
Click the BlueStacks Channel icon to find listings for dozens of othe Android apps, which you can download with your web browser by clicking the app icon.
BlueStack App player requires Windows 7 or Vista or later, at least 2 GB memory, and an Intel Core 2 Duo or better processor.

Go to Download Page

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Sony Xperia S hands-on

We had the feeling that the Sony Xperia S might rear its lovely little head at tonight's press conference in the Las Vegas Convention Center -- and indeed this pretty little slab was announced amongst the deluge of products and superstar cameos.

The Sony Xperia S is a smartphone with a bit of an identity crisis, which is to say that there were two versions of the same handset on the showroom floor -- one with the now oddly outdated Sony Ericsson branding along its top bezel, just above the speaker grill and another which simply reads "Sony" in big, block letters. And really, the new naming convention doesn't seem to out of place on the Android 2.3 handset -- it's got a bit more room to breathe up there. And besides, the gorgeous S looks right at home alongside Sony's other glossy hardware.

The Xperia's bright 4.3-inch display monopolizes the upper 2/3 of the handset. Just below this, you'll find three white dots. These line up with the home, menu and back button. Icons for each are embedded in a a sliver of thick glass casing. Upon seeing the handset, we found ourselves attempting to touch the icons themselves -- it turns out it's actually the aforementioned dots that activate the functionality. We appreciate the clear focus on aesthetics here, but the whole thing is a bit counterproductive.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Bird Flu Rears Its Ugly Head With Multiple Deaths in China

China is reporting its second bird flu death in one month. A 39-year-old man was the second casualty from the deadly H5N1 strain in less than one month. The first victim, also 39-years-old and a bus driver died on December 31st. The second victim was in southern China. He fell ill on January 6th and died on Sunday. The first victim was employed as a bus driver in Shenzhen, a city near Hong Kong. What is noteworthy about both of these deaths is that neither of the deceased victims appear to have had any contact or ties with birds or poultry of any kind in the month prior to contracting the virus.
The authorities are monitoring the 71 people that the latest victim came into contact with for signs of the flu virus, but to date, no one is evidencing any symptoms. The same is true of those individuals who had contact with the bus driver.
The bus driver was the first victim of the H5N1 virus in China in the last 18 months.
Vietnam reported its first death from the virus in more than 18 months when it reported that an 18-year-old duck farmer fell ill and died from the virus last week.
The World Health Organization is reporting that Cambodia reported the death of a 2-year-old who had contact with sick poultry and Indonesia reported one fatality from the virus.
Since 2003, the World Health Organization states that there have been 343 human deaths from the deadly bird flu virus.
Officials keep a watchful eye on China with regard to the H5N1 virus since it has the largest poultry population in the world. That fact, coupled with the numerous instances of humans and poultry residing in close quarters in the rural areas of the country, it is considered a breeding ground for the disease.
Scientists worry that the virus could mutate into a form that could cause a pandemic, killing millions.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Miley Cyrus’ new cropped haircut

Miley Cyrus stepped out over the weekend with a new cropped hairdo. She was also wearing a white t-shirt without a bra, which is all too common for her. Miley should invest in some cami tops with built in bras if it’s such a problem for her to harness her girls. At least she had on a flannel shirt for coverage. Anyway Miley tweeted that she got a hair cut and had about five inches chopped off. It looks like she’s freshened up the color too, but that might just be the effect of the haircut, as I’ve heard hairdressers talk about how shorter hair can make your haircolor look different.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Katy Perry Kisses Shirtless Guy At First Concert Since Split

Katy Perry kissed a new guy ... and he definitely liked it!

The singer hit the stage in Jakarta, Indonesia today, her first public appearance since Russell Brand filed for divorce back in December.

Despite the split, Katy appeared to be having a great time during the show -- where, at one point, she pulled a shirtless local on stage, playfully rubbed his chest and gave him a big kiss.

He looks pretty happy, doesn't he?

Upon her arrival in the country, Katy tweeted "I'm SO EXCITED to FINALLY be in INDONESIA! U guys have waited forever ."

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Kim Kardashian Feels She Got Married Too Soon

Kim Kardashian, 31, – who filed for divorce from husband Kris Humphries in October, just 72 days after they tied the knot – admitted she felt a “weight lifted” off her shoulders when she first spent time apart from the basketball hunk during a trip to Dubai with mom, Kris Jenner.

Speaking in an episode of ‘Kourtney and Kim Take New York’, she said: “My heart is telling me I did this too fast, I feel like this huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders since I’ve been here in Dubai. Being away from my husband … I’m back to myself. I’m enjoying this feeling. There’s something in my relationship that I just feel like isn’t right. I’m just learning a lot of things about him that I never knew before. Married life just isn’t what I thought it would be like with him.”

Meanwhile, Kim is now said to be seeking solace in ex-boyfriend Reggie Bush and while the pair have “no plans” to reignite their former romance, they have reportedly been speaking for “long periods” over the phone.

A source told RadarOnline.com: “The two have been talking for long periods of time on their cell phones and exchanging text messages. Reggie feels bad for Kim and everything she is going through right now.

“Reggie has absolutely no plans on getting back together with Kim. He just doesn’t think they are meant to be together.”

Windows 8 to manage your mobile broadband use for you

Windows 8 will contain built-in support for mobile broadband devices and smarter use of metered Internet connections, as detailed in the lastest post on Microsoft's Building Windows 8 blog.
Most 3G mobile broadband connections are subject to usage limits, and keeping track of data usage at the moment normally means running an application from the mobile operator, or even checking on their website. Windows 8 will have its own usage counters so that users can keep track of how much data they've burned through over the current billing cycle.
Applications will also be able to treat metered connections differently from unlimited ones. For example, a Flickr front-end might stick to low-resolution preview images when on a mobile broadband connection, fetching high-resolution images only when on an unmetered connection. Application bandwidth usage will also be shown in Task Manager, with separate counters for metered and unmetered usage.
The blog post also demonstrates Windows 8's faster Wi-Fi connectivity, with hot spots being found and connected to in under a second, and its new support for Wi-Fi hotspots that use authentication portals. Instead of having to open a browser to enter a username and password, it will be possible to type credentials directly into Windows itself.

Porsche Panamera Falls Into the Hands of Wald International

The latest model to receive Wald International's dark "Black Bison" treatment is the Porsche Panamera sports saloon. As usual, the Japanese tuning firm's package is centered on a raft of styling parts with minimal performance upgrades.

