IBLOG SPACE

Yash Raj Films and director Kabir Khan can breathe a sigh of relief. Salman Khan is all set to fly to Dublin to resume shooting on September 10 for Yash Raj Films-Kabir Khan's  Ek Tha Tiger . The crew, including Katrina Kaif (who, as reported, has set aside all other projects), has been keeping itself on hold monitoring Salman's post-surgery recuperation. Now they can heave a sigh of relief, as Salman is well on the way to recovery. Says a source close to the actor, "After the seven-hour surgery the doctors had prescribed a strict regime for Salman to follow. But he has defied the rules, as usual. He's filled with  mauj-masti  in the US. He's very happy. Salman has been calling up his brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri for the box-office figures of  Bodyguard . Though the doctors have predicted the possibility of a second surgery three months from now, Salman has healed with amazing dexterity leaving even his surgeons flummoxed." Atul Agnihotri confirms Salman'

Shah Rukh Khan is all set to make  Ra.One  bigger than the best. While it is a known fact that he wanted his superhero film to compete with the best in the international arena, he is sticking to his vision by putting it all into real action as well. Recently he finished the background score of the film in none less than Prague, the Mecca of music when it comes to creating a grand sound, to lend huge cinematic experience. Confirms a source, "Shah Rukh was sure that if he was competing with the likes of  Spiderman, Batman  and other superhero flicks, he had to get the music right by all means. He discussed this with his director Anubhav Sinha along with composers Vishal & Shekhar and Prague was finalised. The composer duo has been familiar with the music setting there. They in fact upped the ante further and brought together a 200 piece orchestra for the background score of the film." Those who have had a sneak peak at the rough cut of the film along with a very internatio

Ever since Yash Chopra announced his next film a few months ago, the wait for this film has already begun. The veteran, who directed VEER ZAARA more than seven years ago, is all set to begin his next film with Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma in the lead. This time, the respected and revered film-maker has signed A.R. Rahman to score the music of his forthcoming film. The latest on the project is that Yash-ji is all ready with the script, but since Shah Rukh is busy with RA.ONE and DON 2, the actor has requested the film-maker to begin filming once he's through with these two films. Of course, the veteran film-maker and the actor share close ties, hence the principal shooting of the film will commence only after the release of these two films. In the meanwhile, Rahman is expected to record the songs of this film, before the film goes on floors. This film, one is more than sure, will be on every moviegoer's 'must watch' list when its release date is annou

Salman Khan is the flavor of the season and rightly so. With BODYGUARD emerging a major money-spinner at the ticket window, the media is focusing on Salman and only Salman since the past few days. Be it the mind-boggling start undertaken by his new film BODYGUARD at the box-office or his surgery in the U.S., not a day passes when you don't read or watch a news bulletin about the developments in the actor's personal and professional life. Now here's something about the actor not many know. Salman, who underwent surgery last week in the U.S., has started promoting BODYGUARD while recuperating in the U.S. [he has been advised a week's rest by the doctors]. Fully aware that he's required to reach out to his fans when his movie releases, the actor has started connecting with Indian moviegoers via television, radio and print interviews. Meanwhile, the actor will commence filming EK THA TIGER at a foreign destination. And like this year, which witnessed two releases [READ

Fans who have been eagerly waiting to see father-son duo Rishi and Ranbir Kapoor share screen space won't have to wait too long now as they have come together for Pepsi's latest ad. There was a strong buzz that the father-son duo would be teaming together for a film, but they will be sharing screen space for the first time in the upcoming Pepsi commercial. They will be seen playing father and son in the commercial as well. According to sources, the two actors were quite comfortable during the shoot. A teaser of the commercial that went on air today shows Rishi dismissing his son's chances of becoming a 'crorepati' while the son has a plan in place. It ends with a voiceover "15 September Ko Pepsi Game Badle Ga" and the theme music for ' Kaun Banega Crorepati ' plays. Filmmaker Ayan Mukherji, who has worked with Ranbir in  Wake Up Sid , has directed this ad. The complete commercial will go on air from September 15.

