IBLOG SPACE

Samsung has outed its latest digital camera, and the ST80 packs WiFi along with its 14.2-megapixel sensor. As with other Samsung wireless cameras, the ST80 can offload its photos via email or through direct upload to Facebook, Picasa, YouTube or PhotoBucket, and the company even throws in a Boingo WiFi hotspot account too; alternatively there’s DLNA streaming support. As for the camera itself, that has a 3x optical zoom and a 3-inch touchscreen for the main controls, and can record 720p 30fps HD video. There are the usual point-and-shoot modes for easier photography, including a nifty sounding Smart Crop which promises to automagically straighten out shots that were taken at an angle. That should prove handy for pictures of the horizon where you’re wondering why are the ships aren’t sliding off the edge of the frame. There’s also an address book for storing frequently-used email recipients, and the whole thing measures 92 x 55.4 x 18.5 mm. Look for it on shelves in September 2010,

Back in the early days of mobile phones my dad had one of those fat brick phones. I remember the call quality was bad, but the thing was so big you could just bend your neck to talk without having to hold the phone to your ear. You can’t do that with the iPhone unless you have a really flexible neck. A new case concept for the iPhone has surfaced called the Arkhippo. The case makes the iPhone majorly fat. The upside is you could probably comfortable hold the phone between your cheek and shoulder with the case on the iPhone. The case has an angled back and bottom that is designed to let you stand the iPhone up or sit it in landscape mode. The concept measures 170mm H x 83mm W x 50mm D and is made from a material similar to that of Crocs shoes. I don’t think you could carry the phone in your pocket if you use this case.

After the iMac and Mac Pro hardware updates yesterday, Apple has turned its attentions to software today with a new version of their Safari browser. Safari 5.0.1 has activated Safari Extensions, basically HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript coded add-ons and plug-ins, which can be installed from the Safari Extensions Gallery. Safari 5 made its debut in June, boasting a 30-percent speed boost over v.4 of the browser and twice the speed of Firefox 3.6. Users also get a new Reader mode, which basically strips out all the extraneous ads, images and content from a webpage, leaving only the text behind in an easy-to-consume format. Extensions, meanwhile, each run in their own, sandboxed slot, with Apple using digital signatures to try to ensure some degree of safety. Already Amazon, MLB, Bing, Twitter, the and the NYTimes have created extensions (Google are conspicuously absent from the press release, replaced by their Microsoft rival). You can download Safari 5.0.1 here for both Windows and Mac

It wasn’t too long ago that the iOS 4 update went live for users of Apple devices to download. We have also seen a beta of the iOS 4.1 update hit for developers already. Today we hear that the iOS 4.1 Beta 2 is available for download for developers only. To get the update you have to be a dev signed up for the iPhone Developer Standard or Enterprise Program. If you are in one of those programs the beta OS can be grabbed for the iPhone and iPod touch. The beta software supports the iPhone 4, 3GS, and 3G along with second and third gen iPod touch players. The new version has a new baseband for the iPhone and reports claim that the update may have fixed the proximity sensor issue on the iPhone 4 that some users have had a problem with.

HP has updated that cool EliteBook 8740W notebook computer that we talked about before with a new GPU offering from NVIDIA. The new GPU option is the NVIDIA Quadro FX5000M. The new GPU has loads of power with 320 cores and 2GB of memory just for the GPU. Other features of the notebook include a 17-inch screen, up to 16GB of RAM, and Intel Core i7 options all the way to the powerful Extreme Edition. The notebook is ruggedized and has an aluminum chassis in gunmetal color, though it looks black to my eyes. The machine’s price with the new GPU is unknown, but these are far from budget notebooks. The 8740W starts at a price of $2676 and you can expect the rig fully optioned with the new GPU to cost much more than that.

