IBLOG SPACE

Lenovo’s all-in-one C200 was among the roll-call of machines using the second-gen NVIDIA Ion GPU, and the company have finally launched it. Centered around an 18.5-inch 16:9 display – with an optional touchscreen layer – the Lenovo C200 has a choice of Intel Atom processors and a standard DVD burner; Ion graphics are optional. Meanwhile the C200 has also brought a friend in the shape of the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3s netbook, a slimmer version of the previous S10-3 complete with Ion. The Lenovo C200 has an integrated webcam, up to an Atom D510 dual-core processor and integrated stereo speakers. The base model kicks off at $399, though that only gets you the Atom D410, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard-drive and neither touchscreen nor Ion; it’ll hit shelves in late April. As for the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3s, that has a choice of Atom N450 or N470 processors, optional integrated 3G WWAN and WiFi b/g/n. It also has Dolby Headphones and a keyboard which, the company reckon, is 98-percent of full-size.

It’s fair to say that it takes a pretty special feature-phone to get us excited these days, but the LG Mini GD880may manage to tick a few boxes. Announced back in February, the GD880’s primary claim to fame – aside from its slimline build – is the HTML5-compliant Webkit based LG Phantom Browser, which supports Flash and up to 10 simultaneous windows viewed on the 3.2-inch touchscreen. That’s pretty advanced, and not just for a featurephone; it means you can access Google Latitude, Gmail, Calendar, Google Maps and Google Buzz, among other things. There’s also push email support, along with a 5.0-megapixel camera, A-GPS and an FM radio. Connectivity includes 7.2 Mbps HDSPA (network depending, naturally) and WiFi. The LG Mini GD880 is set to launch in Europe sometime this month, with broader availability following on after that; prices are yet to be confirmed. We’re still not entirely sure we’d pick a feature-phone – no matter how capable – over a smartphone, but for buyers prioritisi

Last month a new line of HDTVs launched that was licensed by Marvel and offered with lots of different comic book superheroes on the sets. The TVs were interesting, but most folks probably weren’t interested in a set with Spiderman on it. A very similar set of HDTVs was announced today that are adorned with school mascots from some of the big Florida universities. The new TVs are offered in 22″, 32″, 42″, and 55″ LCD HDTV flavors and can be had in 40″ and 46″ LED backlit styles as well. The sets have school logos from the Florida State Seminoles, Florida Gators, Miami Hurricanes, and the University of Central Florida Knights on the bottom of the TV bezel. When the sets are turned on the school logo and mascot is displayed on the space screen for 8-seconds. These are the same exact features of the Marvel TVs I mentioned before. The sets can be purchased from RTCViewright now and for a limited time if you buy one, you get a second free.

Looks like the 3.21 firmware update for the Sony PS3 isn't all peachy and rosy, since it not only removes the "install other OS" option, it also includes locking legitimate owners out of their PSN account, with the console not loading a disc after the update. For the more extreme situation, some users have even complained about being unable to turn on the PS3 once the update is applied, while others saw their console freeze during the firmware update process. Sony has yet to respond to all these allegations and complains, so we hope that something will be done soonest possible if they are legit.

Griffin Technologies has a new range of products that ought to tickle the fancy of most iPad owners. Folks who shun away from the Apple Keyboard Dock might want to check out the A-Frame Tabletop Stand as seen above, where this $49.99 peripheral comprises of a folding aluminum form factor alongside a soft silicone cradle located in the bottom. This allows the iPad to sit comfortably in the cradle regardless of whether it is in portrait or landscape orientation. Apart from that, you will also be able to pick up PowerBlock and PowerJolt power adapters that cater for the iPad, with the PowerBlock going for $29.99 while the PowerJolt is slightly cheaper at$24.99. Road warriors might want to check out the combo kit known as the PowerDuo for iPad, where it comprises of both the PowerBlock and PowerJolt adapters.

