IBLOG SPACE

It's funny and sad how one Friday can change relationships, clout and equations. There are flops and then there's Anjaana Anjaani . The thundering fiasco had a Tsunami-like effect on the talented Siddharth Anand's career. There was an immediate fall-out with producer Sajid Nadiadwala, who had assigned the direction of the Chetan Bhagat novel '2 States' to Siddharth. The offer was quickly passed on to Vishal Bhardwaj. Anjaana Anjaani's leading man Ranbir Kapoor who also happens to be Siddharth's childhood friend and therefore Siddharth had the singular privilege of directing Ranbir in two films, also opted out of future project with his bachpan ka saathi . Says a source, "Ranbir doesn't want to mix business with pleasure. He'd rather keep his friendship with Siddharth away from work. After being the only director with whom Ranbir has done two films ( Bachna Ae Haseenon and Anjaana Anjaani ) Siddharth Anand is no more a part of

She may be playing a 'heroine' in the namesake film and hence would be pretty much looking forward to merging her real and reel life together. However, even Aishwarya Rai understands that it isn't going to be one of those affairs where she would be having all fun and play during the time that she spends on the sets. With the film carrying an intense dramatic appeal, she is already getting into a frame of mind and preparing herself for the gruelling times ahead. " Heroine is an entertainer for sure but to get it right for the audience, there are numerous intense sequences in the film. Some of these are so shocking that even Ash, who has been in the industry for close to a decade and a half, was left with eyes wide open. She had heard such stories before but when Madhur Bhandarkar narrated them to her and also added that such sequences would be an integral part of the film, Ash knew that this would be perhaps the most challenging role ever of her car

The Apple location tracking controversy sprouted roughly two weeks ago after researchers revealed an unencrypted database file on iPhones that tracked up to a year’s worth of location data. The situation has since dragged in all the other major mobile OS companies including Google, but has specifically landed Apple in a congressional hearing today. Apple’s vice president of software technology, Guy Tribble, testified before Congress to explain Apple’s policies regarding location tracking. Tribble explained that the unencrypted location data file was due to a glitch in their iOS software that resulted in the file storing data indefinitely, instead for only one week. They recently released updates iOS 4.3.3 and 4.2.8 for the AT&T iPhone and the Verizon iPhone, respectively, that fixed this problem. The new iPhone updates not only limit the data cache to one week, but also allow users to completely wipe out the data by turning off location services. Additionally, the data file w

The iPod nano seems to be due for a refresh and its speculations galore. Many folks believe that the iPod nano may be revamped with the addition of a small camera. And sure enough, a photo has surfaced that’s purported to be the 7th-generation Apple iPod nano sporting a camera. The report that came with the photo claims that the next-gen iPod nano will have a 1.3-megapixel camera on the backside. The built-in clip has been removed to make space for the camera. Other than that its hard to surmise what else will be different, as the overall shape and form look to be about the same. The multi-touch screen will also likely stay the same. Although the photo looks a bit dubious, the Taiwanese Apple blog that leaked these images has been correct with their leaks on each of the previous six generations of the iPod nano. Plus, the 5th generation iPod nano released in 2009 had a camera that was then ditched in the 2010 refresh. So, it’s highly possible that Apply may bring back the camera

During today’s opening keynote for Google I/O, they touched on all the major topics that folks were anticipating including Android Ice Cream Sandwich, Google Music, and Google TV, but they also added some unexpected developments. One of them being their new Android Open Accessory initiative, that will allow developers to create their own hardware accessories that can be controlled by Android. The Android Open Accessory system is built on open-source Arduino. It will will allow externally accessories connect to an Android-powered device via USB and eventually Bluetooth. This could essentially mean the start of a whole slew of “Made for Android” devices such as docks, speakers, or even an exercise bike. This opens up a whole world of possibilities now for external accessories to work with Android. Google is offering an Android Device Kit or ADK for developers. The kit comes with a sample implementation in the form of a USB accessory along with all the hardware design files, the cod