Last week we mentioned that AT&T had reportedly ordered up about eight million Windows Phone 7 handsets. That is a lot of handsets given that the track record for Microsoft in the smartphone market has been not that great of late and the flaming disaster that was the Kin is still fresh on everyone’s minds. AT&T is betting big on Windows Phone 7 and has stated that it plans to be a premiere vendor of WinPo 7 handsets. An AT&T spokesperson told PC World in an email, “We’ll be the premier carrier for Windows Phone 7. We haven’t given guidance on timing.” PC World reports that Verizon and Sprint are mum on WinPo7 plans. I would not be surprised to see Verizon wait to see how the WinPo7 OS does before jumping into the market with handsets in a big way after the Kin failure. However, that failure was as much Verizon’s fault with the horrible data plan pricing as it was Microsoft’s failure.

We have all seen the concepts and products that have two screens rather than a screen and a keyboard. There have been several of them turn up over the last several months. Sharp has developed a new chip called the LR388G9 that might make these dual screen concepts a reality. The new chip supports two displays on one device with a resolution of 1024 x 480 each. The same chip can support full HD output to a larger screen or projector in the living room via an HDMI cable. The new chip is an update to the LR388D8 chip unveiled last month supporting two screens with 864 x 480 resolution. Sharp intends to peddle the chip to builders of smartphones and eBook readers as well. Don’t be surprised if the same chip shows up in digital photo frames and netbooks. This might be the chip that swanky dual screen XO laptop concept needs. The chips are already sampling and are about $27.60 each.

BlueAnt has a bunch of Bluetooth headsets and hands free kits that it has been offering for a long time. I have played with a bunch of the firms gear over the years and the stuff is typically top notch. BlueAnt has announced the availability of its latest Bluetooth headset called the Q2. The Q2 has next-gen voice control and text-to-speech technology inside. The headset also integrates with Microsoft Bing 411 for instant news, weather, sports, and other info. The Q2 also has BlueAnt Wind Armour technology to reduce wind noise for better call quality. The headset can respond to multiple voice commands like “answer” or “ignore”. Users can say “phone commands” to activate the voice calling features. The headset can also read the name of the person calling using a new caller name announce feature that reads from a database of up to 2000 mobile contacts. Talk time is up to five hours and standby is up to 100 hours. The headset is available now for $129 at AT&T stores.

Super Talent has unveiled a new SSD that has a unique feature. The SSD is called the UltraDrive MX and has a new dual interface that allows the SSD to connect to a computer via either SATA II or mini-USB. That means that the new SSD can be used either as an external storage solution or it can be used inside a machine for additional internal storage. The cool part of the dual interface drive is that a user looking to move all their existing data to the SSD can use the USB interface to make a disc image. Once that disc image is complete, the UltraDrive MX can then be placed inside the new machine like a normal SSD. The SSD has read speeds of up to 250MB/s and write speed of up to 180MB/s. The SSD will ship on September 1 in 60GB, 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB capacities. Pricing is unknown at this time.

Panasonic has pulled the wraps off another new camcorder that can act as a webcam and records video in full HD resolution. The company claims that the HDC-SDX1 is the world’s lightest consumer camcorder that has full HD resolution and can be used as a webcam for video chat. The camera weighs 0.41 pounds making it very light indeed. The lens of the cam is a 35.8mm wide-angle unit and it has 23x intelligent zoom with the capability of being used for video calls with Skype. Other features include hybrid optical image stabilization with both optical and electric stabilization. The SDX1 has an auto focus and auto exposure tracking system to allow it to lock onto subjects and adjust optimally to keep them clear in video. The lock function is activated by touching the 2.7-inch LCD screen. Weight is 229 grams for the camera, battery, and the SD card. The MSRP for the SDX1 will be $499.95 and it will ship in September.