Samsung's latest Spinpoint MP4 hard drive will target notebook users who want a high performance storage device within their chassis. This 2.5" speed demon of a hard drive will come in a varying range of capacities, maxing out at 640GB while featuring a 7,200RPM speed alongside a claimed improvement of 30% where its data processing speed is concerned. Other features include support for the SATA interface, 16MB buffer memory, Dynamic Balancing, SilentSeek and NoiseGuard technologies. No idea on pricing just yet though.

iPad? What iPad, the Chinese ask, with a slew of ebook readers hitting the market in that part of the world lately. The SmartDevices R7 ebook reader is the latest in a growing line, where it is destined to hit the market pretty soon with its 7" color LCD display with capacitive touchscreen capability at 800 x 600 resolution, a quartet of buttons on the front and hopefully support for a wide range of ebook formats. Apart from that, we are still kept in the dark concerning pricing and availability. Do you think if it is cheap enough, it might eat into the iPad's sales (or any other competing devices for that matter)?

First time parents are more often than not cautious in all that they do, and they will definitely invest in a baby monitor of sorts. Why not go all out with the Prism Color Video monitor, where you not only get to hear your little newborn from a different room, but also see him/her in full color? Featuring a 2.4GHz remote monitor with a color display, this kit will offer support for up to a quartet of cameras, complete with a zoom function and “auto night vision.” Would you be willing to fork out $219 for some peace of mind?

The Ace Antenna A DR-200 car black box might be just the thing that parents won't mind getting for their kids who have just received a driver's license, since it will feature a camera that can be mounted onto the windshield, with one facing the road while the other facing the vehicle's interior. Apart from that, the camera seems to be able to work even in low light conditions, and will come equipped with an integrated GPS receiver and a microphone. It will basically record everything you say and everywhere you go, while keeping an accurate track thanks to its GPS capability.

It’s been more than thirty five years since Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel, observed that the transistor density of semiconductor chips doubles roughly every 18 months. This observation was both accurate as well as profound and became known to us as Moore’s Law. The effect of Moore’s Law has been simple, new PCs are almost twice as powerful as the prior generation. This in turn led to mass market adoption as PCs became more powerful, capability and functionality increased and appeal widened the market for new adopters with every generation of hardware and the software functionality it enabled. It appears Moore’s Law remains in force and by most accounts will continue for at least some time. But I often wonder whether there is still benefit for most users and in what ways will raw speed empower them? While I don’t want to sound like the apocryphal quote Bill Gates was said to have made about no one needing more than 640k of RAM, I feel that the impact of Moore’s Law on processing

Like death, taxes and sub-par Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, leaky pre-launch Windows builds are inevitable. Latest to hit the unofficial pipes is Windows 7 Service Pack 1, apparently easily found on your torrent site of choice, and according to GeekSMACK freshly built on March 27th. They found that the install process was much faster than on previous Vista service packs, and involves two reboots in all. What they don’t share is any of the feature changes, but from what we’ve previously heard, Windows 7 SP1 won’t really be bringing anything new and shiny but acts more as a gathering-together of previous hotfixes, tweaks and security patches. The build number for this leaked release is apparently 6.1.7601.16537.amd64fre.win7.100327-0053, but as ever we’d caution users to be very careful with what they download and install. As we saw last year, it’s all too easy to get caught out by a fake torrent and find you’ve accidentally installed a trojan onto your system.

It’s not just The Impossible Project bringing old photography film back to life; Lomo lovers aching for a taste of the old world are now able to pick up a pack of film using original Agfa RSX 200 emulsion for use in their Lubitel 166+ and Diana F+ cameras. The new supply is thanks to the Lomographic Society discovering that Agfa Geveart still make the much-loved Agfa RSX 200 emulsion, though so far it’s only been sold for aerial photography purposes. The emulsion takes its place in the new Lomography Color Slide/X-Pro 120 Film 200, currently available on the Lomographic Society’s site and soon to arrive in UK stores. It’s E6-processable and intended for use in medium-format cameras; price is £20 ($30) for a pack of three, and you’re promised “whacked out colors, huge contrast, and insane saturation”.