The much anticipated HTC Vigor has turned up at the FCC sporting 4G LTE frequencies as well as CDMA/EVDO support, suggesting that the device is heading to Verizon very soon. According to a leaked roadmap, the device is expected to launch in early October and could be HTC’s first handset to tout Beats Audio. The HTC Vigor is expected to feature a 4.3-inch 720p HD display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of onboard storage, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera. It should come running HTC Sense 3.5 UI on top of Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread. Previously leaked images of the device reveal that the HTC Vigor looks similar in size to the HTC Thunderboltand a red ring around the rear-facing camera that resembles the Droid Incredible 2. This could mean that the HTC Vigor may turn out to be the rumored Droid Incredible HD.

Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabooks have surfaced online for pre-orders shortly following their debut last week at IFA 2011. Set to launch in Europe first before going worldwide to compete head to head with the MacBook Air, these super-slim and powerful laptops from Acer are expected to launch in select markets later this month with distribution expanding in October. Two of the three expected Acer Aspire S3 models listed on the European online retailer’s site include the base Core i5-2467M configuration with a 320GB HDD priced at €849 ($1,164) as well as an 240GB SDD version priced at €1149 ($1,575). Both should have specs as expected, including 4GB of RAM. The S3 Ultrabook sports a 13.3-inch LED display with 1366 x 768 pixel resolution and measures just 0.51 inches thin and weighs 3lbs. So, it is a bit thicker and heavier than the MacBook Air, but not by much. It also features a full-sized HDMI port, two USB ports, and a built-in SD card slot. For more details on the S3, make sure to check out

The big smartphone release of this month was certainly the Droid Bionic by Motorola. You can pick the smartphone up right now with the device officially on sale as of yesterday in Verizon stores and on Amazon.iFixit is apt to get their hands on the latest deices just long enough to tear them up and this time is no different. The gang has ripped up its Droid Bionic for us to check out. The process of tearing the Bionic down starts the same as always with the removal of the battery door and battery. Under the microSD card is the 4G SIM card. After that out comes the little prying tool and the device is snapped open. The EMI shields go away along with the SIM card holder and then it’s off with the ribbon cables. iFixit points out that the front camera of the Bionic was never officially given a megapixel count by Motorola. However, the VGA quality says 0.3MP. The camera is pulled off and then we see all the chips and other things on the board. You can see the OMAP processor, SanDisk flash

iPhone owners know that when the iPhone first debuted years ago unlimited data really meant unlimited. You could download all you want and not have to work about data overages. Today the carriers want us to believe that the data used for streaming video and music is so great that they can’t afford true unlimited, unless you are grandfathered in on AT&T. The unlimited plans on most carriers today are still billed as “Unlimited” but the fine print shows that generally a few gigabytes of fair use before overages kick in. With the iPhone 5 coming to all carriers according to sources, one of the ways for a carrier to set itself apart from the others with the iPhone will be the data plan. Bloomberg reports that one major carrier (it’s not AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile) will be offering an unlimited data plan with the iPhone. The plan is apparently a true unlimited plan allowing you to stream all you want without worrying about big overages. There is no official comment out of the third

A few days ago there were rumors circulating that Samsung was possibly eyeing a tie up with MeeGo. The suggestion seemed to be that Samsung would attempt to acquire MeeGo, even though MeeGo is open source.CNET reports that Samsung has now said that you can’t buy an open source project. While there might be some truth to that, the real crux of the deal is that Samsung isn’t interested in MeeGo. No one is apparently, even Nokia has backed away from the OS. The failure of WebOS has put an exclamation point on the fact that the OS realm for mobile devices today is a three horse race with iOS and Android dominating and Windows Phone 7 far behind. One of the big reasons why rumors pointed to Samsung eyeing MeeGo is that the Android patent licensing fees Microsoft is beating out of smartphone makers are far from cheap. Moving to another OS would allow the makers to avoid paying those Android patent royalties. Samsung’s rep also noted to CNET that the company was investing significantly in its