Panasonic is on a roll today with all sorts of new gear that it is unveiling for the first time. The company has a new camcorder that records full HD resolution video in 1920 x 1080 glory when you are on the go and can be used as a webcam at home. The camera is called the Panasonic HM-TA1 and it is available in black, red, gray, and purple colors. The camera is designed to make uploading video to sharing sites like YouTube and Facebook a snap. The camera also supports Apple iFrame video format for Mac users. The cam has electric image stabilization and 4x digital zoom. The camera is small and compact measuring in at 2.09″ W x 0.70″ D x 4.09″ H and it weighs a quarter of a pound with the battery and SD card inside. The camcorder ships with a wrist strap and has easy to use individual buttons for record, power, plat, LED on/off, and still photos. Other features include support for SD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards and it has a 2-inch LCD and integrated USB port. The TA1 will ship in August for

The Panasonic Lumix G series of micro four thirds cameras are very cool little cameras. The G series camera shoots images with the quality of a DSLR and the interchangeable lenses minus the mirror box and much of the bulk of a DSLR. Panasonic has announced that it will be offering a lens for the Lumix G Micro System that will allow the little cameras to shoot 3D images. The interchangeable lens will have a pair of lenses in one device allowing the camera to shoot 3D images with a single CCD. Panasonic says that the 3D lens has a pair of optical systems within the diameter of the lens mount making stereo images when used. The images from the left and right lenses are processed with a 3D image system and made into a single image. The new lens will be on sale before the end of the year at an undisclosed price. The lens will work for shooting 3D images of moving objects.

Panasonic has announced the addition of a new full 3D HD video player to its lineup. The new player is the DMP-BDT100. The BDT100 will be available in August with no word on pricing at this time. Panasonic promises that the player will provide superior 2D and 3D picture quality. The BDT100 supports a wide variety of audio standards and upconverts standard def films to 1080p. The BDT100 also promises to boot up and be ready to go in half a second. The difference between the BDT100 and BDT350 players is that the higher-end BDT350 supports Panasonic Viera Cast internet functionality. This adds streaming content capability with support for Netflix, Amazon VOD, Pandora, Twitter, and YouTube. The 350 also has WiFi capability so a wired web connection isn’t needed.

Panasonic has made good on its promise to unveil a consumer-level 3D camcorder – though we did catch a glimpse of it on Monday – and the HDC-SDT750 certainly looks interesting. In effect a regular Full HD camcorder with a new, image-splitting lens attachment, the SDT750 can shoot 960 x 1080 resolution 3D footage, or – with the lens taken off – 1080/60p HD 2D footage. It’ll also take 3D images, which can be saved to an SD card and shown on a Blu-ray player hooked up to a 3D-capable TV, while 3D footage can be played with a direct HDMI connection from the camcorder itself. Sound is recorded in 5.1 surround, thanks to five separate microphones, and there’s a 3-inch touchscreen LCD for controlling the whole show. Otherwise it’s a pretty straightforward camcorder, with the usual high-end processing, a large-diameter (46mm) F1.5*3 Leica Dicomar lens, manual controls, face recognition and both optical and digital image stabilization. The Panasonic HDC-SDT750 will arrive in October 2010, p

Looks like whoever’s running Dell’s servers needs to drink less coffee. After first announcing that the 5-inch Dell Streak Android tablet would go on sale today – and then telling us that it was a mistake caused by some “site tests” - the company then revealed pricing in a new blog post, only to yank that. Unfortunately, once something is out on the internet it’s tough to get it back in, and so we now have a pretty good idea that the Streak will cost $549.99 from Dell themselves, unlocked and contract-free, or $299.99 from AT&T with a new, two-year agreement. The company’s presale scheme has also ended, replaced by a notification system that will update you when there’s more Streak information available. It also looks like the product page has been fleshed out a little, and that still says the Streak will go on sale in late July – there certainly aren’t many days left for that to happen, but we’ve heard that the smartphone-tablet is still yet to clear AT&T’s certification

