Daily Dose Of Entertainment, Movies, Celebs, Games,Mobiles, Politics, Events , News

Porsche for 20,000 Cayenne SUVs

2012-02-24T10:58:00.001-08:00

$50,000 for a luxury SUV -- and the headlights fall out.

That's the problem that led to recall today by Porsche for 20,000 Cayenne SUVs. The recall covers 2011 and 2012 models, including the S, S Hybrid and Turbo models.Consumer Reports notes that in the filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the problem centers on "headlamps that can become loose and detach, possibly reducing driver visibilities and increase the risk of a crash."

TWITTER: For breaking auto news and off-the-cuff observations, follow Chris on Twitter.

Plus, it's really embarrassing, especially for SUVs based priced at $48,200.

iPads and better cameras, nothing is off limits when it comes to speculation about the next iPad. PCMag

2012-02-24T10:57:00.003-08:00

First up, when is this thing actually coming? We can likely put to rest last year's rumors about a February announcement. Apple usually holds its launch events on a Tuesday or Wednesday, which is cutting it a bit close for Feb. 28 or 29. Much of the mobile tech press, meanwhile, will be in Barcelona next week for Mobile World Congress.

A more likely scenario is the rumored March 7 press event, with a public launch on March 9 or a subsequent Friday. That's in line with an earlier report from All Things D, which has received accurate information about Apple events in the past.

Apple's iCloud and MobileMe services in Germany will no longer receive push notifications on their iOS devices

2012-02-24T10:57:00.001-08:00

The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet's Good Bones - by BlackBerry
Red Alert: Why Tablet Security Matters - by BlackBerry

More >>

Reports

Strategy: Optimize Your Mobile Infrastructure
Strategy: Education's Technology Dilemma

More >>

Webcasts

Maximize ROI with Database Consolidation onto Private Clouds
Five Jobs You Can Do Better with Intelligent Decision Automation

More >>

According to FOSS Patents, Apple was not complying with the order and only did so Friday after Motorola demanded the court enforce the injunction.

With the injunction in place, iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad users in Germany won't be alerted to new emails and other actions automatically. Instead, Apple said on its German support site that users will have to set their phones to retrieve email automatically at select intervals.

Apple, Motorola, and other hardware vendors are engaged in a bitter set of lawsuits regarding smartphone patents in Germany and in other markets.

[ Read about Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility. See Google Motorola Deal Approved. ]

Most recently, Apple filed a complaint with the European Commission alleging that Motorola is abusing "standard essential" patent licensing terms. Patents that are deemed essential for certain types of products (such as cell phones) must be licensed at a fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory rate, a practice known as FRAND.

Motorola is looking for upwards of $2.25 in licensing fees per iOS device sold. Apple believes these terms violate the FRAND principle and is asking the European Commission to investigate Motorola's licensing practices.

Microsoft joined Apple and made a similar request with the European Union this week. Microsoft also believes that Motorola is not offering fair licensing terms. It's worth noting that Microsoft itself licenses a number of smartphone-related patents to Android handset OEMs -- except for Motorola, which has refused to sign any agreements with Microsoft.

iPad 3” rumors

2012-02-24T10:56:00.002-08:00

If so, that’s fairly big news. Changing the dock connector would mean that, essentially, an entire industry built around iDevice accessories would become obsolete.

Apple is known for working to pack as much as it can into its cases, opting for smaller SIM cards and other design tweaks to keep its device’s profiles slim.

There’s also that story about late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs throwing a prototype iPod into an aquarium to point out what he called wasted space inside.

“Those are air bubbles,” he reportedly said. “That means there’s space in there. Make it smaller.”

Apple's Safari, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) and Mozilla's Firefox.

2012-02-24T10:56:00.001-08:00

It's technology that relies on information in the HTTP header, part of the requests and responses sent and received by a browser as it communicates with a website, to signal that the user does not want to be tracked by online advertisers and sites.

In the browsers that now support the Do Not Track header, a user tells sites he or she does not want to be tracked by setting a single option. In Mozilla's Firefox, for instance, that's done through the Options (on Windows) or Preferences (Mac) pane by checking a box marked, "Tell web sites I do not want to be tracked."