Chevrolet’s Camaro has been outshined by similar Mustang models in many enthusiast eyes since the 5.0 V8 returned to the Ford Mustang. The Camaro has also been without a model to counter the Shelby GT500 Mustang, but that has now changed with the introduction of the Camaro ZL1. The ZL1 is fitted with a 6.2L LSA V8 under the hood with 580hp and 556 lb-ft of torque. The car is also about more than raw power. GM fitted the car with the track-capable high-performance fuel system and coolers on the engine, transmission, and rear differential cooler along with Magnetic Ride Control and a performance traction control option. Some aspects sound similar to Ford’s Boss 302 with the major exception that the Boss 302 is a naturally aspirated car. That supercharger that the ZL1 uses may be a hindrance on the road course though as power output diminishes as forced induction engines heat up thereby reducing the power and at times making the cars less consistent. One thing that GM is using to lure in

One of the indicators we always look for when a new version of one product or another from Apple is rumored to be on the way is the ship time of the model the new product will be replacing. When a product that has been around for a while and is generally available in plenty of volume to meet the demands for the consumer starts to see ship dates grow, it’s often a good indication that the new version is near. Lately the ship times for the iPhone 4 according to the Apple site have started to lengthen. The delivery time for the iPhone 4 earlier in the week was 1-3 business days. That hinted that the inventory might be diminishing thanks to preparations to move to the iPhone 5. Before that, 1-3 day estimate showed up on the Apple site the estimate was within 24 hours. Rumors still peg the iPhone 5 to launch in October with the chance of a cheaper version of the iPhone 4 in tow. Apple is doing very well with the cheap iPhone 3GS right now and will definitely want to keep something in that p

The discontinued HP TouchPad has turned up in stock at UK retailer PC World, though it’s unclear how long supplies of the webOS tablet will last. Priced at £249.99 ($398) for the 32GB TouchPad with the wireless charging dock and case – the 16GB bundle sold out in short order – the cost is a long way off the $99.99 bargain US shoppers were treated to last month. We don’t know where the retailer’s stock has come from, but the assumption is that it’s not part of HP’s final production run. Those slates are expected to be limited to the US market, and probably to only fulfill outstanding orders from the last round of sales, rather than going up for grabs internationally. Whether the TouchPad is a good buy depends on how attached to the idea of webOS you are, how much you trust HP’s commitment to continue development of the platform, or whether you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and get hacking. Projects to load Android 3.x Honeycomb onto the TouchPad are already underway, and HP has hin

Pioneer has rolled out a bunch of stuff today and among the new offerings is a pair of Music Tap audio systems. One of the players is the X-SMC3-S Music Tap and the other is the Pioneer Elite branded X-SMC4-Elite Music Tap. Both of the players support Airplay and network music playback. The systems connect to home networks wirelessly or via Ethernet connections. Both have integrated WiFi ready for wireless networks right out of the box. Both of the players also have DLNA 1.5 support, vTuner internet radio, Pioneer AirJam for iOS support, and 2.5-inch color LCDs. The systems can show the album art and song details on the 2.5-inch screen and will show the album art and content on connected TVs or monitors as well. The wireless connection lets the players hook to the user’s iTunes catalog and Pandora, iHeartRadio, and more online services. The iPod docks on both of the Music Tap players pop out for clean looks when not needed. They each have 2-channel digital amps with dual full range dri

Here in the US we have had a few bundled PS3 systems that were different from the standard black console. That shiny black color has been the only color we could get in North America for a long time now. Japan on the other hand has been able to get a ceramic white console for more than a year and has had access to a silver PS3 as well. Sony is ready to let that white PS3 slip out of Japan and migrate to other countries with the announcement that it will land in Europe and in Australia in November. It’s not clear why Sony still won’t let Americans have access to the white console. I’d like to have something other than black the next time I replace a console. In Europe and Down Under, the console will come with a 320GB HDD and two controllers for a price of €300/£250 or AUD$448. I wonder if Sony thinks that with the economy getting sour again the US gamers won’t cough up the money for a console of a different color.