Sure enough, here’s the invite. Research In Motion and AT&T are apparently teaming up to bring some big news to the industry, and they’ve chosen their date, along with the early morning hours of that date, to break the news. Unfortunately, unlike past invites to other events, this one doesn’t give us any clues as to what may be getting announced come August 3rd. But, we’ve got our guesses. As we already surmised from previous leaks, the BlackBerry Slider is probably going to be unveiled in an official capacity. We’re interested to see how Apple will market this versus their reigning giant, the iPhone, but hopefully they plan on giving it some kind of love. Past this event, mind you. Other than that, we’re expecting to see some new screenshots of BlackBerry OS6, plus some working demos that we’ll be able to get our hands on. Yes, you read that correctly. We’ll be there, front and center, bringing you all the tasty tidbits as they happen. So, stay tuned August 3rd, at 11:00am (we’ll

Smaller is better — that must be the slogan that SanDisk is banking on with the creation of the Cruzer Blade, which takes small to a whole new level, especially when it comes to USB flash drives. This newly announced piece of tech is about the size of a paperclip, and it actually only weighs about the same as a penny. Yes, that’s ridiculous, but there’s still plenty of space on the inside to actually be worth your while. Capacity wise, the Cruzer Blade comes in a range of 2GB to 16GB, and obviously the prices reflect what you’re getting. Starting at the bottom of the spectrum, you’ll be paying $14.99, all the way to the top of the list, where you’ll be smacking down $77.99. And just because it’s small, doesn’t mean that it can’t transfer your data in a reasonable amount of time, as SanDisk says it can handle it just fine. It comes with a two year warranty, and it’s available right now.

It wouldn’t be a normal day if we didn’t have some kind of rumor about an already announced product. Thankfully, we’ve got this new rumor about Sony ’s Move, the motion-based controller/wand that’s due out in just a few months. It’s not groundbreaking or anything, but it may be just enough to get people who thought the original $399 bundle was too pricey to jump on board the Sony-backed motion controller movement. Yes, we already knew about the other bundles. Sony’s got multiple ways for you to buy Move, all brought together to make something worth your time and hard earned money. Those original bundles are: a controller, PlayStation Eye, and one Move game all for $99. And then there’s the console bundle, which gives you all of that, plus the PlayStation 3, all for $399. Or, you could just buy the stand-alone pack for $49.99. Unless you want everything and the console, then this new rumored bundle will be perfect for you. It’s everything that we mentioned up there, plus the console, bu

You’ve probably got some means of playing music in your house. Whether it’s an old-school CD player (is that already “old-school?”), or your iPod connected to some kind of home speaker system, by now you’ve probably got the situation taken care of. But, if you’re looking for another option, or you’re still looking for that potentially perfect situation, then here’s an option from Grace Digital . Their brand new Tuner Wireless Radio & Media Player will let you plug it directly into your stereo system, and gain access to a plethora of listening options. This media player will let you access SIRIUS satellite radio, as well as Pandora Internet radio, along with access to your personal music selection as well. According to the press release, it will also let you listen to up to 30,000 Internet radio stations, as well, but it doesn’t go into detail about how it will let you find those stations. (Hopefully that will be in the manual.) You can even pick up Podcasts, as well as WiFi radio c

Yes, that says 50Gbps. But, that’s not all the good news. Today, Intel unveiled their brand new module that will revolutionize, if not completely blow our minds in regard to how we transfer data, and how quickly it can be done. Sadly, and as much as we wish we could see it become one, the Photonics Link isn’t quite yet a product that we can go out and install in our computers. In fact, there’s no word on when this will actually see the light of day. But, it is a perfect method to show us what’s coming down the pipe. To put it as basic as possible, instead of using electrons to to carry data to one point to another, the Photonics Link actually uses lasers to get the job done. And, to make sure that it all connects with the fastest methods as possible, the usage of copper is long gone, as well. And, to give you a quick idea of what that 50Gbps data transfer actually means, you should picture yourself trying to transfer an HD movie. Usually takes awhile, right? Well, with these new lase