The popular media management and sharing Android app called DoubleTwist has just added some nifty new features with their recent update to version 1.4.2. The update brings with it AirPlay support so that you can now stream music, videos, and photos to your Apple TV. They also added a cool feature called DoubleTap that lets you transfer music or videos between two NFC-enabled devices just by tapping them together. DoubleTwist may be the first Android media player to have an NFC-based media transferring feature. Google has been pushing NFC in its new mobile devices, such as the Nexus S, but a lot of attention has been focused on the arena of mobile payments. The new DoubleTap feature reminds us that there are many other possibilities and advantages to incorporating NFC chips on mobile devices. Back in February they had unleashed an AirSync feature that supported streaming to DLNA devices so that you could easily stream pictures, music, and movies straight to your TV via an Xbox 36

The free gear continues to flow at Google I/O. Samsung and Verizon have handed out cards which are good for a free Verizon Mobile Hotspot and a SIM card which gives three months of complimentary service from Verizon. The tickets can be exchanged for the gear tomorrow afternoon at the Gear Pick Up location at the conference. This fresh gift of gear comes immediately after the announcement during the first keynote that every attendant of the conference will be getting a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Stay tuned to SlashGear and our sister site Android Community for more coverage of this huge truckload of news that will be rolling in over the next few days. You can catch us on Twitter at @SlashGear, on our Facebook at slasgear.com/tags/io-2011. Let’s keep it rollin!

Elijah Wood joins the ranks of film stars that are turning to the small screen for good roles this month in his new FX show Wilfred. To celebrate this new role Wood is on the July cover of Nylon Guys and in the interview explains his reasons for this move to television, which comes after a more than twenty year career in film. Wilfred is based on the cult Australian comedy of the same name, that features a relationship between a man and a talking, weed smoking and drinking dog. The protagonist of the show, who Wood is playing is called Ryan and is the only one that can see Wilfred in this state, which happens to be a man dressed in a dog costume rather than the normal dog that everyone else sees. Sound bizarre enough for you yet? The actor playing Wilfred is Jason Gann, who is reprising his role from the Australian version and also happens to be the co-creator of the original series. Gann gives Wilfred his native Aussie accent adding to the wonderfully weird and funny circumstances

Oh, no. That was my immediate thought after watching Wednesday night's midseason finale of South Park, titled "You're Getting Old." Never before -- not even when Cartman fed Scott Tenorman's parents to him -- have I been so completely and utterly depressed by an episode of South Park. It felt like creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker were speaking their emotions through the show, and what they had to say wasn't good. Take, for instance, Stan's sudden affliction of cynicism. Suddenly, he realizes, the things he liked before seemed like "sh*t." In fact, everything does to him, from the sun in the sky to the movie trailer for Mr. Popper's Penguins -- even the Police's album Synchronicity (fun fact: my favorite album of all time) sounds like literal bowel movements. Stan's lost his innocence with his tenth birthday, and it's a sad event. His friends give up on him because he threatens (or just annoys) their rose-colored view of the

If you are a Doctor Who fan you might have felt a strange tingling in the time space continuum earlier, that was the rumor that Doctor Who icon David Tennant's role as Peter Vincent in Fright Night, the schlocky horror host come vampire slayer played by Roddy McDowell in the original, was disappointingly small in the remake to be released in August. I've known for quite some time that this is not true for a couple of reasons: for one, I have read the script for the remake and if anything Vincent kicks much more ass than McDowell's honorable original version; and second, I've read several screening reports for Fright Night that confirm Tennant is in no way watered down and is in fact as epic as you would expect the former Doctor Who to be. So relax. Doctor Who fans will get plenty of Tennant when Fright Night hits the screen. Get The Latest Updates on Tv Series Follow us on twitter  @thetvseries