The Panamera's exterior receives a comprehensive makeover with a new carbon fiber aero kit that adds a new front bumper with sculpted air vents, rear wheel arch extensions, front fender mesh vents, rocker panels, a deck lid spoiler and a redesigned rear bumper with extra vents and a diffuser.

Wald International's Black Bison package also includes a new set of larger alloy wheels in a black finish with a bronze colored rim, and the firm's signature exhaust tail pipes.

Completing the tune is a lowered sports suspension kit and a set of bespoke floor mats for the interior.

Miley Cyrus See Through Top With No Bra

It is a glorious day my Muslim brothers! Pious Muslimina Miley Cyrus has exposed her perky breasts and nipples in the see through photo above.

As we know an intelligent Muslim woman like Miley Cyrus would never show her boobs like this without a good reason, so this is obviously Miley’s way of demonstrating how fertile she is to us virile Muslim men.

Miley Cyrus should be commended for exposing her titties in a see through shirt with no bra to showcase her breeding potential. The whores who infest Hollywood would be wise to take a page from Miley’s book, and focus on highlighting their breeding potential to us Muslims instead of prostituting themselves for fame and fortune.

Madonna’s Favorite Thing Is Her Victoria’s Secret Underwear

Madonna,53, likes to look sexy for her boyfriend 24-year-old Brahim Zabrat and wears racy lingerie from underwear chain Victoria’s Secret with stockings. She is quoted by the Daily Star newspaper as saying: “My favourite things in life are my fishnets and my Victoria’s Secret underpants.”

The ‘Material Girl’ star is currently preparing for the release of her 12th album ‘M.D.N.A’ and has dropped her exercise regime in favour of dance workouts to keep her in the best shape. She said: “I’m not really doing Pilates any more. I’m just dancing. You know, dance aerobics. The best thing for your bum.”

Madonna’s racy past is no secret, with her releasing an explicit book, ‘Sex’ featuring nude photographs of her in 1992, and making a sexually-explicit video for her 1990 single ‘Justify My Love’, which was banned by MTV.

The singer has also recently credited “love” with helping her retain her youthful looks. She forgot to mention lots of plastic surgery!

She said: “‘What’s my secret? Love. I don’t know. I don’t have a secret. The most important thing is being happy.”

Android 101: Tips On How To Use Your Android Phone

That Android operating system on your phone can carry out numerous tasks but it’s important to know where to start. Unlike iPhone’s cut-and-dried IU, the Android OS affords you ample space to organize and customize. Here’s a guide to getting the most out of your Android phone’s many included features.

The Desktop

Android’s desktop differs slightly compared to other smartphone platforms. With android you command a lot of freedom to customize your Android desktop-and without any limitations to four simple rows of flawlessly aligned square icons. Hence, Android lets you customize your desktop to mirror your likes, including making it as full and dynamic as you’d want it to be.

The Android desktop runs multiple homescreen panels. Although if your handset has a particular overlay such as MotoBlur, or rather a different version of Android, you could have 5-7 home-screen panels.

The first time you power up your phone, what you see is the main homescreen panel. The panel is normally centered, plus you can access extra panels on any side of the main panel through dragging your finger either left or right. You can customize the homescreen according to your preferences. You can make use of the available space with any combination of shortcuts, folders and widgets.

Of course, short-cuts are tiny icons that allow you load apps including other functions on your android phone; they work the same as the ones you’d see on a computer desktop. These shortcut options could do anything (according to your preference settings) from opening a program to connecting to a particular Web page or even initiating a phone call.

To create a shortcut, long press your finger on any open space on your handset’s home screen, and choose Shortcuts from the resulting turn-up menu. This is where you should select Applications, for example (to add an app), Direct message or Direct dial (creating a shortcut for texting or calling a friend), Bookmark (to connect to a Web page), and Directions (to activate navigation to a particular destination).

Widgets include dynamic programs that carry out activities right on your homescreen. They carry out various functions-including giving you the latest weather forecast, or letting you play music from your personal stored collection or streaming from the Internet. If you want to accommodate more, you can download extra widgets available on the Android Market.

To add a widget, press and hold your finger on an open space, similar to creating shortcut (above). Although, this time, choose the Widgets option availed from the pop-up menu. Whether you’ve downloaded anything or not from the Android Market, of course there must be a handful of options included in your phone. Begin by including the Power Control widget; it forms a lovely one-touch toggle management system for you android phone’s Bluetooth, WI-Fi, GPS, screen brightness, and data syncing.

Notifications

Android’s notification panel places real-time incoming information at your fingertips, regardless which activity you may be undertaking at the moment. Notifications come from different places: voicemail, text messaging, e-mail, social network notifications and news apps. As soon as you receive a new notification, an icon will emerge at the top-left of your phone’s screen. Dragging down the panel you’ll be able to see detailed information on the notification received.

Free Video Player Application for Android

Everyone likes to watch their movies on the go these days. Many of the smartphones run the Android OS but the stock Video Player fails to play many video formats. There are many other efficient video players on the Android Market. Let’s take a look at the top video players.

MX Video Player

MX Video player boasts of the fact that it is the first video player in the Android market to perform Multi-core decoding. This takes advantage of the dual cores in devices and uses the multiple cores to decode high-resolution videos faster than single core devices. It supports subtitle scroll and pinch zoom on the videos. There is support for .MKV files in this video player and displays the battery while playing the videos.

MX Video Player - Best Android Player

Mobo Player

Mobo player is another free video player which plays all the popular video formats which are commonly available. Popular subtitle formats like SRT, ASS and SAA are supported and there is an option for multiple subtitles as well. You can create your own playlists and videos can even be streamed through HTTP i.e makes it easier to view videos online. The media library automatically sorts the videos according to their types and thumbnail view of the videos make it easy to access them.

Mobo Player - Android Player

Videos

Developed by Android Code Monkey, this is one of the lesser known video players in the Android market. This is one the best video players to properly organize your video files on your memory card.

“Videos” organizes your videos by name, duration, date and even sort the videos by ascending or descending order. It remembers the exact point where the video was stopped previously so it can resume playback from that exact point.

Videos - Android Player

Meridian Media Player Revolute

Developed in the East, this is one of the most effective media players with wide variety of features. It claims to be the most functional and customizable video player for your phone. There exists something known as PlayQ instead of playlists which lets you handle both videos and music. It also lets you play videos as music and there is a special toolkit to scan your SD card and clean your card.