To our recollection, this actually hasn’t happened in quite some time. To be exact, in 2008, when it was the original Kindle . And, even then, Amazon managed to make sure they told customers when the Kindle would be coming back around, or shipping to their doorsteps. Not this time. All Amazon says right now is that the Kindle is temporarily out of stock, and that purchasers will get an email when the eReader gets an estimated delivery date. So, what does all this mean? Well, in the short-term (which is probably the only real situation, mind you), it means that the Kindle is sold out. There must’ve been some crazy high demand for a mid-Summer shopping spree or something, and Amazon wasn’t able to keep up with production. With that in mind, it probably won’t be long at all before it gets back onto the digital shelves, and everything is right with the world. Or… It means that there’s a new Kindle coming. If you’ll recall, a Bloomberg report suggested that “people in the know” were sayi

The Chevrolet Volt is really, really real. It’s no longer just a pipe dream from the auto manufacturer, and they’re proving their point today by announcing that they’ve begun their ordering process in participating launch markets. Basically, you’re preordering a car, but with as many other things you preorder at any given time in the year, what’s a car? Then again, when’s the last time you preordered something that cost $41,000? Chevrolet is apparently so confident in their new electric vehicle, that they’re going to offer a new leasing program. You can get your hands on the new Volt for only $350 per month for 36 months. You’ll need to drop $2,500 when you start signing all the papers, but that’s no big deal, right? There’s a big tax credit though, but the benefit of the $7,500 tax credit is included in the reduced lease payment, with the tax credit going to the lessor. “The Chevrolet Volt will be the best vehicle in its class…because it’s in a class by itself,” said Joel Ewanick, vi

Kochi, Aug 3 (PTI) With DTH market opening up, Dishtv, India’’s largest direct-to-home company, is aiming to establish 170 set up box hubs nationally, including 25 in South India, a top company official today said. In south India presently there are only 3-4 such hubs and the plan is to set up 25 hubs this year. The company would be making a huge investment in this regard, V K Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, told reporters here. The DTH market is opening up and its growth across India was over 100 per cent. Since the market in kerala was only opening up, the growth rate is likely to be over 300 per cent, he said. The response to the recently launched High Definition service was very encouraging. The ongoing India-Sri Lanka test and one day series would be shown on HD quality which was exclusve to dish, he said. Wooing customers from Kerala during the ”Onam” festival, dish TV announced new ”Mix n Match” offers. All new susbscribers who buy dishtv this month, will get one Tamil pack fr

Capital Advertising has come up with a new campaign for Maruti Suzuki, based on the fuel efficiency aspect that Maruti Suzuki looks to deliver with their cars. The three advertisements in the campaign show a tank, yacht and a spacecraft (Juno) being sold to potential customers/on-lookers. After listening to all the specifications relating to the performance of the three "vehicles", all the people have only one question - "Kitna deti hai?" The voiceover of the three advertisements then says, "For a country obsessed with mileage, Maruti Suzuki makes India's most fuel efficient cars." Joy Mohanty, senior creative director at the agency, explained the brief and the idea in an email interview with Campaign India . "Maruti Suzuki has clear leadership when it comes to cost of ownership. This has three facets - fuel efficiency, maintenance and resale. The brief for these commercials was to communicate fuel efficiency, an ar

BBDO/Proximity India has launched a study on the power and dynamics of social movements, and the implications this has on brands.   The study titled “How your brand can incite a movement” analyses over a hundred social movements from across the world that have had a significant impact on the way large numbers of people think and behave.  Included in the study are movements driven for commercial goals.   The study concludes that despite a large degree of diversity and complexity of the movements studied, all successful movements can be reduced into three distinct phases. These are ‘motivation’, ‘agitation’ and ‘explosion’.  All successful movements move through each of these phases, but within each of these phases the critical factors and dynamics are very different.    The study also develops clear and practical guidelines for marketers and agencies to embed these learnings into the strategies. It concludes that while it may not be appropriate for every