Very much so, said Jonathan Mayer, one of the two Stanford University researchers who came up with the header standard. "This is a great step forward. For some time, Google has been the last holdout among the major browsers," he said in an interview Thursday.

Apple's Safari, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) and Mozilla's Firefox.

Firefox was the first browser to adopt Do Not Track, with Firefox 4 in March 2011, while IE9 followed suit almost immediately. Safari has supported Do Not Track since version 5.1, which debuted in OS X Lion last July.

social networking site (SNS) users questioned in the Pew Research Center poll

2012-02-24T10:55:00.001-08:00

Another 44 percent said they had deleted comments that others have made on their profiles, up from 36 percent two years before.

Users also have become more likely to remove their names from photos that were tagged to identify them. Thirty-seven percent of profile owners have done that, up from 30 percent in 2009, the survey showed.

"Over time, as social networking sites have become a mainstream communications channel in everyday life, profile owners have become more active managers of their profiles and the content that is posted by others in their networks," the report said.

The Pew report also touches on the privacy settings people use for their SNS profiles. The issue of online privacy has drawn increasing concerns from consumers, and the Obama administration has called for a "privacy bill of rights" that would give users more control over their data.

Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed said their main profile was set to be private so that only friends can see it.

Another 19 percent said they had set their profile to partially private so that friends of friends can see it. Only 20 percent have made their profile completely public.

The report was based on telephone survey of 2,277 adults in April and May 2011 as part of Pew's project on the Internet and American life. (Reporting By Ian Simpson; Editing by Paul Thomasch)

Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and Google Inc

2012-02-22T11:15:00.000-08:00

Motorola Mobility is violating a pledge to license industry-standard patents on fair terms and “demanding that Microsoft take its products off the market,” Microsoft said in a blog post. Apple Inc. has also filed a complaint to the European Union over Motorola Mobility's licensing terms.

“We have taken this step because Motorola is attempting to block sales of Windows PCs, our Xbox game console and other products,” Microsoft said. Legal actions by Motorola Mobility to enforce its patents may “kill” video-streaming services on the Internet, Microsoft said.

Motorola Mobility, Microsoft, Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple are involved in numerous patent lawsuits in Europe as demand for smartphones and tablets soar. Google, which is buying Libertyville, Illinois-based Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, has written to groups that establish industry standards to assure them it will license Motorola Mobility patents on a fair and reasonable basis.

AT&T, T-Mobile USA late Tuesday filed a request urging the federal government

2012-02-22T11:14:00.001-08:00

The proposed spectrum deal with Verizon involves Comcast, Time Warner, Bright House Networks and Cox Communications. In its filing, T-Mobile, the No. 4 cellphone carrier, told the Federal Communications Commission that Verizon’s acquisition with cable companies would place an “excessive concentration” of wireless spectrum in Verizon’s hands.

Purchasing spectrum allows wireless carriers to build and expand their networks. Verizon in December reached an agreement to buy wireless spectrum from the cable companies for $3.6 billion. The carrier also made a separate agreement that would allow the cable companies to market Verizon services, and vice versa.

Vita, Sony is trying to reverse that trend by upping the quality of its portable play

2012-02-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

With the Vita, Sony is trying to reverse that trend by upping the quality of its portable play. Not only has the company packed the Vita with features — a rear touchpad, two analog sticks, great graphics and a beautiful screen — it’s also made an effort to support the company’s back catalog of games while developing around the Vita’s new features. There are lots of bells and whistles — a gyroscope and a standard pack of augmented reality (AR) cards to name a couple — but Yoshida said that he hopes it’s clear that Sony worked hard to make this handheld a pleasure for dedicated players.

Hollywood's Ageless Actresses: Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock, Julie Bowen

2012-02-22T11:13:00.001-08:00

success in film and television under her belt, getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has Jennifer Aniston pondering the next chapter in her professional life. Ten seasons on NBC’s Friends led to a successful feature career fronting a string of romantic comedies. In 2006, she stepped behind the camera for the first time, directing the short Room 10. More recently, Aniston, 43, directed a segment of Lifetime’s breast-cancer anthology Five. Today, she finds herself at a crossroads and, as Aniston tells THR, that’s a good place to be.

PHOTOS: 21 of Hollywood's Ageless Actresses: Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock, Julie Bowen

Stay Strong premieres Tuesday, March 6th at 10PM ET/PT on MTV.