Google I/O 2011 has officially kicked off with the very first keynote having ended just moments ago. Here’s a quick recap of all the exciting revelations that have come so far including an update to the Android tablet OS called 3.1 Honeycomb, the confirmation of the much anticipated Gingerbread successor Android Ice Cream Sandwich, and much more. Continue after the cut for the full recap. Google started off the keynote highlighting some impressive figures, mentioning that there are now 100 million activated Android devices, with 400,000 new Android devices activated each day, plus 200,000 free and paid apps available in the Android Market with 4.5 billion apps installed. In the past two and half years, Google has shipped eight releases of Android and now there are more than over 310 Android devices around the world. Android 3.1 Honeycomb The update to Android 3.1 Honeycomb brings a new task switcher that lets you scroll through a list of your most recent tasks. They developed a

Since the PlayStation Network is down, have you considered other forms of game play? Well, how about a robotic ball that can be controlled directly from your smartphone to do all kinds of crazy maneuvers in the real physical world? No? But Orbotix has. The company created a robotic ball called Sphero, the first of its kind. Now, they’re opening up the API behind what controls this amazing sphere by unveiling their Sphero developer program at Google I/O. Orbotix is touting an open and absolute killer of an API and they are seeking the smartest developers to help reinvent the concept of play with Sphero. Developers who register for the program will have access to the full SDK for both Android and iOS platforms, sample apps, developer guides access to developer forums and an idea portal, exclusive hack-a-thons, bounties, contests, and educational discounts. Developers that register now can get a Sphero at a special discounted rate with early delivery, early access to software feature

The fact that Skype has been in sale mode hasn’t been a total secret. When Ebay sold off a massive chunk of the company, and the IPO kept being delayed, it was evident Skype was in need of a suitor. I was quoted quite a bit on the news that Ebay bought Skype in 2005, and many of comments questioned the value of Skype to Ebay. Here we are nearly 6 years later and it seems Skype is now in the right hands. A Three Screen Solution We have an analysis series that we give upon request to our clients, which goes in depth about the three screen ecosystem. The premise is that there are three primary screens that consumers spend the most time with: the PC, the TV and the mobile phone. Each screen has a robust hardware, software and service ecosystem, and understanding where you are in that ecosystem is important. A company like Microsoft has a strategy to bring a Microsoft-centric experience to all three screens. There aren’t many in the industry who can pull off a three screen strategy, but

On the morning of May 10th, 2011, live at Google I/O, we were given an exclusive unboxing and hands-on of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 by none other than Vic Gundotra! Have a look with us at this device that will soon be given to every single attendee of the conference, a device that will go down in history as one of the mega-devices! We’ve already had a couple looks at this tablet as of late, but this is the big one, let me tell you. Once we get this device in our possession in ernest as well, we’ll be giving you all the info you need on it to engrain it in your brain for need to purchase in the future. Our good friend Vic was kind enough to both take the device out of the box and show it off for SlashGear exclusively. He being the generous and kind fellow that he is, we could not deny such niceness. This device is the thinnest tablet PC on the market, with a 10.1″ display, Android 3.0 Honeycomb – soon to be Android 3.1 Honeycomb with all its fantastical features. Check out the bo

Google TV was announced at last year’s Google I/O and launched last November but its excitement waned as its hardware was viewed as being pricey and its firmware not well integrated with the rest of Google’s ecosystem. However, today’s keynote at Google I/O 2011 brought some revelations that will likely breathe new life into Google TV. Google today announced two major developments for Google TV. First is that Android 3.1 Honeycomb would be coming to the TV platform. This means that developers would be able to create apps from the same SDK for both tablets and Google TV. This makes for a more streamlined process and also would increase developer support for the Google TV platform and not to mention all the new app possibilities to come that could truly change the TV viewing experience. This would certainly put Google TV ahead of rivaling smart TV platforms. The second major development is the addition of Android Market to Google TV. Now that the SDK for tablets and TV are the sam