After drooling a little over JVC’s latest pro-spec video camera earlier this week, it only seems right to pay a little attention to Canon’s rival camcorders, the XF305 and XF300. Each capable of recording 1920 x 1080 Full HD video in MPEG-2 4:2:2 50Mbps Canon XF codec, they have hot-swappable dual UDMA CF card slots, Canon 18x HD L-series lenses and the company’s latest DIGIC DV III Image Processor. Of course there’s also optical image stabilization, a 4.0-inch, 1.23-megapixel articulated LCD preview screen and dual XLR inputs for external audio sources (in addition to the built-in stereo microphones). As with the JVC, none of this comes cheap: expect to pay $7,999 for the Canon XF305 or $6,799 for the Canon XF300 when they arrive in late June 2010.

I don’t put my CDs or DVDs up after I use them typically. I tend to stack them in a pile on my desk or on the shelf behind my desk. I guess the kids learned the same thing from me since they tend to leave discs stacked as well. That means we often end up with games and movies that are too scratched to play. Instructables has a how-to that will walk you through the steps to make your CDs and DVDs playable again by fixing the scratches with Vaseline of all things. You smear the petroleum jelly on the disc and then wipe it back off. I remember using that stuff on my kids’ diaper rash when they were infants; it is hard to get off just about any surface. The instructions suggest cotton balls, alcohol, and elbow grease for removal. Even severely scratched CDs are said to be repairable with this method.

The are some industries where retro works very well. A god example is the auto industry where cars like the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro remind us of the 60’s muscle cars they started out as. In some industries retro just doesn’t work, like the gadget industry. I don’t think you will find many mobile phone users willing to carry around a retro phone that looks like one of those massive bricks from the 80’s. Fewer still will be willing to shell out £139,995.00 for said phone sporting a 22ct gold shell and diamonds around the LCD. Stuart Hughes has just such a device though covered in 900 grams of gold and 76 flawless diamonds amounting to 23ct. The device has a color screen, and supports WAP, text, SMS, and more. The device will be limited to only ten versions produced. I bet they don’t sell one this thing is ugly.

The ICD Gemini certainly wows when it comes to hardware specifications, but anybody can write a glowing spec-sheet and throw together some renders; happily, ICD aren’t all talk and no trousers. Stuff have grabbed some hands-on time with a Gemini prototype and even have an estimated UK release date to go with it: August 2010, apparently, with carrier support bringing prices to roughly iPad parity. Positive points include a “lovely, sharp widescreen display” and of course that NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset which should make for a more potent experience than you’d find on the iPad. However, this is a “buggy pre-production device” on which only very few features were actually working. Hopefully ICD will be working on tweaking the standard Android apps to better suit the 11.2-inch touchscreen; Stuff say the email and other software all look somewhat “stranded”. Still, performance in the browser – perhaps what most people will be using tablets like this for – is “blisteringly fast”. Apparently

Someone is always trying to invent a better computer mouse. Over the years, I have seen mice made in all sorts of styles for ergonomics and comfort and in different designs for various reasons. All of the mice I have seen have been for the hands though. A concept mouse called the Toe Mouse has popped up over at Yanko Design. This is certainly not a mouse I would want to share around the office. The idea is that the mouse slips between the big toe and second toe like a flip flop. The big toe acts as the left click and the second toe is the right click. The only issue I see is that it might be hard for some people to click the right button with the second toe without clicking the left button as well. I guess it depends on your toe dexterity.

Batteries are key to just about every one of the most beloved gadgets we all carry. We have batteries inside our phones, iPads, MP3 players, laptops, and a myriad of other gadgets. Rechargeable batteries are also prolific in electric and hybrid cars so any new process that promises twice the life for a rechargeable battery is a major victory. We typically think about run time when it comes to rechargeable batteries, but how long the batteries last is important as well. Hitachi claims to have invented a new process that will double the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries. This is a very important breakthrough for the hybrid and electric vehicle market where batteries need to be replaced in the area of every five years at a cost of thousands of dollars. Hitachi’s new breakthrough would let the batteries used last for up to ten years before they need to be replaced. Hitachi plans to focus the battery tech to start within the grid-scale storage market for storing solar and wind power. I am s

Amazon has a wide range of offerings and sometimes it is the only place you can find some of the items offered. Such is the case with a new 3D TV that has turned up on the site for pre-order from a company I have never heard of called StreamTV. I can’t even find information online about the company. The set is very intriguing though with a 42-inch screen that can show 3D content without needing to wear glasses of any sort. The set also has an integrated Blu-ray player and full web browsing capability along with a 500GB HDD. The rub is that even Amazon lacks hard information on the set, which is listed at $5,999.99. There are no pictures and no hard details on how the 3D TV works. Presumably, the integrated Blu-ray player supports 3D movies, but even that fact is not spelled out. Amazon claims the set will be released on May 7, hopefully we will know the sordid details by that date.