2012-02-22T11:12:00.000-08:00

The one-hour documentary begins in the fall of 2011 as Demi prepares to face life post-rehab and embark on her first tour in recovery.

Viewers will see Demi go back for the first time to the facility she entered in October 2010 as she speaks candidly to her recovering peers about her experiences, and thanks the counselors and staff who helped her.

Stay Strong premieres Tuesday, March 6th at 10PM ET/PT on MTV.

ABC's "Cougar Town," which returned to the air last week to a series low, continued to slide Tuesday night as CBS's "Unforgettable" also dipped. But C

2012-02-22T11:11:00.002-08:00

ABC's "Cougar Town," which returned to the air last week to a series low, continued to slide Tuesday night as CBS's "Unforgettable" also dipped. But CBS won the night overall on the strength of the top-rated "NCIS," according to preliminary numbers.

CBS came in first in ratings and total viewers with an average 2.9 rating/8 share in the adults 18-49 demographic and 15.3 million. "NCIS" at 8 drew the top ratings and most total viewers with a 3.8/10 and 19.5 million. "NCIS: LA" the following hour received a 2.9/7 and 15.9 million. "Unforgettable" at 10 dropped 17 percent to a series low of 1.9/5. It drew 10.6 million total viewers.

Fox was second in ratings and total viewers with a 2.8/7 and 6.5 million. "Glee" was up slightly and total viewers, with a 2.9/8 and 7.4 million. "New Girl" the following hour posted a 3.0/8 and 6.2 million total viewers. "Raising Hope" at 9:30 had a 2.2/5 and 4.8 million.

NBC, in third place in ratings and total viewers with a 2.1/5 and 6 million, started the night with "The Biggest Loser" at 8. It climbed 10 percent for a 2.3/6 and had 6.7 million total viewers. "Parenthood" at 10 also saw a modest increase, receiving a 1.7/5 and 4.9 million total viewers.

ABC drew fourth place in ratings and total viewers with a 1.7/4 and 5.8 million. "Last Man Standing" at 8 was flat with last week's series low for a 2.2/6 and 7.5 million total viewers. "Cougar Town" at 8:30 dropped 6 percent from last week's return, taking a 1.7/4, and had 4.5 million total viewers. "The River" at 9 ran even with last week for a 1.7/4 and 4.8 million total viewers, while "Body of Proof" at 10 climbed 17 percent, posting a 1.4/4. It had 6.5 million total viewers.

Biggest Loser's eighth thirteenth-season episode began following Roy Pickler's elimination

2012-02-22T11:11:00.001-08:00

became the eighth contestant ousted from the competition's thirteenth season after her Black team intentionally threw and lost the eighth week's weigh-in in order to send her home by posting a lower total weight-loss percentage than the Red team -- which then resulted in the Black team's remaining contestants voting her off the ranch.

"I'm basically leaving the ranch because I fought for what I believed in. Let's just be real. I was real and I was true to myself, and for that, I have no regrets. Being here on the ranch and being with [Bob Harper] has made me feel like anything in this life that I want to do, I can do it. I'm so happy that I will be leaving and I can continue my weight-loss journey at home with my family -- with the people that I truly love," Daphne said following her ouster.

RELATED LINKS

Reality TV World: The Biggest Loser 13

More The Biggest Loser 13 News

The Biggest Loser's eighth thirteenth-season episode began following Roy Pickler's elimination after the season's previous weigh-in. The contestants met with The Biggest Loser host Alison Sweeney and then learned they'd be participating in a Temptation Challenge to test the common excuse of "I have no self control" when attempting to lose weight.

The Temptation Challenge featured all the contestants' favorite foods ranging from sausage pizza to venison and when individually left alone in the room for three minutes, the player to eat the most and consume the most calories would win the opportunity to change the teams however he or she desired.

In addition, Alison explained the winner of the challenge would remain anonymous and she would reveal that person's decision of how to alter both teams after everyone had a turn.

Some contestants chose not to eat at all while others consumed over a thousand calories.

"The King's Speech" at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. Actress Helena Bonham Carter, 45

2012-02-22T11:08:00.000-08:00

Bonham Carter was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE, by the queen at a palace ceremony attended by her husband, director Tim Burton, and children Billy, 8, and Nell, 4.