In a move that basically made the audience flip out and pull their hair out with excitement, Google announced that they’d soon be working with carriers around the USA and UK to create guidelines for device updates. What does this mean to you? It means that you’ll essentially KNOW what will be happening with your device in the future instead of guessing if it’ll be receiving an update to the newest Android version before the end of its lifespan. Is this good news? Heck yes, it’s basically the best news ever! Each new device, Google says, will not be receiving the newest updates for 18 months after their release depending on if their hardware will allow it. This means that devices will no longer be left in the dark after they’ve been out for a tiny amount of time. This has been a problem for Android device users in the past and this change is definitely going to create a net for those wishing to have the support they desire for the future. Android is stacking up! Keep your eyes pee

Google has finally confirmed its music platform, now called Google Music Beta. There have long been talks about the race between Google and Apple to launch a cloud-based music service. Well, now it appears that Google has beat Apple to the punch by launching their Google Music Beta platform today with their official announcement at Google I/O. What we know at the moment is that the Google Music Beta will allow you to easily purchase and stream music to all your Android devices including tablets and smartphones. You can also upload your existing music collection to the cloud music storage. Music caches just played can also be played offline, even on a different device. Not only can you create custom playlists that can be shared across all your devices, but a unique “instant mix” feature automatically generates playlists based off of one song you pick. The service is live now, but you mustrequest an invite to join. You can check out the video below to get an overview of the new ser

Movie rentals are now available on the Android Market, and are available for Android 2.2 and higher. There are now over 3,000 movies available right now for streaming on Android, at market.android.com. You can rent a movie on the web, and then immediately watch it on your phone and tablet. Some movies are available free, and others are available for purchase. Movies start at $1.99. Rentals are available on the Android Market today, and Google will be rolling out an update to the Verizon XOOM today also. The updates for Android 2.2 and above devices will be forthcoming over the next few weeks so that you can get the movie directly from your phone. Speaking of updates, Google also announced that Guidelines for updates to Android devices will now be available, so you won’t be in the dark about when (or whether) your device update is coming. The announcements are coming fast and furious at the first keynote, and we will continue to keep you updated as they come.

This is the big announcement above all other announcements, that everyone attending the conference would be getting a device of some great significance. This is the big deal, the huge one that makes for the future of the platform, the device given out is the one that takes the cake for the rest of the year – so what is it? A Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, a fully functional one, for every single one of the 5,000 attendees of the conference. Are you excited? If you’re there, you definitely should be. This is the icing on the cake for one of the most massively packed keynotes in the history of the world, one that showed 100 million activations and 4.5 billion installs of Android. One that showed off Android Honeycomb 3.1. One that announced Android Ice Cream Sandwich. One that showed off Movie Rentals and Music Beta. And one that announced Android Open Accessory! An absolutely insane 50 minutes and one that’s never to be forgotten. Have a look at the rest of our coverage of the event as

Android Ice Cream Sandwich has been officially announced, coming in Q4 2011. It comes with a super awesome logo, which you see below. There are some amazing new features being announced, including 3D. Google says its goal is to deliver “one operating system that works everywhere, regardless of device.” Update: Ice Cream Sandwich will be able to run on nearly all current Android hardware, so it can work on older handsets as well. It won’t be limited to just the newer phones. This is basically bringing the functionality of Honeycomb to your phone, holographic user interface, better multitasking, new launcher and richer widgets. They demonstrated being able to resize a widget on your phone screen, so that you can view more of your gmail for example, from the widget. Android Ice Cream Sandwich is not just about breadth, but about depth too. The 3D application is able to detect who is speaking as well as the facial features of the person speaking. They demonstrated being able to alter

We’re inside the opening keynote at Google I/O and they’ve announced an update to Android Honeycomb to version 3.1. The update will begin rolling out today starting with Verizon’s Motorola XOOM 3G devices. It will bring several new user interface enhancements including improvements to the task switcher and widgets. Instead of just switching between a few tasks, the 3.1 can now switch between much more apps by scrolling through a list of your most recent tasks. Android supports true multitasking, but in order to run efficiently, they’ve developed a unique technology that automatically shuts down and restores apps transparently. This manages your resources automatically and helps reserve memory. Widgets now can be resized, stretching both horizontally or vertically. Developers can easily update their apps to support this new widget feature with just a few additional lines of code. The update has also improved Android’s USB support. Android devices can now act as USB hosts, meaning