The rate at which rumors about Apple products proliferate never ceases to amaze me. It has been only a few days since the iPad landed in consumer hands and already we have rumors about the next generation iPad. The rumor also includes some new speculation on what will be inside the next iPhone model. The scuttlebutt is that OmniVision camera sensors will make their way into the next iPhone and iPad models. The lack of a camera is one of the big complaints about the iPad. We have talked about the OmniVision camera sensors before. They are capable of 1080p video recording at 30fps and 2MP or higher resolution still shots. Electronista reports that OmniVision executives said that the firm might have made deals with Apple for its next generation devices. The camera sensors would reportedly be in the 3MP to 5MP resolution range. We heard back in December that the next iPhone would have a 5MP camera lending a bit of weight to the new rumor.

With WiFi digital media streamers getting cheaper and cheaper, if you want to charge a premium price then your device needs to offer something out of the ordinary. Grace Digital Audio reckons their Allegro portable WiFi radio/streamer ticks that box by virtue of its sound quality; the Allegro packs a Class D 8 watt digital amplifier, outputting via a single speaker, and can be run off of mains, regular or rechargeable batteries. As well as over 17,000 radio stations, 20,000 plus on-demand programs and over 35,000 podcasts, the Allegro can access Pandora for streaming audio. Connectivity includes WiFi b/g/n, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a stereo speaker jack, and you can control Pandora’s thumbs up/thumbs down rating system directly from the mediaplayer itself. The company also offers a free iPhone remote control app. As well as internet radio there’s support for streaming media from your home network, and there’s an alarm clock with snooze functionality too. Nonetheless, the price is

OCZ offers numerous SSDs that hit different performance and price categories. The most reasonably priced of its offerings is the Onyx series that debuted in March for under $100. OCZ has announced new line of SSDs that skip the standard SATA interface in favor of using the PCI Express slot on the mainboard to bypass any potential bottlenecks in performance. The new line of SSDs is called the Z-Drive R2 family . There are three drives in the family that all use MLC NAND flash. The family of SSDs are bootable, have eight PCI-E lanes each, and can be configured for 8-way RAID 0. Storage capacity for the line ranges form 256GB to 2TB. The drives are all aimed at business and enterprise use and OCZ will customize firmware for the client to get the performance they need from the drives. The line includes the Z-Drive R2 p88, p84, and m84 drives. The p88 has eight SATA controllers while the other two drives offer four SATA controllers. Pricing is unknown at this time.

Intel’s Atom plans continue, with the company apparently preparing to launch a new dual-core desktop processor. According to Fudzilla, the Atom D525 is a dual-core 1.8GHz chip with support for both DDR2 and DDR3 memory; it will also have the same 13W TDP as the Atom D510 processor it effectively replaces. The D525 is expected to launch sometime in Q2 2010, and be accompanied by a single-core version (perhaps the D425, if Intel continue their naming scheme). No word on pricing for the new chip, but we’re guessing it’ll show up in all-in-ones like Lenovo’s C200.