Back in August, we reported that that shipments of LG Display iPad 2 LCDs had been reduced apparently over concerns of reliability on Apple’s part. The LG screens were reportedly not faring well in Apple’s drop tests and had the annoying tendency for the backlights to fail. That means Apple reduced orders from LGD until the company could find the issue and fix it. It seems that LG Display has found and fixed the problem at this point. DigiTimes reports that the shipments from LG Display to Apple have now returned to previous levels. Before the shipments were cut, LG was producing 4 million panels per month. The production and shipments to Apple have now gone back up to 4 million monthly. Apple had reduced the shipments from that 4 million number to between 2.5 million and 2.6 million screens from July until now. The reduced LG shipments were picked up by other screen providers including Samsung Electronics and CMI. Apple is likely also gearing up for higher sales during the holiday sea

Pioneer has unveiled three new Blu-ray players that support 3D movies and more. Two of the three players are in the high-end Elite range and the other is a general offering at a decent price. The cheapest of all three is the $199 BDP-140. The elite BDP-52FD will sell for $399 and the BDP-53FD will sell for $499. All of them share many of the same features. The features include wireless capability when used with the optional AS-WL300 adapter. The ability to stream from Pandora, YouTube, and NetFlix. They also have the ability to play audio and video from USB and DLNA sources. The players all support 1080p images and 3D video output with HDMI 1.4a. The three models can also upconvert video to 1080p with reduced image noise. They also support 36-bit deep color. On the audio front, the trio supports DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD and Super Audio CD. The Elite models take that a bit further with a Precision Quartz Lock System for jitter-free sound from DVDs and Blu-rays. The Elite models

A controversial patent reform bill has been approved by the United States Senate, prioritizing those first to file for a patent rather than the first to invent the technology, and is expected to be signed by President Obama imminently. The America Invents Act not only amends the process for filing patents but the system for challenging them, with the introduction of a post-grant review that, it’s argued, will allow bad patents to be re-examined. The bill’s supporters claim it will streamline the filing process, allow the USPTO to more quickly crunch through the huge backlog of existing applications, and bring the patent system overall more in line with what other countries operate. Its critics, however, claim progressive amendments to the bill have diluted it to the point where it can no longer be considered true reform. “This is not a patent reform bill” Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) complained, despite other democrats praising the overhaul. “This is a big corporation patent giveaway

The Coca-Cola Company has announced that it will be using electric delivery trucks to serve urban markets in an effort to cut down on fuel costs and reduce the pollution that the company produces overall. Coke already operates one of the largest heavy-duty hybrid electric fleets in the country. The new eStar all-electric, zero emission trucks are part of the growing alternative fuel vehicle use that coke has started and by the end of the year 750 trucks will be in its fleet. Right now Coke has 650 hybrid trucks in its fleet. The new all electric trucks will be deployed in San Francisco, NYC, Washington D.C., and Hartford, Conn. Two trucks will also be deployed in LA. The eStar trucks have zero emissions and can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 10 tons annually compared to normal vehicles. Navistar is building the eStar vehicles and they will be able to run up to 100 miles per charge. A full charge takes 6-8 hours to complete. When the vehicles are needed faster than th

Preity Zinta will be awarded with the "World Diamond Group Platinum Award for Peoples' Friendship" symbolized at the upcoming Venice Film Festival. The Award will be tied-in with the magnificent "White OliveTree", an invaluable marble, platinum and diamonds sculpture. The award also celebrates the tenth anniversary of the "Kinéo Diamanti al Cinema" Award. World Diamond Group establishes a prize to be awarded during the 68th Venice Film Festival, in the context of the event Kineo "Diamanti al Cinema" event, to emphasize his belief in art as a privileged means to establish, together with respect for justice and human rights, true and lasting friendship relationships among peoples. The first "World Diamond Group Platinum Award for Peoples' Friendship " is assigned to Preity Zinta engaged in the work of people of different cultures harmonization and reconciliation, contributing in this way to the World Diamond Group mission of enha