Business news channel Bloomberg UTV has launched a new website called UTVMONEY.com. The website will feature real-time stock market data and will also act as a credibility manager for tippers. The website aims to help investors by providing information about investment decisions. Commenting on the need for a new website, Deepak Lamba, business head, Bloomberg UTV, said, "In a world where there are just too many tips with no way to tell good from bad, this new website acts as a credibility manager for “celebrity tippers” who make predictions on several TV channels. UTVMoney.com will also allow users to offer regular tips and build their individual reputations in a space which is ruled by a handful.” He added, “The site will keep historical track of the predictions that the tippers make and will use this track record to demonstrate which consultant has been consistently good or bad on which stocks. This central proposition of UTVMoney.com is not adequ

Starcom Worldwide has been appointed as media partner in India by Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The Delhi office will manage the account. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc, is a hotel and leisure company with 1,000 properties in 100 countries and approximately 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood® Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with international brands like St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W, Le Méridien, and the recently announced Aloft and Element. Tarun Deep Kumar, executive director, India-North, Starcom Worldwide, commented, “Starwood is a leading player in the world of hospitality. Managing its media investments in India is a matter of immense prestige for us. We are proud of the fact that they have chosen to partner with us in achieving their marketing goals. It will be a great experience for the team working on

In a path breaking innovation Red FM, the country’s Largest Radio Network, is attempting to set a new record in the Limca Book of Records, in collaboration with Nokia. Red FM has set out to achieve a new record of having the maximum number of LIVE callers on a single day simultaneously airing on Red FM’s network of 47 stations of its 50 station network across India. Pioneering the growth of cellular technology, Nokia celebrates 15 years of its presence in India on 30th of July. Red FM, the station for expression for the common man, invited listeners to exchange their favorite Nokia Moment with Red FM RJ’s on this occasion. To further emphasize Nokia’s contribution in connecting people across India, RJs from various cities called each other on-air to share their personal Nokia moments, which OB jocks went across various locations across the cities getting people to share their Nokia stories. A radio blog was also created wherein listeners could post their good wishes for Nokia. Red

Dish TV, on Monday, unveiled a special mix n match offer for its satellite television service, which gives an opportunity to customers to customise their packages according to their choice. The offer allows customers access to their choice of package with multiple language options and the best in entertainment in southern regional languages, sports channels and unique a-la-carte packs. The new south silver packs, for example, can be customised at two levels. Base pack level, where subscribers could select from two base packs consisting of sports with all channels of two languages according to the consumers’ choice. They can also pick a package without sports with channels of three languages at Rs 125. Briefing reporters, Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor said: “The Mix n Match offer is designed to give more freedom to cutomise and empower the customers with multiple language options by adding more value to the entry level base pack.” Limited period As part of a newly launched limited

Malaysia’s Astro Group is planning to increase its stake in Sun Direct, India’s No.2 direct-to-home (DTH) player. The Group already holds 20% stake in Kalanithi Maran’s DTH venture through its subsidiary South Asia Entertainment Holdings. The move takes advantage of recent changes in the way FDI in Indian companies is calculated. According to the proposal submitted to the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB), Astro will pick up 37.50% stake in Kal Media Services, a company owned by the Maran family. Kal Media Services will then pick up 40% stake in Sun Direct TV, giving Astro an effective indirect stake of 15% over and above its existing 20% stake. This will take Astro’s effective total control over Sun Direct to 35%. However, the new FDI calculation formula does not recognise foreign stakes in investing companies like Kal Media as FDI, so long as they are owned and operated by resident Indians. So, Astro’s FDI in Sun Direct will remain at 20%, even though its effective contro

The plot hasn’t changed much for the direct-to-home (DTH) operators in 2010. A gang of six private players are fighting over subscriber growth and attempting to expand the digital universe in a country where the television landscape is mostly analogue cable. The warfare is spreading over to the advertising world as each DTH player wants to play the volume game amid low ARPUs (average revenue per user). The usage of celebrities, whether it is Shah Rukh Khan or Aamir Khan or Hrithik Roshan or the Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan duo, in television commercials is to entice subscribers to take the DTH route. The DTH operators are going to splurge Rs 6 billion towards marketing across TV, print and other mediums this fiscal as they aim to add 11 million subscribers due to a spate of sporting events. In terms of ad spend, Tata Sky would be leading the pack with Airtel Digital TV and Dish TV in near-distance company. “Tata Sky’s ad spend will be around Rs 1.2 billion, followed by Airtel Dig

