IBLOG SPACE

For those of you with a keen eye for codenames, you’ll remember that at one point or another, the HTC Glacier, a device later called the myTouch 4G in some circles, was also going to go by another name: HTC Panache. Turns out that day has come, and it’s coming to Cincinnati Bell specifically. This regional carrier will be rolling out the Panache – which is also running on a 4G connection, whatever that may end up entailing in Cincinnati – with a few specs we’ve got to assume have been entered in incorrectly, as everywhere else this device has been listed with the same specs while this Panache has an impossibly large Lithium ion 13400 mAh Battery (included in box). Huge! Qualcomm has an extra b before its name as well on the listing, if that’s any additional indication that some of the specs may be a bit off, but an HTC phone is an HTC phone, and we’ve gotta let you know what’s up! Therefor here we go: this device has a 1GHz Snapdragon MSM8255 processor, a 3.8 inch WVGA capacitive touch

If you’ve been wondering which smartphones are the most popular right now, then wonder no more. Canaccord Genuity analysts T. Michael Walkley, Charles John, and Mathew D. Ramsay have conducted a survey of carrier retail stores to see which smartphones were their top performers. The survey reports the top 3 handsets for each month and shows that the Apple iPhone 4 has a winning streak. The firm contacted carrier retail stores from across the country and revealed that of the two carriers that had the iPhone, it was their top selling device for all previous months. Verizon did not get the iPhone 4 until February this year and the survey shows that the Motorola Droid X was its top performer back in January. At AT&T the iPhone 4 came in first followed by the iPhone 3GS, probably due to the enticing $50 price tag. In third was the Samsung Infuse 4G. Over at Verizon, the rankings came out with iPhone 4, Samsung Droid Charge 4G, and then the HTC Thunderbolt 4G. The HTC EVO 3D 4G beat out t

The fine folks at HDMI.org, aka the group responsible for keeping the HDMI Specifications in check, have declared that the Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable to be unlicensed and that ALL UNITS must be withdrawn. This may very well deal a mighty blow to groups already manufacturing said cords en masse as well as to Apple who is one of only a few manufacturers who use the DisplayPort in their devices – another of these groups being Toshiba. This notification to manufacturers of said cable means they must both stop production immediately and recall all units already distributed or they’ll legal action. Speaking with TechRadar on the situation, HDMI Org explained that there were several reasons why they’ve come to this conclusion for the cable. Each of these reasons is quite clear and at the moment it’s unclear as to why the cord was manufactured without first going through the necessary tests: “The HDMI specification defines an HDMI cable as having only HDMI connectors on the ends. Anything

Spotify has recently confirmed a U.S. launch for next week. This news comes after months of delays as the popular European music streaming service struggled to close deals with U.S. record label companies. But perhaps the biggest deal it’s landed is a rumored partnership with Facebook. Some leaked internal marketing materials reveal that Facebook will be a major key to Spotify’s U.S. domination. Spotify already has Facebook integration in Europe in the sense of allowing users to share playlists and see what friends are listening to, which is different from the recent rumors of a new partnership. The new rumors suggest that Spotify could get deeply integrated into Facebook to allow users to stream music directly in the social network. Whether or not true, Spotify plans to milk Facebook for marketing as much as possible. On why Spotify will succeed in the US, the company points out several reasons that mention Facebook as a catalyst. They include being the only music service of its kind

A fellow by the name of Gus Pinto has garnered some attention in the early hours of July 8th, 2011, aka this morning with a Tweet that’s about to be setting the Apple world on fire: “My charging cable caught on fire while charging my iPhone 4 running iOS5. #fail” Sound’s like a hot topic to me, does it to you? What we’re to understand here is that this particular developer of iOS-based software was running an early version of the newest Apple mobile operating system, iOS 5 on his iPhone 4, when a simple charge of the device resulted in some “small flames” which of course his iPhone cord could not hardly withstand for long. While new versions of software in their non-complete states have been known to make devices run slightly hot (literally,) there’s certainly no cause to panic in a case like this. An iPhone 4 exploding in your face is one thing, small flames is another. This situation is the next in a long line of off-the-wall insane accounts of awesome or otherwise one-in-a-million t