Meridian Media Player - Android Players

Kascend Video Player

This is the video player to go for when you want to play high quality videos without much fuss. Kascend Video player can handle 720p videos without much sweat and it supports many other popular formats like MP4, 3GP, AVI, MKV, FLV, DivX and much more. This is also the ideal player to stream online video contents as it supports HTTP video streaming.

Kascend Video Player - Free Android Player

Wikipedia App for Android Released

In the same week as Wikipedia went black to raise awareness of SOPA and PIPA opposition, WikiMedia releases an Android App to the Market. The App is free for all, and can be installed on any device with a minimum of Android 2.2 Froyo installed. This is the official app for Android, which gives the user full access to Wikipedia's 20 million plus article database in over 280 languages.
The app will allow you to save your previous searches for later review, search based on location, and the ability to share your searches directly within the app. Since this is version 1.0 of the app, we're sure it'll get some more features and improvements down the road. It's a great start for an Android app of a tool many of us use on a regular basis for anything we need knowledge on. You can grab it from the market by clicking the icon below.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Hyundai Gives 2012 Sonata Hybrid Battery A Lifetime Warranty

What happens if the battery in your hybrid car starts to fail?
If your car is still within warranty, you’ll get a replacement battery at no cost to you. If your car or its battery pack are out of warranty, you’ll have a few other options.
But South Korean automaker Hyundai is now so confident that the battery pack in its 2012 Sonata Hybrid will outlive the car that it is offering customers a lifetime guarantee on its lithium-polymer battery pack.
In short, if you buy a 2012 Sonata Hybrid, and the battery pack starts to die, you’ll get a replacement battery pack free of charge -- regardless of its age or mileage.
“The Hyundai brand was built on outstanding quality backed by the industry’s best protection program which we call Hyundai Assurance,” said Michael O’Brien, vice president of Corporate and Product Planning at Hyundai Motor America. “Expanding Hyundai Assurance to include Lifetime Battery Replacement Guarantee was another opportunity for us to demonstrate our confidence in the durability of our product, and pass that peace-of-mind on to our owners.”
According to Hyundai, it has tested both the Sonata Hybrid and its Blue Drive hybrid drivetrain for 300,000 miles or more without “minimal degradation of its output or duration of operation.”

2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid

That’s not necessarily a new feat. When the city of San Francisco retired the first 15 of its 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid taxis in 2009, they had each averaged around 300,000 miles without a single battery problem.
That’s backed up by anecdotal evidence from Carolyn Coquillette, Prius mechanic extraordinaire at San Francisco’s Luscious Garage. When we visited Coquillette at her specialist garage last year, she told us of Toyota Prius taxis she regularly services with battery packs that have far outlived the 150,000 10-year California-only warranty period given by Toyota.
When Hyundai launched the Sonata Hybrid in 2011, it was the first mass-produced hybrid to use a lithium-ion (lithium-polymer) battery pack. At the time, Hyundai announced it would offer a 100,000 mile, 10-year warranty on the pack. We can only assume an additional year of testing and refinement has given it increased faith in the LG-Chem battery pack.
Hyundai’s new battery pack warranty makes the 2012 Sonata Hybrid a tempting buy for anyone wanting to make the switch from a traditional gasoline car to a hybrid.

Galaxy Nexus snow white version spotted in the wild

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen or heard about the white version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, but this time it’s not just a rendered press image or posted up on a retailer website. Instead we are seeing live hands-on images of the phone. I know many don’t like the idea of a white phone but just check out the pictures.

Most phones or tablets that have been given the white treatment are actually completely white — that includes the entire front bezel and this is a reason many do, and don’t like the idea. What Samsung has done with the Galaxy Nexus is made the entire device white except for the front.

The entire back and sides are snow white but they’ve left the frontal face completely the same with the black bezel around that huge and vivid 4.65″ Super AMOLED display. Everything else remains the same from this awesome flagship smartphone running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich — only now it’s a purdy white color.

Golden Globes 2012 Winners List

The 2012 Golden Globe Awards took over Hollywood on Sunday evening (January 15) with Ricky Gervais once again at the helm and all of Tinseltown in his joke-slinging sights. A much more staid affair than last year's show - save for some of the host's zingers and Seth Rogen's reference to his penis — the ceremony capped a long week of statuette-accepting and speech-giving ahead of next month's Oscars.
"The Artist" further solidified its spot at the front of the awards-season pack with three wins (including Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical) and "The Descendants" (Best Motion Picture — Drama and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama) showed that it could play the spoiler come Oscar night. The TV side was a more mixed affair, with no show dominating and high-profile wins going to newcomer "Homeland" (Best Television Series - Drama) and "Modern Family" (Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical).
Check out the full list of nominees below, with winners' names bolded:
Best Motion Picture - Drama
"The Descendants"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"The Ides of March"
"Moneyball"
"War Horse"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Tilda Swinton, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "J. Edgar"
Michael Fassbender, "Shame
Ryan Gosling, "The Ides of March"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"
Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
"50/50"
"The Artist"
"Bridesmaids"
"Midnight in Paris"
"My Week With Marilyn"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Jodie Foster, "Carnage
Charlize Theron, "Young Adult"
Kristen Wiig, "Bridesmaids"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"
Kate Winslet, "Carnage"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, "The Guard"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "50/50"
Ryan Gosling, "Crazy, Stupid, Love."
Owen Wilson, "Midnight in Paris"
Best Animated Feature Film
"The Adventures of Tintin"
"Arthur Christmas"
"Cars 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"
Best Foreign Language Film
"The Flowers of War" (China)
"In the Land of Blood and Honey" (USA)
"The Kid With a Bike" (Belgium)
"A Separation" (Iran)
"The Skin I Live In" (Spain)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"
Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week with Marilyn"
Albert Brooks, "Drive"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Viggo Mortensen, "A Dangerous Method"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Best Director - Motion Picture
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
George Clooney, "The Ides of March"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon - "The Ides of March"
Michel Hazanavicius - "The Artist"
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash - "The Descendants"
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin - "Moneyball"
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Ludovic Bource - "The Artist"
Abel Korzeniowski - "W.E."
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross - "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Howard Shore - "Hugo"
John Williams - "War Horse"
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
"Hello Hello" - "Gnomeo & Juliet," music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin
"The Keeper"- "Machine Gun Preacher," music and lyrics by Chris Cornell
"Lay Your Head Down" - "Albert Nobbs," music by Brian Byrne, lyrics by Glenn Close
"The Living Proof" - "The Help"; music by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason Jr.; lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas
"Masterpiece" - W.E., music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry
Best Television Series - Drama
"American Horror Story"
"Boardwalk Empire"
"Boss"
"Game of Thrones"
"Homeland"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama
Claire Danes, "Homeland"
Mireille Enos, "The Killing"
Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"
Madeleine Stowe, "Revenge"
Callie Thorne, "Necessary Roughness"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"
Kelsey Grammer, "Boss"
Jeremy Irons, "The Borgias"
Damian Lewis, "Homeland"
Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical
"Enlightened"
"Episodes"
"Glee"
"Modern "Family"
"New Girl"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical
Laura Dern, "Enlightened"
Zooey Deschanel, "New Girl"
Tina Fey, "30 Rock"
Laura Linney, "The Big C"
Amy Poehler, "Parks and Recreation"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
David Duchovny, "Californication"
Johnny Galecki, "The Big Bang Theory"
Thomas Jane, "Hung"
Matt LeBlanc, "Episodes"
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Movie
"Cinema Verite"
"Downton Abbey"
"The Hour"
"Mildred Pierce"
"Too Big to Fail"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Romola Garai, "The Hour"
Diane Lane, "Cinema Verite"
Elizabeth McGovern, "Downton Abbey" (Masterpiece)
Emily Watson, "Appropriate Adult"
Kate Winslet, "Mildred Pierce"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Hugh Bonneville, "Downtown Abbey" (Masterpiece)
Idris Elba, "Luther"
William Hurt, "Too Big to Fail"
Bill Nighy, "Page Eight" (Masterpiece)
Dominic West, "The Hour"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jessica Lange, "American Horror Story"
Kelly MacDonald, "Boardwalk Empire"
Maggie Smith, "Downtown Abbey" (Masterpiece)
Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family"
Evan Rachel Wood, "Mildred Pierce"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones"
Paul Giamatti, "Too Big to Fail"
Guy Pearce, "Mildred Pierce"
Tim Robbins, "Cinema Verite"
Eric Stonestreet, "Modern Family"