Onkyo Japan have outed their latest netbook [pdf link], the 10.1-inch MX1007A4, and according to the company it’s capable of 14.4 hours of runtime from a single charge. That’s partly because, rather than an Atom N450 processor, the MX1007A4 gets Intel’s 1.2GHz Atom Z515 chip paired with 1GB of RAM; it’s a more frugal setup, certainly, but we have our doubts about performance. Other hardware includes a 250GB hard-drive, WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and the whole thing tips the scales at 1.16kg. There’s also a webcam, fingerprint biometrics and a memory card reader, together with two USB 2.0 ports, audio in/out and ethernet. Our experience with the Z-series of Atom chips is that multitasking can quickly become even more of a chore than on a regular netbook; it’s all well and good having a machine that can last through a full work day and beyond, but if you’re sat waiting for the CPU to churn for half that time then it’s not particularly efficient overall. No word on pricing as yet,

Dissection of Apple’s iPad is already turning up some interesting findings, but while the silicon analysts are digging through the A4 chipset’s various layers, iSuppli are more concerned with the cost. They’ve been looking at how much the iPad comes to purely in terms of its components, and reckon that for a $499 16GB WiFi iPad, Apple are spending $259.60. Of that figure, the various aspects of the display and touchscreen contribute the biggest proportion. The panel itself – which consists of a custom LCD and capacitive glass overlay – is a $95 part, while the Apple A4 chipset – a three-layer sandwich of an ARM processor and two strata of Samsung memory – adds $26.80 on its own. iSuppli also reckon Apple prioritized the physical feel of the iPad for owners, with the aluminum rear panel costing $10.50. Flash storage accounts for $29.50, $59 and $118 of the price of a 16GB, 32GB and 64GB iPad respectively. Nonetheless, just as Apple left themselves room to change memory provider in t

It’s taken them long enough, but ASUS’ Eee PC T101MT – the 10.1-inch multitouch convertible netbook – is finally on sale and shipping in the US. Available through Amazon, the T101MT has an Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard-drive, but the most interesting aspect is the multitouch-capable 1024 x 600 resistive touchscreen. Of course, the irony is that the version of Windows 7 ASUS preload onto this particular model of Eee PC T101MT – Windows 7 Starter Edition – doesn’t actually have multitouch support baked in; for that, you’ll have to upgrade to a higher-tier version. That seems unduly short-sighted on their part, and we won’t even mention the recently-launched iPad lurking in the wings. For $499, we’re not 100-percent convinced, especially with reviewers talking of sluggish performance.a

Toshiba have seemingly realised that the US market has an interest in low-cost camcorders, and so has decided to ship its CAMILEO range over from Europe. Announced all the way back at IFA 2009, the CAMILEO S20, H30 and X100 kick off from $180 and all record Full HD 1080p video. The slimline S20 is probably the most distinctive (and, ironically, the cheapest), with a 4x digital zoom and 5-megapixel still capacity; it also gets a 3-inch fold-out display and supports up to 32GB SDHC memory cards. Next up is the more traditionally-shaped H30, using its extra bulk to accommodate a 5x optical zoom and a 10-megapixel sensor. It has a 3-inch touchscreen and also uses SDHC memory. Finally, the CAMILEO X100 has a 10x optical zoom, 3-inch touchscreen and 10-megapixel sensor, and can record at 1080p / 30fps and 1080i / 60fps. There are also slow-motion and other recording modes. All three models will arrive on April 19th, with the S20 priced at $179.99, the H30 at $249.99 and the X100 at $349

AMD have outed their latest graphics card, and the ATI FirePro V8800 has set its sights on your workstation. Described as “the most powerful professional graphics card ever created”, the V8800’s 1600 stream processors offer 2.6 teraflops of power with 147.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth; a single card can drive four 30-inch displays and – if paired with the ATI FirePro S400 Synchronization Module – those panels can all be synchronized, too. There’s obviously OpenGL, OpenCL and DirectX 11 support, along with DirectCompute 11, and the V8800 is optimized for more than 90 pro-graphics packages. Connectivity includes four DisplayPort ports, and there’s 2GB of GDDR5 memory. That optimization, meanwhile, is handled intelligently, with the FirePro V8800 automatically switching drivers when you move between different apps; that way the card is always performing at its best. Unsurprisingly, this sort of performance doesn’t come cheap: the ATI FirePro V8800 has an MRSP of $1,499.