Bharti Airtel’s direct-to-home venture Digital TV wants the government and the regulator to do more to help digitalisation of cable sector. Airtel DTH director & chief executive Ajai Puri said the broadcasters are missing the big picture by opposing Trai’s latest tariff order for addressable platforms including DTH. Puri tells Ashish Sinha how the DTH industry can solve the ills of cable sector if supported by regulations and tariff regime. Excerpts: Why are broadcasters against Trai’s DTH tariff order? Broadcasters are posturing, I feel. So far, the negotiated deals between DTH operators and broadcasters stood at 15-20% of non-CAS rates. Therefore, a ceiling of 35% does not matter. DTH has overnight started generating revenues of Rs 1,200-1,300 crore annually. Broadcasters love us. We pay them every month and DTH is a completely transparent system which gives an incremental revenue to broadcasters. So I don’t understand why they should be upset. I think its just posturing on

After the success of Housefull , Sajid Khan is all set to start his next directorial venture. But this time, he is teaming up with producer Vashu Bhagnani. Bollywood Hungama spoke to Vashu, who confirmed this news. "Yes, Sajid and I have come together for my next as a producer. However, it's still really early to give any details out, as we are yet to finalize and finish any kind of script. Though once the script is ready and the casting is done and locked, we will make an announcement of the film. Till then, all that I can say is yes we have teamed up." Well, with Sajid Khan teaming up with Vashu, seems like Bhagnani is making big plans for his production company.

Irrespective of how his films fare at the box-office, you can't underestimate the credentials of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Everyone waits with bated breath for an SLB film to arrive, that's one fact you cannot deny. Right from the first look to the first promo to the music launch to the eventual release, every aspect of SLB's film is keenly anticipated within and outside the film industry. Now everyone's awaiting SLB's next biggie GUZAARISH to unfold. Well, here's some vital info on the film. The first promo of this Hrithik - Aishwarya starrer will be unveiled with Karan Johar and UTV's WE ARE FAMILY , which opens on 3rd September. The music, scored by Bhansali himself, will be released by September-end and those who've heard the tunes feel that the master film-maker has come up with a super musical score. The countdown for one of the biggest films of 2010 has begun..

Television channels are competing with each other these days. There's a scramble to acquire the Satellite Rights of feature films. The market, which was down till a few months ago, is piping hot right now and lucrative deals are being signed left, right and centre. The film producers/right holders, obviously, are smiling from ear to ear. In several cases, the price offered by TV channels is correlated with the performance of the film at the ticket window. If the theatrical business is fantastic, the returns are bountiful. In certain cases, the films are sold prior to their release, which works well for a film-maker since he recovers a big chunk of the investment much before the film has hit the screens and the verdict is out. Note the kind of money paid for the Satellite Rights:- RAAJNEETI - Rs. 25 cr. ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI - Rs. 10.5 cr. UDAAN - Rs. 3.5 cr. TERE BIN LADEN - Rs. 4.25 cr. [for Satellite + Home Video + Music] MILENGE MILENGE - Rs. 8.60 c

Abhay Deol might be someone who is been tagged as different but he really is just a boy next door. On the cover of GQ magazine's August edition, Abhay Deol looks relaxed, composed and extremely approachable. Just the way he really is. In a four page long interview Abhay reveals his lesser known side, his growing up years, his take on the marriage, his travelling escapades, meeting the Hollywood stars, his childhood crush and all that's far and in between. He ends the interview by saying, "Life would be complete if I get to work with Charlize Theron". Can't wait to read the interview, grab a copy for yourself and devour the details.