Her films range from costume dramas such as "A Room With a View" to edgier fare like "Fight Club" and the sci-fi "Planet of the Apes." She also played scheming witch Bellatrix Lestrange in the popular Harry Potter films.

The London-born star, who has been acting since she was a teen, is the great-granddaughter of former British Prime Minister Herbert H. Asquith. She was nominated for an Oscar last year for "The King's Speech" and in 1998 for "The Wings of the Dove."

Anyone familiar with Bonham Carter's fashion choices is probably wondering what she wore for her big day at the palace. Known for her bohemian style sense, Bonham Carter wore a red tartan-patterned dress and miniature top hat.

new company, provisionally named Samsung Display Co.

2012-02-21T07:13:00.001-08:00

Samsung’s LCD business had an operating loss of 750 billion won last year as global TV sales slowed. The spinoff company may eventually merge with the Samsung Mobile Display venture that makes organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, panels, as Samsung prepares to meet growing demand for the new technology, said James Song, an analyst at Daewoo Securities Co.

“It’s a good decision for Samsung Electronics,” Seoul- based Song said by telephone. “The long-term direction for their display business is going OLED. They can improve efficiency of investment by combining similar businesses.”

Samsung is reviewing an eventual merger of its LCD and OLED operations, Nam Ki Yung, a Seoul-based spokesman, said by phone.

Samsung fell 0.1 percent to 1,175,000 won at the 3 p.m. close of trading in Seoul, while the Kospi index gained 0.1 percent. The consumer electronics maker has climbed 22 percent in the past 12 months, compared with a 0.6 percent gain for the benchmark.

Maiden, N.C., will be one of the most energy efficient facilities of its kind, the company’s 2012

2012-02-21T07:13:00.000-08:00

in Maiden, N.C., will be one of the most energy efficient facilities of its kind, the company’s 2012 environmental update reveals.

To satisfy the huger power needs of the facility in an environmentally acceptable way, Apple is building the largest end user–owned, onsite solar array in the U.S. The 100-acre, 20-megawatt facility will supply 42 million kWh of clean, renewable energy every year.

Apple is also building a 5-megawatt fuel cell installation, due to go online later in 2012, which Apple claims will be the “largest non-utility fuel cell installation operating anywhere in the country.”

The list of features of the Maiden data center doesn’t end there. It includes an innovative chilled water storage and air cooling system, a white roof that provides maximum solar reflectivity, high-efficiency LED lighting, and power distribution at higher voltages that increases efficiency.

All of this has earned the facility LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the highest possible LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating.

Apple also claims it has significantly reduced the environmental impact of home-to-work travel over the years by implementing commuter transit programs. Water usage per employee was also significantly reduced over the past couple of years, as was the amount of solid waste per employee.

Microsoft Office for iPad will "soon be submitted to Apple for approval.

2012-02-21T07:12:00.003-08:00

The Daily for iPad offered the first glimpse at Office for iPad on Tuesday. Author Matt Hickey got to spend some time with a "working prototype" of the productivity suite, which features Microsoft's trademark "Metro" design found on Windows Phone and the forthcoming Windows 8.

"Word, Excel and PowerPoint files can be created and edited locally and online," he said. "But it's unclear if Microsoft will support other Office apps at launch or at all."

The design side of the project is said to have already wrapped up, but an exact launch date remains unknown. It was said that the project "could be released in the coming weeks."

Citing anonymous sources, the report added that Microsoft Office for iPad will "soon be submitted to Apple for approval." No pricing or other details were provided.

While Office is coming to iPad, Microsoft reportedly has no plans to bring its suite to competing tablets running the Google Android mobile operating system. The Redmond, Wash., company is also said to be planning an update to its existing OneNote application for iOS to add a Metro user interface.

IE. Google, however, said Microsoft was using an antiquated security standard

2012-02-21T07:12:00.002-08:00

A new wave of iPad rumors also made headlines over the weekend, meanwhile, with the latest report suggesting a chipset known as the A5X. And, the controversy surrounding the use of the iPad name in China intensified, with a court in Southern China ordering Apple to stop selling its popular tablet there. Cupertino is not taking this lying down, however, reportedly threatening its own legal action over "misleading" statements.