Today at 9AM Pacific Time is the first Google keynote speech. We’re in the crowd waiting in line for the door to open, along with about fifteen billion other people. But we will be giving you the big news first! We’ll be ready with not only news, but analysis, and our thoughts on what the announcements mean. Ice Cream Sandwich? Google music service? Chrome? You’ll see it first here. [Update: We're in, and its starting now!] This is just the first of many keynotes, announcements and talks we’ll be having with and on Google’s biggest event of the year for developers (aka their biggest event of the year period.) We’re expecting some huge Android news, some huge news on Google Chrome both as a browser and as an OS, and some new devices to be revealed here and there MAYBE. We’ll see. Stay with us, and be sure to like us on Facebook for the most timely updates.

Hybrid cars are all fine and good with increased efficiency and fuel economy. I am a auto enthusiast though and I really want performance more than I want efficiency. It was really cool to me to see sports cars start to turn up over the last year or so with hybrid systems in place that act sort of like the boost from video games to give the cars a burst of speed when needed. Porsche uses this sort of system on its awesome 911 GT3 R Hybrid racecar. The picture you see here is a shot of that Porsche racecar steering wheel. It appears to be covered in alcantra, which is a great material for grip and comfort during long races or driving. This is one of the strangest looking steering wheels ever though with all the buttons and knobs on the thing. I’m not going to pretend to know what all of those buttons and knobs are for, but I can see a few labels I recognize. The coolest of all the buttons though is the boost one you see near the thumb. Press that and the hybrid system kicks in to

HP has all sorts of products that bear its brand name from computers to display and smartphones. The company is most known as the world’s largest shipper of computers, but it has a goodly share of the LCD market too for screens to go along with desktops. HP has unveiled its latest desktop display called the HP Elite L2201x. The screen is very thin and has a kickstand prop rather than the typical base we are used to seeing on computer screens. The exact launch date of the screen isn’t known, HP lists it as coming soon. What we do know is that the screen is 21.5-inches and used LED backlighting. It has a 16:9 aspect ratio the only connectivity with a DisplayPort. You will need adapters if your video card lacks DisplayPort. The screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 0.248mm pixel pitch. The contrast ratio for the display is 5000:1 and the panel might not be great for gaming. The response time is 16ms. I would want to see this thing in reviews to be sure ghosting with video games

I like geeky DIY projects as much as anyone else does. I especially like them when the builder takes something cool from a video game and brings it into the real world. If you are a fan of Portal, you will recognize this DIY project right away as one of the turrets from the game. This cool project has a geek building a life-size version of that turret and equipping it with motion detection and a laser eye. That laser eye appears to be a red laser pointer, and it looks really cool. You can see the barrels of the turret sticking out the side of the thing. This would have been truly epic had the builder managed to design air soft or NERF guns into the sides of the turret allowing it to fire bullets. The builder of the device is one Ryan Palser, and he does good work. The replica apparently took “months” for the guy to build. The laser eye is one of the coolest parts of the project and looks just like one from the game. The motion sensor detects when someone walks up to it, and it ma

I really like it when video card makers take what would normally be a decent video card with a single GPU and make it much more than that by adding a second of the same GPU to the mix. Dual GPU video cards are nothing new and have been around for a long time, we just don’t see them as often as the single GPU offerings. The only downside to a dual GPU video cards is that they tend to run hotter and take up more space and power than your average single GPU card. The new card that has surfaced from PowerColor has a pair of the ATI 68xx/Barts GPUs shoehorned into a single video card. That should be plenty of oomph to give the dual GPU NVIDIA GF114 video card a serious run for its money. The use of a pair of the 6870 GPUs should make this one of the more affordable dual GPU cards we have seen recently. Two of the older GPUs should not be a match for a single 6990 video card; we will wait to see some benchmarks to verify that though. The card has no official name at this point and will