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Motorola Droid 4 In Action

Motorola recently announced their latest Android smartphone for Verizon Wireless, the Motorola Droid 4, which comes with 4G LTE, plus a dual core 1.2GHz processor and it will run Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, plus if features a 4 inch qHD scratch resistant touchscreen display and 1GB of RAM.
Other specifications on the Motorola Droid 4 include a slide out QWERTY keyboard, plus an 8 megapixel camera,a 4G LTE mobile hotspot which can connect up to 8 devices via WiFi, 16GB of built in storage plus a microSD card slot, have a look at the video of it in action below.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Motorola Droid 4 hands-on pictures

Along with the super-skinny Droid RAZR Maxx, Motorola has its all new Droid 4 on display at Pepcom's Digital Experience. It's .5-inch enclosure feels really sleek and solid in the hand, and the sliding mechanism seems like it'll stand up to regular use quite nicely. Design-wise, it's much improved over the Droid 3 and it feels like a higher-end device overall. The laser-cut and LED-backlit keyboard looks sleek in its cool blue hue, and keys seem to have a nice bit of travel. Like all physical keyboards, it takes a bit of getting used to, but it's a definite improvement over the Droid 3.Its 960 x 540 LCD display isn't quite as nice as the RAZR Maxx's Super AMOLED, but it'll suffice for regular use.

Acer Introduces Aspire S5 — World's Thinnest Ultrabook

Acer kicked off CES 2012 today with the introduction of the Aspire S5, billed as the world's thinnest ultrabook. With a 13.3-inch LCD display, the computer measures 15 mm at its biggest point and weighs less than 3 lbs.
Using the same Instant On technology as the Timeline, the S5 boots to full functionality in 1.5 seconds and boasts a battery life of "several weeks," according to a statement by Acer. The included Always Connect feature wakes the S5 from sleep mode via a separate device like a tablet or smartphone. AcerCloud, Acer's multiplatform compatible response to customer cloud storage, will come pre-installed on the S5.
Despite its size, the S5 does include external ports, hidden within what Acer calls a MagicFlip I/o port panel. A touch of the MagicFlip key reveals an HDMI, USB 3.0, and 20 Gbps Thunderbolt port. You heard it — Thunderbolt. The brushed black metallic cover is made of magnesium-aluminum alloy. An Intel CoreTM processor, SSD storage, and Dolby Home Theater v4 round out the S5's inner specs.
Look for the S5 to ship in the second quarter of 2012, when pricing will also be announced. Check out a first look at the new ultrabook in the gallery!

Nokia Lumia 900

Nokia announces its biggest yet thinnest Windows Phone to date with the Nokia Lumia 900, its first phone to support high-speed LTE data transfers.
As our exclusive video shows, this powerhouse was built exclusively for AT&T and promises a bigger, faster, stronger smartphone experience thanks to larger screen, faster processor and support for the fastest mobile data transfers available to date.

The Nokia Lumia 900 allows data downloads up to 50Mbps on AT&T’s 4G LTE network. What does that mean? It means that you’ll be able to view videos as fast as you can click on them, and never wait. It means your email arrives on time and you’re not sitting looking at an hourglass. It means the Web is totally fun to use on your mobile.
If you don’t have LTE, then the next step down is HSPA for a mere (cough!) 21Mbps download speed. How will you cope, USA?
Starting with the screen, the Nokia Lumia 900 puts an end to squinting at your smartphone display. It boasts a large, 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display to offer a big, crystal clear and super-colorful screen indoors and out. The resolution is 800 by 480 pixels.

Inside, there’s a 1.4GHz processor, running on an updated chipset, to support LTE. It’ll keep the phone running smooth and make sure everything happens now. For the tech aficionados, it’s a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8055 + MDM9200.
But not everything is totally new. We’ve recreated the popular polycarbonate unibody design pioneered by the Nokia N9 and the Nokia Lumia 800 for this new, bigger model. It looks amazing, fits the hand superbly – and it’s really hard to do it any damage from our experience here on Conversations.