Also, ahead of this year's Mobile World Congress, LG released photos and confirmed the specs of Optimus Vu, the second Korean-made Android smartphone to push the 5-inch size classification.

Also making news this weekend:

Nightline Clip Provides Glimpse of Apple Foxconn Factories: Anchor Bill Weir is seen on the floor of Foxconn's Chengdu factory as workers clad in fingerless white gloves and uniforms pull and scan boxed iPads from the line.

LG phones will have a slimmer look, the company said without detailing the actual measurements.

2012-02-21T07:12:00.001-08:00

Samsung's Galaxy Ace 2 is 10.5 millimeters thick, compared to the original Ace model which was 11.5 millimeters thick. However, the Ace 2 is also a little wider and longer, to make room for a bigger screen with a higher resolution -- 3.8 inches and 800 by 480 pixels compared to the previous model's 3.5 inches and 480 by 320 pixels.

The Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 also has an 800 MHz dual-core processer, instead of a single core processor at the same speed. Last year, dual-core processors were only found in high-end smartphones, but as that category is now moving on to four cores, two cores are turning up in cheaper products. The Ace 2 has more memory, a bigger battery and a faster HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) connection, as well.

Barnes & Noble also announced a $30 price drop for the Nook Color e-reader, which will now cost $169.

2012-02-21T07:11:00.000-08:00

Company announces price cuts on the same day it posts a decline in quarterly profits. The Nook Tablet is shaving $50 off its price tag, and the Nook Color e-reader is shedding $30.

The Nook Tablet can be had for the same price as the Kindle Fire.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Barnes & Noble has Amazon's Kindle Fire directly in its sights. Its latest ammunition: a $199 Nook Tablet with 8GB of memory.

The new version of the Nook Tablet matches the Kindle Fire in price and memory specification. The book retailer hopes the lower price will make it more of a rival to Amazon's tablet, which has established itself as the No. 2 player behind Apple's iPad. Amazon has attracted customers through a lower-end price and a decent selection in its online store.

Barnes & Noble also announced a $30 price drop for the Nook Color e-reader, which will now cost $169.

The company badly needs a success in the tablet area to offset maturing sales in its traditional book business. The company, which released quarterly earnings today, saw sales rise 5 percent year over year to $2.44 billion. However, profit fell 14 percent from a year ago to $52 million, or 71 cents a share. The earnings report, which covered the three-month period ending January 28, said that per-share earnings would have been 99 cents excluding one-time items.

Optimus Vu, which appeared to be its Japanese name. However, it will be called the Optimus LTE in the US.

2012-02-20T07:05:00.000-08:00

The phone was previously referred to as the Optimus Vu, which appeared to be its Japanese name. However, it will be called the Optimus LTE in the US.

The phone will have Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, but LG is pioneering the idea of customizable tags or stickers. Users can stick the tags anywhere, like on a computer desk or vehicle dashboard.

Those tags act as macros for the phone - in other words, swiping your phone over the tag in your car could automatically enable GPS and Bluetooth connectivity, or swiping it over the tag near your computer could open the file-sharing app.

iPad 3 launch Is soon

2012-02-20T07:04:00.003-08:00

It's that time of year again when Apple releases a new iPad, so what should you do with your old one? And should you get the Wi-Fi only version or one with 3G/4G access?

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I help a reader who is jonesing for the upcoming iPad 3 figure out what to do with his iPad 2. I get some good advice from the CEO of the gadget trade-in site Gazelle. I also help another reader decide whether he should buy a Wi-Fi-only version of the iPad or if he should splurge on the one that has built-in wireless broadband connectivity.

Apple’s hesitancy to deploy Siri on the Mac

2012-02-20T07:04:00.002-08:00

Siri.

Some posit that Apple’s hesitancy to deploy Siri on the Mac (or any device beisdes the iPhone 4S) may relate to microphone technology; I don’t buy it. I think Apple’s holding off on Siri integration either to motivate upgrades or to limit overall Siri adoption—the service is still in beta and occasionally suffers downtime.

But whatever the reason, I hope Apple changes its thinking quickly. I’m a fan of Siri on my iPhone, and I can imagine plenty of ways Siri could deliver awesomeness on the Mac.