When Apple’s iPad 2 first came out back in March, there were massive supply shortages. The bottleneck was rumored to be light leakage issues with the LG supplied display panels, but whatever the problem was, it looks to be fixed. Apple plans to boost shipment numbers for Q3 and has just shortened iPad 2 shipping times to 3-5 days. During the first month of the iPad 2 launch, shipping times were set to 4-5 weeks out. The iPad 2 continued to sell out in other countries with a worldwide shortage that resulted in disappointing shipment numbers for Apple during its Q1 earnings report. That was soon improved by April and has since remained at 1-2 weeks out. Today, the online Apple Store started showing a new 3-5 day shipping time frame for all 3G and Wi-Fi models. It was also reported earlier from Digitimes that Apple’s contract manufacturer Foxconn intends to ship between14-15 million iPad 2 units in Q3, which should make them abundant during a quarter that will be rife with competition fro

One of the less important recurring characters introduced in season 2 of HBO's  Game of Thrones  will Theon Greyjoy's sister. Her name in the books is Asha Greyjoy, though apparently that could be subject to change on the series. While I've never had any difference distinguishing between the characters Asha and Osha (the wildling played on the series by  Harry Potter  actress Natalia Tena) on the page, only getting to hear and not see the characters' names might cause some confusion. That's why the casting breakdown for the series allegedly renamed Asha Greyjoy as Yara Greyjoy. And, in even more important news, it's rumored that an actress has already been cast to play Asha/Yara. Gemma Whelan has been linked to the role, according to  Winter-Is-Coming.net . The relatively unknown actress is, like several other members of the cast of  Game of Thrones , fresh out of drama school. She's only had a few roles, including minor roles in last year's  The W

Curb Your Enthusiasm  and Larry David return this Sunday, July 10 at 10 P.M on HBO and it looks like we can look forward to more awkward situations from Larry when he brings the show to New York City. Prior trips to the Big Apple for  The Producers  and for a role in a Martin Scorsese film have resulted in endless problems for Larry including issues with tipping and tourist interaction (played brilliantly by Stephen Colbert). This trip looks like it will be no different as Larry David returns to our screens nearly two years after the  Curb  season 7  Seinfeld  reunion. So why the long gap between seasons? Favourite  Curb  potty mouth Susie Essman (Susie Greene) spoke to  Vulture  and explained David's process when it comes to agreeing to do another season:

The second big role of season 2 of  Game of Thrones  has been cast: actress and model Gwendoline Christie has been cast as Brienne, the Warrior Maid of Tarth, according to  author George R.R. Martin's blog . Though I had always imagined the role would be a difficult one to fill, Martin claimed that there was "hardly any debate" about who should play Brienne. "The day the first batch of auditions went up for the role, we looked at a dozen actresses who were reading for Brienne and one actress who WAS Brienne," Martin wrote. "Gwendoline gave a great reading, and her look was just perfect. No, when she auditioned, she did not look she does in the photo [at the right]. She came in looking... well, like Brienne." The role calls for a relatively ugly woman, muscularly built, who is mocked as "Brienne the Beauty." She rebels against the gender roles in her society, and is one of the most loyal knights of the newly crowned King Renly Baratheo

When  White Collar  returned last month it did so with a new opening title sequence, this was met with much derision from White Collar  fans who hit up the social media sites Twitter and Facebook to register their dislike for these new titles. Well, the powers that be have listened and have done the most democratic thing that they can do; they are letting the fans decide with a vote. From today (July 8) until Wednesday, July 15 at noon ET you can head over to the USA networks secondary platform Character Chatter   and watch both the new and old title sequences (the original first half of season 1 sequence will not be included- I liked the black background of this one) and then vote on which one you prefer. The title sequence that wins the poll will be air July 19, on the episode "Taking Account". This  Character Chatter  site will let fans know of this poll by messaging them, as well as posting on Facebook, Twitter and even this Tuesday's episode of  White Collar  t