Tech Specs Networks: GSM/EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/1900/2100, LTE Band 4 (1700/2100) & 17 (700)
OS: Windows Phone Release 7.5 – Mango Commercial Release 2 (Mango + LTE)
Memory: 512MB RAM
Storage: 16 GB internal memory (14.5GB user memory) + SkyDrive cloud storage
Volume: 90cc
Weight: 160g (5.6 ounces)
Dimensions: (max): 127.8 x 68.5 x 11.5 mm (5 x 2.7 x .45 inches)
A-GPS
Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
USB 2.0 high-speed
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
3mm headset connector

Another big plus is the battery. Often, you’d expect a bigger screen means that your battery won’t last too long. That’s far from the case here. The souped-up 1830mAH battery in the Nokia Lumia 900 will last for about 7hrs talk-time and up to 300hrs on standby.
To give another measurement of that battery, if you switch to flight mode and use it just as an MP3 music player, it’ll keep going for more than two-and-a-half days.
Fully integrated into the totally intuitive Windows Phone ease-of-use experience, the Nokia Lumia 900 offers Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive through the Windows Phone Marketplace. Nokia Drive offers free, turn-by-turn, voice-guided navigation everywhere.
Social networking is embedded to the core with all your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn contacts available from the start. The built-in Games and Music hubs ably handle music and entertainment – including Xbox and Zune integration.
This phone will also please users wanting to ditch their compact camera. On the back, there’s an 8-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and a dual LED flash. This model has a larger, f2.2/28mm aperture, allowing more light into the camera for faster performance, lower chance of motion blur and better low-light shots.
It also supports hi-res video capture for 720p/30fps action footage. In addition, there’s a second, front-facing camera to give support for video calls (1-megapixel with an f2.4 lens and 30fps capture).

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

2013 Cadillac ATS

Patience and persistence count for a lot when you're shaping brands. BMW is probably the best example, having evolved, model by model, from a German also-ran that built a weird minicar to the undisputed crafters of Ultimate Driving Machines. General Motors is probably the worst example, its recent history being littered with tales of expensive impatience. It remodeled the entire Oldsmobile lineup and then shut down the brand, it remodeled the entire Saturn lineup then shut that down, it engineered an all-new Saab 9-4 and 9-5 and...you get the picture. Such was the expectation for Cadillac when it decided a little more than a decade ago to build German-style sport sedans. Surely, Cadillac would get the whole European thing out of its system and then go back to building ponderous sedans. Or disappear altogether.

Except Cadillac hasn't gone away, and it's still chasing those Europeans. If the pursuit hasn't always been successful -- the XLR, the STS, the Europe-only BLS -- it has been dogged. Now, with the all-new 2013 Cadillac ATS compact sedan, which debuts at the Detroit auto show and goes on sale later this year, Cadillac thinks it has gained enough experience and credibility to do something that was once unthinkable: call out the BMW 3-series.
"We're going to outrefine the 3-series. We'll have similar or better performance, but we'll have that silk glove of Cadillac laced over it," says the ATS's lead development engineer, Chris Berube, who worked most recently on the CTS-V.
It's a bold claim, but the ATS's vital stats suggest that Berube is serious. Unlike the CTS, which originally skirted away from direct confrontation by offering BMW 5-series accommodations for a 3-series price, the ATS targets the smaller Bimmer in every dimension -- it's within half an inch in length, width, and height -- and will be "priced similarly." Its new, direct-injected 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder -- one of three powerplants, the others being a base 200-hp four-cylinder and the familiar 3.6-liter V-6 -- outmuscles the four-cylinder 328i with 270 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque. The automatic transmission is a six-speed, for now, but an eight-speed is on the way. The real hint that Cadillac means business, though, is the ATS's curb weight - another traditional weak spot for General Motors. With a six-speed manual transmission and the 2.0-liter turbo, the ATS weighs less than 3400 pounds, which edges out the 3406-pound 328i and significantly beats other competitors.
To produce a car so trim -- nearly 500 pounds lighter than the CTS and 400 pounds slimmer than the Chevrolet Camaro -- Cadillac's engineering team couldn't rely on any of GM's existing rear-wheel-drive platforms. "It's very difficult to take an existing architecture and make it a lightweight design," says Dave Masch, who led development of the ATS's all-new platform. Known internally as Alpha, it applies the lessons learned during six rounds of suspension development, which started back in 2007, to arrive at what the engineers describe as a much better and more mass-efficient suspension geometry. The suspension features a multilink setup in back and, rather than the CTS's control-arm front arrangement, employs struts with dual lower ball joints. Like the CTS, it will be available with magnetorheological dampers and Brembo brakes.
For the first time, engineers did not have to contend with dated internal standards that mandated bulkier than necessary suspension components (Bob Lutz's recent memoir describes a General Motors test that simulates tire-blowout conditions common in 1920s Alaska). Although the ATS is stiffer than a CTS, many individual parts, like the control arms, are of thinner-gauge metal. Even the fasteners are smaller. "Most every suspension bolt that we have in the car is one size smaller than what we've executed in the past," says Masch. For the same reason, the ATS team resisted pressure to incorporate Escalade-size wheels. "If you put a much bigger wheel and tire on this car, it's just going to make the car bigger -- and that creates mass," says Masch. Instead, the most aggressive setup the ATS employs are eighteen-inch wheels shod in summer performance tires (nineteens will be available as a dealer accessory, but only with all-season tires).
Although design has powered Cadillac's renaissance, here it took a back seat to weight reduction and suspension optimization. "We worked on this program for about two-plus years before we started any of the styling," says Masch. Translation: they didn't want a designer sketching a concept on a napkin that would then dictate the entire program, as happened, for instance, with the Camaro. The result is consistent with Cadillac's Art and Science theme and benefits from excellent rear-wheel-drive proportions, but it isn't as evocative as the CTS. Again, Cadillac nods to BMW, which tones down its design language for this high-volume segment.
The ATS's interior is also a step forward for Cadillac. Most notable is the arrival of a cohesive, branded approach to interior technology to rival the likes of BMW iDrive and Audi MMI. CUE, short for Cadillac User Experience, features an optional eight-inch touch screen and touch-sensitive controls, similar to MyFord Touch. The touch screen is capacitive, like an iPad, rather than resistive, like most automotive applications, which yields crisper graphics and faster responses. It also incorporates haptic feedback - icons on the screen and the controls on the panel below send a pulse when you touch them, simulating the texture of physical buttons. Drivers, however, will sooner appreciate the small steering wheel, the floor-hinged gas pedal and large dead pedal, the deep bucket seats, and the optional full-color head-up display. Materials, at least in the preproduction model we saw, are exemplary, including the soft leather dash and nice slabs of real wood.
We won't know whether the ATS stands up to the 3-series until we drive it - many automakers have tried and failed. However, we do know that Cadillac, after a decade of improvement, is well positioned to continue its ascent. Its new rear-wheel-drive platform, we're told, "is very scalable," which means you'll see other lightweight rear-wheel-drive Cadillacs, and it is very flexible, which means we're also likely to see a convertible. Oh, and there's room for a V-8. "In my world, there's always room for a small-block V-8," says Berube.