So, this Thursday is going to be a big day for Apple. They’ve already launched the iPad, and just two days later, they announced that we’re all going to get a sneak peek at iPhone OS 4.0. However, it looks like that’s not all that Apple is planning. At Thursday’s iPhone Developer event, sources close to the company’s plans are saying that Apple is going to go ahead and unveil what they’ve been working on to compete with Google. And, oddly enough, that’s probably great news to Google. We won’t delve into the whole reason why Google would be excited about Apple getting into the mobile ad line of work, but we will say that it has a lot do with the Mountain View company’s current situation with the Federal Trade Commission. They’re trying to shake up the trees, and prove to the FTC that they have some mobile ad rivals, because they want to go ahead and purchase AdMob. Right now, that’s in limbo, but the moment Apple enters into the game, Google’s got no more worries. But, where’s this news

With 300,000 iPads sold in one day, it would have been a miracle to find that every single one of them out there worked without a hitch. But, that’s not how technology works, and sure enough, we’re hearing a gentle (but growing) rumble about how some folks’ iPad’s are giving them some trouble. Especially in the WiFi department. Now, Apple has commented on the problem, and we’ll get to that in a moment, but the main point of this post is to ask the big question: have you been effected by the WiFi problems? Basically, people from all over the country are saying that either their iPad is dropping and picking up WiFi signals erratically, or it won’t automatically sync up with previously paired WiFi routers/modems. That’s the main gist of it, anyway. Now, considering the initial orders of iPads don’t have another means of connectivity, we understand that not having your WiFi connection can be ridiculously upsetting (especially when, for all intents and purposes, it should be working). So,

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Another iPhone rumor ! And of course, here’s Verizon Wireless coming along for the ride, too. Sure, this one’s a bit more grounded in reality, at least we hope so, considering the company’s CEO is the one behind it, but still, we can’t help but be a bit skeptical. Although, there’s probably nothing to be skeptical about, now is there? After all, Verizon Wireless probably does want the iPhone, but, as you’ll read, it’s not necessarily up to them. There’s a lot of fan fiction about the sordid affair that Verizon Wireless, Apple, and AT&T had back in 2007 (and probably earlier) when the original iPhone was launched. The consistent story at this point, if we recall correctly, is that Verizon Wireless turned down the original iPhone, and the rest is history. Well, Apple obviously didn’t fail due to their lack of a launch on the country’s biggest wireless carrier. In fact, they’re kind of booming, last time we checked. The iPhone has a huge part

Mind you, this isn't the first time we've gotten a glimpse at Google's first-party car dock for the Nexus One; it got teased briefly back in February in the course of the phone's video docu-mercial series, yet we're well into the Spring months here and you still won't find any mounted on windshields. We're honestly not so sure how it can take four solid months for two corporate heavyweights -- Google and HTC, with a combined market cap of around $200 billion -- to put something like this together, but considering how prominently free Google Maps Navigation plays into Android's strategy these days, we'd argue there should be some serious pressure behind the scenes to get this thing launched. There's no launch date just yet, but the pretty picture comes courtesy of some new official documentation on the dock in Google's Nexus One website, touting its built-in speakers and charging capability -- so we're figuring (or at least hoping) that p

Alright, X2 owners, you ready for this? Odds are you aren't, since virtually all of you are east of the Atlantic where it's getting close to bedtime and you're not likely reading this -- and for our New World friends, the North American version is still inexplicably missing in action. Be that as it may, though, Sony Ericsson hasn't given up on its critically panned Xperia X2, delivering a sizable new firmware update that offers a variety of goodies like FM radio support, video calling, sundry performance and stability improvements, and SlideView 2.0 featuring "better usability throughout with a fresh design." It's currently being rolled out market by market, but the company expects everyone to have access to it by the end of the week -- except North Americans, of course, unless SonyStyle decides to get its but in gear in the next day or two.

Sony Ericsson's no stranger to phones with decent cameras, and the Vivaz with European 3G frequencies aims to be one of them; after all these months we've finally got hold of this S60 device, which is the first phone capable of continuous autofocus on 720p video recording courtesy of its speedy 720MHz Cortex A8 and PowerVR GPU. Compared to its predecessor, the Vivaz bears a similar button layout and GUI to the Satio's, but lacks a front-facing camera, Fast Port (replaced by a micro-USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack), and a slide cover for the camera. The resistive touchscreen (sigh, more on that later) has been downsized from 3.5 inches to 3.2 inches but retains a similar resolution (640 x 360), while the camera sensor is also scaled down from 12.1 megapixels to a more sensible 8.1, possibly for the sake of picture quality and component cost. But enough with the comparison -- let's get cracking with the review.