Not too long ago there were few 3D projectors on the market and those that were on the market didn’t usually offer 1080p resolution. The market is quickly changing though and now there are a bunch of new projectors coming that will do both 1080p resolution and 3D content at a nice price point. One of those projects is the newVivitek H1086-3D. The projector has a bunch of nice features and can change 2D content into 3D content on the fly. The projector supports 720p and 1080i resolution video at 50/60Hz and 1080p 24Hz content from 3D Blu-ray players and other 3D sources. The specs on the projector include 2,000 lumens of brightness and a 5,000:1 contrast ratio. Connectivity includes HDMI, VGA-In, S-video, composite, RS-232, and a 12V trigger. It has an integrated 5W speaker and weighs 7.8 pounds. It will hit stores in December for $1,999. I am not particularly impressed by the brightness and contrast ratio this projector sports. The projector uses DLP technology, BrilliantColor, and DLP

What's common between Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Shahid Kapoor, Madhavan and Imran Khan? Well, each of them has a quintessential celebration movie to their name that has a 'shaadi' at the central attraction. Now Tusshar Kapoor too has joined the elite group and has signed a film titled  Chaar Din Ki Chandni . Shooting of the film has already begun and Tusshar is with the film's crew in Jodhpur. "Shah Rukh started the trend with  Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge  when it came to celebration films that had major sequences set in a household getting ready for a marriage. Quite a few cheap imitations followed but to lesser results. Akshay then tasted success with this genre in Namastey London . In between, Shahid Kapoor struck gold with  Jab We Met  and Madhavan too did well with  Tanu Weds Manu . Now coming weekend Imran would be seen in  Mere Brother Ki Dulhan . It would be fun to see how Tusshar does in Chaar Din Ki Chandni ", says an industry veteran. It wo

A company called mLogic has rolled out some new products that are very cool. The new gear is specifically aimed at the Mac users out there and includes products for the MacBook and iMac lines. The first of the new products is the mDock for the MacBook users out there. This little dock replicates the ports on the side of the unibody MacBook 13-inch and 15-inch computers. The device is able to plug in things like monitors, speakers, printers, and more so they don’t all have to be unplugged when the user wants to take the MacBook on the road. The mDock also has an integrated HDD with 500GB or 1TB of storage inside and uses Time Machine backup software. The mDock also has front facing USB ports and a headphone jack. The device looks like the Mac so it blends with Apple’s clean design and has no fan inside to keep noise down. The other product is called the mBack. This is a zero footprint backup up drive for the iMac and machines using the Cinema Display. The mBack mounts to the rear of the

Google’s push to make Android devices the choice for mobile reviewers continues, with the addition of Places photo sharing in the updated version of Google Maps. Previously supporting text-only reviews and ratings, Google Maps for Android v5.1 now allows users to “Add a photo” to a location’s listing, either snapped there and then with their handset’s camera or uploaded from the gallery. In addition, it’s now possible to see a summary of which nearby places you’ve rated with four or five stars on the map, helping cut through the mass of listings. Check-ins are still supported, and it’s possible to see photos shared about each location by other visitors. The updated version follows news of Google’s acquisition of foodie reviewers Zagat yesterday which, the search giant has already confirmed, will be used to boost the number and legitimacy of restaurant reviews in their mapping products. You can find Google Maps v5.1 in the Android Market, where it’s a free update.

CEDIA is one of the most overlooked tech shows out there I think. Each year the show takes place and I usually forget about it. This is the show where a ton of home theater gear is unveiled for the first time. Epson is at CEDIA 2011 and has unveiled several new projectors for home theater and custom installers that have some very nice features. The projectors include the Pro Cinema 6010, Home Cinema 5010/5010e, and the Home Cinema 3010/3010e. All of the projectors use 3LCD tech. The 6010, 5010, and 5010e projectors share some of the same features with contrast ratios of 200,000:1 and 2,400 lumens of color and white light output. They also use the Epson Super Resolution tech and FineFrame tech for smoother frame interpolation and better video quality in 2D mode. The projectors use the 2.1 zoom ratio OptiCinema lens and have 2D to 3D conversion capability. The main difference between them is that the 5010e adds wireless capability to the 5010 and the 6010 adds two anamorphic lens modes,