The contracts have been signed and the cast of  Criminal Minds  is in tact for season 7; Prentiss (Paget Brewster) and J.J. (A.J. Cook) will be returning full time and Hotch (Thomas Gibson) will also still be there. This is good news for  Criminal Minds  fans who have really been put through the wringer in regards to the main cast of the show, and now it looks like the BAU team will be facing some time of discontent. So what or who will be causing trouble for the team when they return in September? It seems that a former  Desperate Housewives  and  Mad Men  antagonist will be posing problems for the BAU team,  TVLine  have reported that Mark Moses (known to most as either Paul Young or Herman 'Duck' Phillips) won't be playing a criminal that they are tracking, but a senator heading up a committee that is investigating a case that was apparently screwed up by the BAU. This will be the focus of the season opener on September 21 and the show will pick up in 'real tim

When I first started watching  Love Bites , the way that I assumed an episode to work would be as follows. We'd have one vignette featuring Becki Newton's Annie, a pregnant chef who was carrying her sister's child, and various offshoots into Annie's personal life, i.e. friends, cousins, neighbors, etc. Another vignette would feature Greg Grunberg's lovable Judd, his wife Colleen (Constance Zimmer), and the same type of offshoots into their life that we saw of Annie. A third vignette would be a story that didn't have to do with any of the three main characters, though it would tie in thematically with the episode as a whole.

Yes. Yes. YES!!!!! Big Brother finally returned to our TV screens tonight and amongst the new (and old) personalities, a plethora of twists and turns were introduced that left me feeling like the most drunken college student on the planet by the end of the hour. With that being said, there is a lot to cover (it is launch night after all), so please bear with your boy as I attempt to touch on all things that left BB fans either going "Hmmm..." or "Oh HELL no!" Let's start with the immediate standouts within our new 8 houseguests.

If you're anything like me, you're sitting there everyday by your calendar counting the days until the next season of  The Walking Dead  hits AMC. Any bit of news about the upcoming season is good news, and in this it looks like we've struck gold. The show only started filming the new season last month but Robert Kirkman, the creator of the original graphic novel (as well as a producer and occasional writer on the television show) walks us through the set on location in Atlanta. What follows is a whole lot of coolness -- but as always, there are some minor spoilers here so beware. The Walking Dead  premieres with a full order of 13 episodes on AMC in October.

I'm apparently behind with the times, because I wasn't really aware that the video game developer Cyanide was putting together a PC game called "A  Game of Thrones:  Genesis".  We're still not sure of the release date, but it's supposed to appear in 2011, and the developer has already released some information about the game, some cool photos and a trailer. The game won't be focusing on the storylines you saw in Game of Thrones'  first season, but is intended to be a prequel to the storylines explored in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Fire and Ice" series.  Here's the official description from the developer: Thanks to a well-developed single player campaign written under supervision of the author, "A Game of Thrones - Genesis" immerses you into the heart of the battles and intrigues between the Houses that shaped the Kingdom of Westeros. From Nymeria's arrival in the Kingdom of Dorne to the awakening of the &q

When I went to Comic-Con last year, I spent all of Thursday in the cavernous Hall H watching movie panels.  They were actually great (I saw stars like Tina Fey, Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren), although I'm not crazy about the room.  This year, Hall H has  Twilight  and something from 20th Century Fox that is currently unspecified. Therefore, the place to be is Ballroom 20, where all of the TV stuff is happening, including the  Game of Thrones  panel, the return of Sarah Michelle Gellar to San Diego, and Showtime and USA shows.  NBC's  Awake  will also be making an appearance in Room 6A, as will a few other shows. You can find Comic Con's official Thursday schedule  here .  Try using the My Sched tool to customize your schedule and print it out or put it on your smartphone.  It's an invaluable tool, trust me. In the meantime, here are a few highlights of Thursday's TV schedule: " Burn Notice:  The Fall of Sam Axe", 10:00 - 11:00 a.m., Ballroom 2