We'd already heard from Samsung itself at CTIA that we'd see the high-end Galaxy S complete with blindingly brilliant Super AMOLED display on American soil in 2010 -- and considering that Sammy doesn't play the unlocked, unbranded game in these parts, that means with certainty that it'll be coming to a carrier. Here's where it gets interesting: the Bluetooth SIG has recently certified a "full touch" device (read: no keyboard) from Samsung identified as the SGH-i897 with a 4-inch display and TouchWiz 3.0 -- in other words, a dead ringer for the unbranded Galaxy S that's identified as the i9000. Historically, Samsung models that start with SGH and end with a number 7 land at AT&T (it's a tradition that goes back years) so it stands to reason that this i897 is destined for the orange and blue. Is AT&T actually planning on getting serious about solid Android hardware this year?

The very utterance of Abhay Deol brings to your minds synonyms like 'Mr. Cool' 'Dude', 'Suave' etc… to name a few. Well, there is one more 'tag' that's attached now to his name, and that is 'Mr. Caring'. And vouching for this will be none other than the bears all over. Even though the bears are synonymous and famous for their hugs and their hair (for medicinal purposes), the flip side of the coin is the tremendous pressures that these hapless animals are subjected to. That's exactly the point that Abhay wants to make. As a part 'Wildlife S.O.S', an NGO that works towards the animals' welfare, Abhay strongly wants the bears that are subjected to dance on the streets for the sake of earning money to be called off, since it involves lots of cruelty. As a part of his 'duty' as the brand ambassador for the same, Abhay has taken the cause to the national level and wants to request everyone to pay that extra a

The prolific Priyadarshan has had more than his share of title problems with his new Ajay Devgn-Akshaye Khanna-Bipasha Basu starrer. A hard-hitting film about love across caste barriers and honour killing set in Bihar, Priyan wanted to call it Ishqana . But Ishqiya came along and Priyan chose Garam Hawa . But now that title too had to be hastily abandoned and Priyan has called his film Aakrosh . Explains the exhausted director, "We wanted to call it Garam Hawa as homage to M.S. Sathyu's classic film of that name. But then Mr. Sathyu got very upset. We received a letter from him questioning our right to use his title. We immediately abandoned Garam Hawa . In order to use Aakrosh as the title, we got the original Aakrosh 's director Govind Nihalani's permission. He was very generous about it." Of late, Priyan has been working over-time. "I need a break. I've four films this year. Aakrosh and Khatta Meetha are almost complete. Then I

It's confirmed. Asin it is, as Salman Khan's leading lady in Anees Bazmee's remake of the Telugu hit Ready . And it was never Deepika Padukone, as reported in a section of the press. "Asin plays the lead. I wonder where Deepika's name came from!," says director Bazmee currently preparing for a month-long shooting of his new film Thank You in Canada. Anees also denies the story that Salman asked him to sign Asin. "The role requires a 'chulbuli', vivacious, talkative and agile girl. Asin was the natural choice." Asin had played a similar role in Ghajini . That's the role that convinced Anees that Asin was the right choice for Ready . In fact Genelia D'Souza, the first choice for all 'chulbuli' vivacious-girl parts, was working with Anees Bazmee in yet another remake Its My Life (original Telugu film Bommarillu ). Genelia was Anees natural choice. Having failed to play something different in London Dreams , Asin is b

Nana Patekar is well aware that people are scared of him. His reputation - an angry man, off screen - precedes him. "Yes, I am aware that people feel Nana jhagda karta hain, chillata hain , but I won't say it's untrue. I do fight, I do have arguments, but it's for the betterment of the film. I have nothing against any individual," Nana tells me. In fact, when Nana congratulated Naseeruddin Shah for his performance in A WEDNESDAY, Naseer caught him by surprise by divulging that he [Naseer] had, in fact, recommended Nana's name for the role that Naseer eventually enacted in the film, but the makers were scared of Nana's reputation, which resulted in Anupam Kher being cast instead. Nana has some interesting movies lined up this year and also looks forward to start his next film as a director. "It's set in the 1940s and is a love story," Nana says. Reportedly, the actor had approached Deepika Padukone to enact a pivotal role in th