As expected, Microsoft has announced that it is acquiring VoIP firm Skype for $8.5bn in cash. The deal will see Skype integration with Microsoft platforms including Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices; it will also allow for cross-communication between Skype users and Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Skype will be integrated into Microsoft as a new business division, with current Skype CEO Tony Bates reporting directly to Steve Ballmer as the new president of the Microsoft Skype Division. Of course, the acquisition also nets Microsoft recent Skype purchase Qik, which the company said had been targeted because of its expertise in online sharing and compression. Something of a relief to existing Skype users, Microsoft says it plans to continue investment and development for the VoIP service on other platforms. The deal is expected to be finalized before the end of the year. Press Release: Microsoft to Acquire Skype Combined

iPhone and iPad users have had fun piloting the Parrot AR. Drone for a while now, leaving Android users feeling left out of the fun. But the Droid community can join in the fun starting next month. There are also some new games available for the iOS platform. Playsoft Games has already released its own piloting app for Samsung and Nokia phones. This was done with the Parrot’s software development kit. All the piloting apps are free to download, regardless of platform. For now, the games have only been announced for the iOS devices. Two games are available now, with a third untitled game being developed. AR. Flying Ace is available now in the App Store for free, while the other free title, AR. Race is being launched today. For the true Drone enthusiast, there are also physical obstacles available for purchase that can actually be recognized by the Drone. A set of pylons and a finish line retail for $59.99, and a donut retails for $49.99. The accessories will also be availab

NBC put in an order for the comedy Friends with Benefits during the upfronts last year, but the show never made it onto the midseason schedule as planned. Futon Critic is now reporting that the network has decided to "burn off" the series this summer. Beginning on Saturday, June 25, NBC will air back-to-back episodes beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET each week. Brian Grazer (Arrested Development) created this half-hour comedy series that centers on a group of twenty-something single friends trying to navigate the dating world. From the title of the show, I'm sure you can guess that these friends have a tendency to be super close when they feel the need. The show stars Danneel Harris (One Tree Hill) as Sara Maxwell, a doctor who's looking for a man to settle down with. Her friend, Ben Lewis (played by Ryan Hansen from Party Down) is on the hunt for the perfect woman. As they both search for the perfect partner, they have a tendency to sleep with one another when the

There's a strange thing about the tale of Robin Hood. Everyone knows who he was; the fellow with a bow and arrow who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. His story's just as famous as that of King Arthur, save for one thing: he's probably most famous as a fox. Of course, the story of Robin Hood is like that of King Arthur in another sense: there is no such thing as real historical accuracy when telling the stories, because nobody really knows who these figures were. Sure, we like to pretend that they looked like Clive Owen and Russell Crowe, but those gritty and "accurate" films such as 2004's King Arthur and last year's Robin Hood are still criticized because, well, a lot of their stuff is made up. With Acorn Media's new release of Robin of Sherwood, a 1980s British television series based on the legend of Robin Hood, we can finally get back to enjoying these stories the way they were meant to be told: as myths. In this three-disc set, we rea

The zombies are back, and deader than ever. Production has kicked off on the second season of AMC's The Walking Dead and the first bit of 'actual' buzz-worthy details has lift-off. The above photo is from actual The Walking Dead season 2 filming, and as you can see all of that gloomy talk of budget cuts hasn't led to any skimping on the series' core elements. The zombies are as foreboding, and pungent, as ever. In a release from AMC, The Walking Dead show-runner Frank Darabont reflected from the set on how it feels to be back amongst the living dead. "At this moment, I'm standing on a stretch of post-apocalypse interstate in Georgia, littered with abandoned cars and blessing my good luck to be reunited with our amazing cast, and our fantastic directors and crew. Across the board, there are none better. It's great to be shooting again. I think we've embarked on a great season." Details on where the story is going might be found in the sou