Beyonce And Jay-Z Welcome Baby Girl

The year's most anticipated new arrival is finally here: Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z (nee Shawn Carter) welcomed Blue Ivy Carter, a healthy baby girl, into the world on Saturday (January 7) in New York at Lenox Hill Hospital, according to E! News.

Beyoncé surprised and delighted fans around the world back in August when she not-so-subtly announced her pregnancy on our very own VMA stage.
Rumors have been swirling about the sex of the new bundle of joy since Beyoncé's close friend and former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland let it slip that "it" might be a "she."
"I have no idea what I'm going to buy Beyoncé at the baby shower because Jay is going to buy that little girl every single thing possible," she told told U.K. news agency Bang Showbiz. "She won't be spoiled, but she will be very well looked-after."

Fans are just as excited for Jay and B's bundle of joy. MTV News spoke to some of them recently, and many said that they expect the newborn to jump right to the top of the celebrity baby power list.
"A power baby, obviously," one fan said of the youngster's assumed superstar status, while another added, "It's gonna be a pretty cool baby, that's for sure. Probably gonna run New York City by the time he's 13 or 14."

Monday, January 9, 2012

Lenovo K91 55 inch 3D LED Ice Cream Sandwich SmartTV

Lenovo has unveiled its 55 inch 3D LED SmartTV named Lenovo K91 which is the first Android 4.0 Icecream Sandwich SmartTV at CES 2012. The Lenovo K91 SmartTV is a 55 inch, 1080p LED-backlit IPS 3D TV and runs Android 4.0 icecream sandwich across the beautiful big screen.
The Lenovo K91 Smart TV, as told above runs on Android 4.0 icecream sandwich, not to mistake it’s not a Google TV. It runs on a modified Icecream Sandwich build with access to Android market apps, voice controls, a 5MP webcam for video calls and the ability to make calls to Lenovo phones and tablets. Apart from it, it also has facial recognition for security and parental controls.
The heavily modified Icecream Sandwich ports into Lenovo SmartTV to combine both live TV and Android apps. The whole thing is powered by a Qualcomm APQ8060 S3 Snapdragon SoC, 1GB Ram, 8GB storage and 2GB SD card. Currently the device SmartTV will only be available in China, following up other countries later this year.
With the Lenovo K91 Smart TV you can easily get the cloud support where you can share media among the TV, tablets and smartphones. Also you will be able to control the SmartTV via smartphone or tablets.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

RIM now working on only one BlackBerry 10 smartphone; Colt, Milan canceled

We already reported that the BlackBerry Colt — the handset that was originally intended to be the Research In Motion’s first BlackBerry 10 smartphone — had been cancelled. Now, we have heard from multiple sources that the BlackBerry Milan that leaked last month was in fact was never a QNX smartphone, but a BlackBerry 7 device with a slightly different design identity. Regardless, the Milan has been cancelled as well. We’re told carriers balked at the idea of carrying a BlackBerry 7 phone so similar to the BlackBerry Torch at this point in time. The only phone RIM is working on bringing to market right now is the BlackBerry London. We have been told that RIM is currently shopping the London with carriers, and while it still looks very much like the image published by The Verge in November, there have been some slight design changes made. Lastly, we got word that when representatives from Porsche Design showed up to RIM’s headquarters to check out the progress the company was making on the designed by Porsche BlackBerry 9900-series phone for the first time, “it was a complete disaster.”

Solar Panel Roof Shingles

The National Research Council (NRC) of Canada released, in their December 2011 Construction Innovation newsletter, that they are evaluating the possibilities of using building-integrative photovoltaic (BIPV) shingles and turning the low sloped roofs, typically found on commercial supermarkets, industrial warehouses and school buildings, into energy producers. BIPV shingle products are expected to become available in Canadian markets sometime in 2012, if they already aren’t available.
A study published in November by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), compared BIPV systems with traditional roof mounted photovoltaic (PV) systems. The study found on average BIPV systems had a reduced efficiency of around 6-14% conversation rate, compared to 15% conversion rate for roof mounted PV systems. The primary reason for reduced efficiency in BIPV vs. roof mounted PV systems was the lack of air flow beneath the solar cells, increasing the cells operating temperature, resulting in increased corrosion of the metalized key components.Overall the study looked at the unsubsidized levelized costs of energy (LCOE) between these systems. The levelized cost of energy is the installation costs, plus the lifetime maintenance/repair costs, all over the expected lifetime electricity production amount. The study looked at two locations: Tucson and Boston, the levelized cost per kWh was $0.19 and $0.25 respectively. Assuming Boston most likely represents an average Canadian environment, when compared against the peak electricity rate in Toronto, ~$0.15 (all costs in) per kWh, a BIPV system ends up being just less than twice as expensive as simply grabbing energy from the grid.
In this event a BIPV system might be beneficial if electricity prices increased by 70%, or if the costs of installing and maintaining a system was halved, or its operational lifetime doubled. The latter would be less desirable in regards to the time value of money, but could be considered as a hedge investment against a possible increase in electricity costs.
Overall a BIPV system does save common building material costs, such as asphalt for roof shingles or mounting hardware for roof mounted PV systems. However because BIPV are being directly installed on the building material, the products must adhere to higher quality standards and building codes. When compared against traditional mounted PV systems, in addition to improved quality over typical roofing systems, BIPV shingles could offer an aesthetic value to home or commercial building owners, interested in the look, or values that BIPV can represent.