Writer Milap Zaveri is ready to test waters with his first directorial venture JAANE KAHAN SE AAYI HAI . The film, starring Riteish Deshmukh as a loser and Jacqueline Fernandez as an alien, has had the film fraternity [those who watched the screening of the film] praising it for its simple and interesting narration. Not many are aware that it was Riteish who prodded Milap to try his hand at direction, while shooting for HEYY BABYY in Australia [Milap had penned the screenplay of the film]. So when Milap returned to Mumbai, he decided to give direction a serious thought. Milap approached Riteish to head the cast of the film and by the time the story narration concluded, both Riteish and Milap knew that Riteish wouldn't do the film. Two days later, Milap approached him with a different script - JAANE KAHAN SE AAYI HAI - and also insisted on giving a narration in the veranda of Riteish's house. "The room we sat for the first narration, I joked, was jinxed," M

Fastrack as a brand has always been associated with youth, their attitude and their approach to live. It stands for everything that is young and fresh. Is it any wonder then that they pin it down to Genelia D'Souza to be their new brand ambassador? Yes! She is officially 'Moving on'. Genelia has even recently shot for the commercial for the brand. The actress was on an outdoor shoot for a film, but the ad crew flew down specially to complete the shoot with her. The photo shoot for the brand was carried out by the famous photographer Suresh Natrajan who has worked with Genelia before for many of her other commercials. Well, the young thing is quite a rage in the brand world for sure.

Today good looks and strong personality means half the battle won, be it in Bollywood or any other profession, and who better than the Bollywood beauty Bipasha Basu to learn from? If the latest news is anything to go by, then the dusky beauty will soon be endorsing the Vi John Feather touch brand of hair remover. The brand that has been in the market for the past two decades has now signed on Bipasha as their brand ambassador. Speaking to the actress's spokesperson, we are told, "Yes, Bipasha has signed on with the said brand. Advertisements will hit TV screens latest by mid May, though this deal was signed quite a while back. Apart from this we cannot reveal any further details." With Bips endorsing a new beauty product, we're sure this one all the ladies would give a shot too.

By now its common knowledge that Amitabh Bachchan was engulfed in a controversial situation last week when he attended the opening ceremony of the second phase of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai. Apparently, a certain prominent political party was upset at Bachchan's presence at this high profile event especially after him promoting Gujarat tourism. Not one to react unnecessarily to any situation, Big B has maintained a stoic calm even in this situation. However, things took an ugly turn on Saturday when in a strange turn of events, Abhishek Bachchan's specially recorded AV was removed from the event to create awareness about the World Earth Hour. This has not gone down well with Big B who has openly expressed his displeasure on his blog. Writes Big B, "You are perhaps aware that Abhishek has been appointed the WWF (World Wildlife Foundation) ambassador for Earth Day, a campaign that has been initiated by WWF for the preservation of the earth. Many ads

He wasn't just role playing in the Income tax advertisement coaxing the citizens to pay their taxes, but Akshay Kumar has stood true to his image and is the highest tax payer from Bollywood for the second year straight. Akki paid an advance tax of Rs. 9 crore in March, 2010, taking his total advance tax payment in the current financial year to Rs. 18 crore. He paid Rs. 31 crore in 2008-09, a period that saw him delivering hits after hits. Akshay's big movies and even bigger brand endorsement deals are him helping roll in the all the moolah. The superstar feels that it's his duty to give back to the society what he has received. Precisely why he is not only paying his taxes loyally but is extending Akshay Kumar as a brand to bring awareness about the necessity of paying taxes. Also in the queue of diligent tax payers is Aamir Khan, with a tax payment of Rs. 12 crore, with Shah Rukh Khan following him. While Salman Khan made a total tax payment of Rs 5.5 cr