Characters: Esha Deol:  Tanya An aspiring writer, an incurable romantic by heart, a perfect blend of modernity and traditions… This is Tanya. Tanya believes in the immense power of love and God. The intense search for her roots, which Tanya takes up passionately and with headstrong determination, takes her around the globe. But she is willing to give the journey all it takes… All becauses of her strong faith in love and its capacity to transform life into a meaningful journey that transcends all barriers. Arjan Bajwa:  Jai The suave, charming and dynamic companion to Tanya in this adventure/narrative as the ace fashion photographer, Jai. Completely loyal in his love for Tanya, he is a live-wire and a go-getter when it comes to life. He is wise and friendly in handling people and also sensible enough in taking all the uncertainties of life in a positive light. In her quest for her roots, Tanya relies on Jai completely. He is her friend, confidant and her formidable pillar of strength.

Steve Jobs has always insisted that the iPad is “magical” and so it seems somewhat fitting that the iOS tablet should now have a wizard on the freshly-updated Apple Store. Designed to walk you through the arduous challenge of picking an iPad 2 color and then deciding on whether you want to opt for WiFi-only or WiFi + 3G, the new guide is likely targeting tech-shy would-be tableteers who prize simplicity. Ironically, the place where a simple wizard would be perhaps most useful – choosing which MacBook Air/Pro best fits your needs, and what upgrades are a sensible addition – still uses the old style of ordering. Hopefully Apple will turn its webstore attention to that next, since with the recent MacBook Air updates the performance gap between the ultraportable and the mainstream Pro has narrowed considerably. In contrast, making a choice between two colors, three storage capacities and a pair of 3G networks doesn’t seem quite so arduous, but Apple’s rivals could still do well to watch an

Characters: Nishant Dahiya:  Rahul Sareen Rahul is a rock star even when he's off stage. This guy looks like a million bucks, sings like a dream and is charming as hell. His songs play on everyone's play list on campus and he's a huge chick magnet. This dude ignores and denies more fraaandship requests in a day than many lusty guys make to chicks in month. Rahul has two very good friends; Vishal and Hacky.They have complete access to his house, his car, his life. Even his Face book profile. Which is what makes this the most screwed up love story. Saba Azad:  Preity Sen Preity is a man repellent. She's pretty and all, but she hates the sight and smell of men around her. Especially Vishal, the prankster. If she had just one wish, she would wish Vishal disappeared from her life. Preity is a totally complicated girl and quite a loner. A photography enthusiast, she is always seen clicking away with her camera on campus.Preity really likes Rahul's singing and loves his l

A father trying hard to 'fit-in' in his Son's badass world- A son ... is trying hard to 'dude-up' his dad from 'aiiiyyyo' to 'YO!' And a mother lost in translation between her husband's 'ingeva' and her son's 'Inn'it!' While Shekhar was trying every trick in the book to woo his son, get 'dude-ified' and 'up his coolness quotient' his son had given up on him... Just when the father-son duo hit a deadlock- Shekhar strikes gold when he designs one hell of a game. Finally it all starts falling in place... ...as the family comes together... ...only to find themselves in the middle of a crash... ...not just a hard drive crash but a crash that would drive them to a disaster and make their lives go - KABOOM!!! ...All hell breaks loose when - the game that was meant to be played with... starts playing them... Ra.One- The next level.

If you are an iPad gamer that likes to spend time with music and rhythm games a new offering has landed you might want to check out called Skillz: The DJ Game. The game is in the App Store for the iPad right now and the full version of the game has five venues, six DJs and a 25 song library to play. There is also a lite version of the game offered for free with “several” songs in the pack. The full version of the game is $5.99. The tracks in the game pack include popular tracks from Kid Cudi vs. Crookers, People Under the Stairs and Diplo, and there are several others. There will be more tracks offered for the game as downloads in the future. The game is also being planned for release on Android and the PC as well. The game doesn’t need any accessories to play. All the play is done using the touchscreen. It appears you have to move the little slider at some points as well as hit notes and other stuff much like you do in Rock Band. This might be a fun game. If you try it out let us know