Nextbook Elite Android 4.0 Tablet

Many would think of eFun as yet-another me-too tablet maker, which offers Nextbook Android tablets with underwhelming at a cost of $120. However eFun also offers some higher-end tablets with “premium” features. Now reports are coming in that eFun is preparing to launch its very first tablet that features Android 4.0 as well as a dual core processor.
The eFun Nextbook Elite 10 runs on a 1.1GHz Broadcomm processor and 8GB of flash memory. It also sports a 9.7-inch display that’s capable of pumping out 1024×768 resolution. That package is normally featured in HP TouchPads, but in this case the latest Android OS is pre-loaded, and no firmware modifications needed. Moreover, the Nextbook Elite 10 has a 2MP front-facing camera for video conferencing as well as a 5MP rear camera.
No word has been given on its availability, but this tablet will appear at CES next week, and eFun plans to sell it for between $250 and $280.

A First for Samsung: Smartphone Printers

This week Samsung launched a series of printers that can print documents from smartphones and other mobile gadgets using Wi-Fi Direct. Wi-Fi Direct is a Wi-Fi Alliance certified standard that enables anytime, anywhere communication without the need to connect to a traditional home, office or hotspot router. Devices such as mobile phones, cameras, printers, PCs and gaming devices can interconnect with one another using the Wi-Fi Direct feature through embedded applications in each device.

While Samsung officials acknowledge the capability is nothing new, their smartphone printers provide a wide range of features that competitors don't match. Samsung is promoting their ecosystem with its new set of printers that provide better features than HP-equivalent printers. The wireless ML-2160 and SCX-3400 series printers feature Wi-Fi Direct with features that dramatically improve ease of use and expand the type of documents that users can print wirelessly.

A quick video tutorial that Samsung provides via YouTube summarizes the most important differences between Samsung’s Mobile Print application versus HP’s iPrint application:

HP requires two applications (iPrint PDF and iPrint Photo) for the wireless printing to be enabled. Samsung enables Wi-Fi Direct with a single application.
Both companies publish printing and scanning capabilities. However, HP has enabled scanning only on iOS devices. Samsung enables printing and scanning via iOS and Android devices.
Samsung’s Mobile Printing supports inkjets and laser printers whereas HP’s iPrint supports only inkjet printers.

In order to enable Mobile Printing via a Samsung smartphone or tablet, just download the “Samsung Mobile Printing Application” from either the Apple or Android mobile application stores. While Samsung does not yet command a significant market share among the leaders such as Lexmark and HP, it will continue to chisel away notable bits of share with better innovations and universal connectivity in the years ahead.

Very Pregnant Beyonce Spotted Last Night In New York

Beyonce is still working hard, although she is about to give birth at any moment. She was spotted leaving her office last night in New York with her mom Tina and bodyguard Julius in tow. When her bodyguard tried to stop paparazzi from taking photos, Bey was nice enough to tell him, ‘Leave them alone, it’s fine’ as she continued to make her way to the waiting vehicle.
Earlier this week, an anonymous caller called into a Houston radio station and claimed Beyonce had touched down in Houston and was planning to give birth there but her recent sighting debunks that rumor. Most of her fans anticipated that her obsession with ’4′ would have her baby’s arrival date set to January 4th (which also happens to be her mother’s birthday) but that date came and went as well. According to psychic Jesse Bravo who was contacted by MTV, her baby may be arriving next week but he also thinks she’s having a boy.I get the date of January 8^th- January 14^th of her giving birth to her first son. From what I hear I know that the child’s first name starts with a ‘J’; I think it’s like Jaylen or something like that. It’s going to be a tribute to her husband.

If it was a boy, she’d probably go for Shawn Carter Jr. but who knows. We’re still banking on that girl! Brooklyn Carter.

Bruce Willis And Emma Heming Expecting A Daughter

Bruce Willis‘ wife, Emma Heming, is reportedly expecting a baby girl. Bruce already has three daughters, Rumer, 23, Scout, 20, and 17-year-old Tallulah, with ex-wife Demi Moore – is set to become a father for the fourth time after it was announced in October that Emma is pregnant with their first child.

A source told Life &Style magazine: “Bruce is going to have another baby girl in his life. He is overjoyed.”

“They’re very happy about their new baby coming into the world. Bruce has been doting on Emma and has been very sweet with her.”

Bruce, 56, previously claimed he was indifferent to having children with 33-year-old Emma as the only thing that mattered was being with her.

He said: “I’d like to have a thousand more children, or zero more children. It doesn’t matter. Emma makes me feel great.”

Bruce also revealed how meeting and falling in love with the British lingerie model turned his life around.

He said: “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and this comes after a long period of being kind of lonely, even though I tried to convince myself I was enjoying my life.”

“Before I met Emma I was very pessimistic about finding that special woman with whom I would want to spend my life with.”

“I thought it would be difficult for someone like me, who is well known, to find a woman who didn’t have an agenda and who just wanted to be with me because they loved me, pure and simple.”

One thing we can count on – Bruce’s new daughter will be better looking than the current three.

Rihanna Named Best-Selling Digital Artist Ever Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift also rank high on Nielsen SoundScan list.

Rihanna's run at the record books continues unabated, as the "We Found Love" singer has been named by Nielsen SoundScan as the top-selling digital artist ever.

The Talk That Talk diva has moved an incredible 47.5 million digital downloads since bursting onto the scene in 2005, giving her a comfortable lead over second-place Black Eyed Peas, who have career digital sales of 42.4 million. Eminem trails BEP by just 100,000 for third place with over 42.29 million in sales. Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift came in at fourth and fifth, respectively, with career digital sales of 42.08 million and 41.82 million.
Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, Beyoncé, Kanye West and Britney Spears round out the top 10.
Rihanna can add the title to her ever-increasing list of chart accolades. Late last year, she leapt past Janet Jackson and Stevie Wonder on the list of artists with the most #1 singles when "We Found Love" topped the charts, becoming her 11th #1 and tying her with Whitney Houston. Only the Supremes, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and the Beatles have more chart-toppers. The single also helped the pop star make Billboard history as the solo artist to reach 20 top tens the fastest. It took her six years and four months to reach that total, five less than it took Madonna.
While Rihanna leads in overall combined sales, none of her songs placed individually on the all-time list of top-selling digital songs, which is led by BEP's "I Got a Feeling." "Feeling" has sold 7.68 million downloads, besting the second-place track — Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" — by more than a million downloads. "Face" and another Gaga hit, "Just Dance," both boast digital sales of approximately 6.5 million, more than another BEP jam, "Boom Boom Pow," which took fourth place with 6.2 million in sales.
Further down the list at #7 is MTV's Song of 2011, "Rolling in the Deep." Adele's chart-topping, Grammy-nominated smash has moved more than 5.9 million downloads since its late-2010 release. Flo Rida's "Low," Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" and Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" also appear on the list of best-selling digital tracks.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Google will debut new Google TV at CES 2012

Semiconductor company Marvell announced on Thursday that the next generation of Google TV will be powered by the Marvell Foresight Platform and its Armada 1500 HD Media system-on-a-chip, and that we'll be getting a first look at it next week at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Marvell has teamed up with Google and effectively picked up where Intel left off when it quit its short run with Google TV, and moving its Digital Home Group engineers over to Ultrabooks, tablets, and smartphones.
The first generation of Google TV was powered by Intel's Atom CE4100 system on a chip, but due to extremely poor consumer adoption, both Intel and Google TV set-top-box maker Logitech both bowed out of the Google TV project as leading partners.