Apple has re-secured its injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany, with the Düsseldorf courts upholding its existing ban on sales. In what was reportedly a short sitting this morning,NetbookNews reports, the judge deemed that Samsung’s “smooth, simple surfaces” of the 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet copied the minimalist aesthetic of the iPad, a design that Apple secured back in 2004. The news means that Samsung’s slate is still not allowed to be sold in Germany, though the initial Europe-wide implications are no longer in place. What impact this will have on the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Tab 7.7 – the latter only announced last week, but pulled from launch demo stations at the German IFA 2011 show after a further Apple injunction – is unclear, though Samsung has said that the Tab 7.7 design is yet to be finalized and the Tab 8.9 is not yet on sale. Official court documents are not yet released, and neither Samsung nor Apple has made a public statement regarding the new dec

Google has launched a stats offensive to prove its carbon-neutral status, adding a “The Big Picture” section to its Google Green pages that claims a month of using the search giant’s various services only amounts to 3hrs light from a 60W bulb per user. The company’s data centers use less than 0.01-percent of the world’s electricity – something that’s actually still pretty mind-boggling, if you think about it – thanks to a combination of renewable energy sources like solar and wind, and more creative building design. In fact, Google says its data centers use around half of the power that rivals demand, with a significant reduction in facilities costs – such as cooling and powering the servers themselves – being the main reason. Meanwhile around 35-percent of the power Google uses is from renewable sources: the solar panels at its Mountain View campus, for instance, are good for 3m kWh of electricity each year. Meanwhile further investments are set to unlock 1.7 GW of renewable energy –

Ebullient gamer-glee this morning, as the Resident Evil Revelations trailer leaks ahead of the title’s expected official debut at the Tokyo Game Show next week. Headed to the Nintendo 3DS in early 2012, the game is set in-between Resident Evil 4 and 5 in terms of in-story timeline, and will feature – going by this demo at least – a somewhat unimaginative mixture of busty ladies and skintight wetsuits. Still, it’s a formula that has sold plenty of titles up until now, so perhaps Capcom knows exactly what it’s doing. Gameplay is expected to be a return of sorts to the original Resident Evil titles, ramping up the puzzles and using tricks like limited ammunition to keep players on their toes. Perhaps more interesting is the fact that Resident Evil Revelations will use Capcom’s new MT Framework Mobile engine, promising significantly improved graphics on the 3D-capable handheld. First demonstrated back in September 2010, Capcom caught headlines with its boast that the 3DS version of the gam

LG has denied reports of a significant staff cull amid continuing apathy for its smartphones, claiming that no decisions had been made on reductions in its workforce. Reports surfaced earlier this week, suggesting LG was beginning with a 30-percent reduction in overseas staff, but also intended to take a knife to its domestic employees as well, in a drastic attempt to cut costs. The Korea Daily News claimed LG was targeting mobile marketing and purchasing resources teams outside of Korea initially, as well as shuttering some of its more unprofitable divisions. Exact details of the streamlining process within Korea were not revealed. However, LG has denied the report, with a spokesperson telling Reuters that “we are always looking at opportunities to improve the performance of our mobile business but no decision has been made as to any job reductions.” That certainly leaves the door open for staff cuts, however, one of several options LG discussed late last year when they ditched their

Microsoft has demonstrated Windows 8‘s super-speedy boot times, part of the company’s attempts to make the incoming OS more user-friendly. By using a combination of traditional boot/shutdown routines, and hibernating the Windows 8 kernel session, as well as taking advantage of multi-core processors common in today’s PCs, the start-up time can be slimmed down to a matter of seconds, as you can see in the video demo after the cut. While boot times may seem less important than resume times (whether from sleep or hibernate modes), Microsoft’s research argues that trimming it down will in fact have an impact on a significant number of users. 57-percent of desktop PC users and 45-percent of laptop PC users apparently prefer to shut down and reboot rather than use a sleep mode, in fact, with common reasons being a desire to save battery life as well as the hope of a “fresh start” each time. Microsoft says the fettling will have an impact on both HDD and SSD users, though the latter will see