Google, however, still has big plans for the platform and rolled out a major update in October that endowed Google TV with Android Apps, improved search, and an overall more simple interface.
"The Google and Marvell teams have been working closely together to bring our combined software and chipset technologies to market to grow the Google TV ecosystem of manufacturers and devices. Marvell-powered Google TV solutions will enable powerful products to be brought to market at attractive prices,” said Mario Queiroz, Google TV's Vice President of Product Management.
With Logitech's Revue set top box now discontinued, there could have been a lack of affordable options for Google TV, but with Marvell's Foresight platform, the lower cost set-top-box segment will be addressed. The Armada 1500 system on a chip inside the Foresight platform runs an ARM v6/7-compatible PJ4B SMP dual-core CPU and has Marvell's Qdeo video processing technology and VMeta HD video encoder/decoder/transcoder.
We're scheduled to meet with Marvell later today about this announcement, and we'll post a follow-up with answers to our questions. If there's anything you want to know about the platform, or Marvell's partnership with Google in the Google TV project, let us know in the comments.

Your Next Mouse : the Cube

Just before the upcoming electronics extravaganza, the Consumer Electronics Show, Logitech dropped a clever little device for hungry eyes. And hands.
While Apple, Google, Blackberry, Microsoft, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Acer and others prepare to duke it out publicly for the slimmest, coolest, shiniest and fastest tablet, Logitech slipped in under our collective radar and quietly introduced today what could be your next mouse.
Called the Cube, this rectangular box comes in black or white, with scrolling surfaces top and bottom to swipe your fingers lovingly along, similar to a smartphone’s glass touch screen, only with small ridges.
The Cube connects wirelessly using a miniscule Logitech Unifying Receiver adapter. Simply remove it from the Cube and plug into a USB port on your laptop or desktop computer.
Lift the Cube from your desk, and it instantly goes into presentation mode - tap on the top to move along a PowerPoint presentation, and flip it over to click to a previous slide.
The Cube’s 2.4 gigahertz radio signal allows you to wirelessly connect up to six compatible devices, including a portable keyboard to move with you while in presentation mode. You can even use a regular wireless mouse with the Cube at your desk. Worried about power on this tiny device? It contains a USB-rechargeable lithium polymer battery which will alert you when it’s running low.
The Cube has a whopping three-year warranty, and will be showing up in stores sometime later this month, setting you back an easy $69.99. Not bad for the chance to be the coolest presenter in your office next time around

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Samsung Galaxy M offers up Super AMOLED for less

Samsung's 2011 flagship still tantalizingly out of your wallet's reach? Well, you might be tempted by the latest addition to the Galaxy family that's just gone official in Korea. While the shell appears nigh-on indistinguishable from the previously announced Galaxy R, there are some notable spec differences. The M totes a four-inch Super AMOLED screen, not the Super Clear LCD found on the R, while there's also only a single-core 1GHz processor here, not the dual-core Tegra 2 found on its older brother. The camera has also felt the pinch, shrinking from a five megapixel to a three megapixel offering. The Gingerbread handset measures in at just under 10mm thick, while still packing a TV tuner and a metallic body more similar to the Wave series than the plastic-backed Galaxy family. The M moniker places it in the high-end affordable spectrum, according to Sammy's latest naming strategy, priced at around $500, although there's no news on a release outside of its homeland just yet. The phone will arrive in three confusing color options; Platinum Silver [above], Blue Black and Lavender Pink. See whether the specification trade-off is worth it for a dose of Super AMOLED goodness by inspecting the source below.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Prior Design Mercedes SLS AMG Teaser

Prior Design has sent out this teaser pictures of their latest line of aftermarket parts to be released for the Mercedes SLS AMG. The luxury Mercedes sports car has seen a variety of tuners try to make the ultimate SLS AMG package, but they keep getting better every year. On this particular project, we see body modifications everywhere, the hood received new air outlets, a revised front bumper, and new splitter on the front as well. New side skirts give it a more aggressive look, while the new alloy wheels bring the complete tuning project together. Now lets wait and see if Prior Design can bring this stunning Mercedes SLS AMG to life.

Acer and Lenovo Will Make Windows 8 Tablets in 2012

A new year marks a new beginning for many tablet makers after getting kicked around by the Apple iPad in sales all 2011 long. Acer and Lenovo are a couple of manufacturers who will be taking another proverbial 'kick at the cat' (sorry to cat lovers) in 2012 when they build and launch Windows 8 tablets to the market. Seeing as the general consumer markets are saturated by iPads and Android tablets, the word on the street is that Windows 8 tablets and their makers will aim at the business sales model to fuel market share and sales. This is always a win for Microsoft as many businesses are still functioning with Windows Infrastructures. A Windows based tablet would be just the thing to easily plug into an existing Microsoft dominated ecosystem.
With Intel's Clover Trail architecture coming out, and Windows 8 Operating System due in the latter part of 2012, we may see a resurgence in enterprise gadget sales. To add to the talk, Microsoft and Nokia are both rumored to release their own branded slate devices sporting Windows 8 OS.

Motorola Droid 4 Poses For The Camera

We are expecting the new Motorola Droid 4 to land on Verizon Wireless some time this month, and now we have some actual photos of the device along with some more specifications.
The guys over at Technobuffalo managed to get their hands on the Motorola Droid 4, whcih you can see in the photos below, and we now know that it comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Other specifications include a dual core 1.2GHz processor, a 4 inch qHD touchscreen display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of built in storage, plus a microSD card slot, and 8 megapixel rear camera and a front facing HD camera.

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