How it might work

Apple won’t and shouldn’t add a devoted Siri key to any Mac keyboard. Instead, the company could repurpose an existing key—much as it did with the iPhone’s Home button to trigger Voice Control and later Siri itself.

rival to Nintendo's 3DS Playstation Vitas have been sold in other markets so far

2012-02-20T07:04:00.001-08:00

Playstation Vita - is set to launch in Europe on Tuesday.

The device launched in Japan last Christmas and Sony say more than half a million units have now been sold.

It will be a rival to Nintendo's 3DS, boasting a quad-core processor and 5in (12.7cm) OLED touch screen.

However, it is entering a competitive market as mobile casual gamer space becomes increasingly dominated by game applications for smartphones.

Two different versions of the device will go on sale: a model with wi-fi connectivity for £229 and an enhanced version that also uses the 3G mobile network.

Johnny Minkley, from video gaming website Eurogamer, said the Vita was "the most competent handheld gaming system ever made", but he believed price would be an issue.

Google and Apple iPhone privacy flap.

2012-02-20T07:02:00.004-08:00

Google and Apple iPhone privacy flap.

This all means smartphone owners need to be vigilant in order to protect themselves. Here are some essential tips to help keep your vital data under control.

1. Lock Your Phone

This may seem a simple and obvious step to take, but many people are too lazy to do it. Set up a screen lock so the phone can't be accessed or used without a password of some sort. Though four-number pins may foil street hoods, using a real alphanumeric password is much better. Make sure the screen locks automatically after 1 to 5 minutes of non-use.

2. Use 'Find My iPhone' Or Similar Services

It only takes a few moments to use today's smartphone tools to set up a free tracking/wiping service. Android, BlackBerry, iOS, and Windows Phone devices allow users to lock, track, or wipe their phones remotely if lost. Not only does this protect your data, it could help you recover a lost/stolen device. Do it.

3. Don't Leave Your Smartphone Unattended

Would you leave your social security card on a bar while you traipse off to use the bathroom? I didn't think so. Don't leave your phone sitting around in public where it can be grabbed by an opportunist. You may trust your coworkers in the meeting room, or friends you invite to your home, but don't be too quick to extend trust to people you don't know. Put it in your coat, pocket, desk (yes, even at the office), briefcase, purse, backpack, wherever. Keep it out of view.

4. Don't Give Your Phone to Strangers

That 'tourist' who needs to make an emergency call home and asks to use your phone? Dicey. It could certainly be someone in legitimate need of help--or not. Rather than give the person your phone, make the call yourself, and put it on speakerphone.

5. Keep Your Smartphone Up-to-Date

You know that system update you've been ignoring for a couple of weeks? Install it. Nearly all smartphone system updates include enhancements to device security. Smartphone makers and carriers often ship phones with buggy software that contains loopholes that can be used to circumvent security. When updates are provided by the manufacturer, install them.

6. Manage Location Settings

Most phones come with either GPS or carrier-aided location tracking features. These are meant to enhance the functionality of applications such as Google Maps or Foursquare (after all, maps are kind of useless if you don't know where you are.) Now, however, there are thousands of apps that want to access your location data, such as Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others. You can control location settings in these apps individually in most cases. If you want to make your location as secret as possible, turn off all forms of location assessment. This way, apps won't know where you are.

7. Do App Due Diligence

Speaking of apps, do your homework. If you value your privacy, read the "Permissions" screen when you download and install apps. Many apps will let you know that they are accessing your location, call history, contacts, and other data. Be sure to note if that data is going to be stored by the app, delivered by the app to the app vendor, or sent to third-party companies for other uses. If you're suspect about the permissions, do some research, look online to see if the app has been reviewed by reputable sources, and so on. Also, if you download an app and stop using it, get rid of it. Don't leave it on your phone.

8. Don't Download Apps From Untrusted Sources

Most smartphone manufacturers only want you to download apps from their stores, but there are plenty of ways to circumvent this control. In Android smartphones, for example, you can choose to enable a setting that allows non-Market apps to be installed. If you jailbreak our iPhone, you can install Cydia apps, etc. Don't do it. Apps that haven't been approved by an official app store are more likely to be invasive.

9. Watch Those Attachments!

Being able to access email on my phone is vital, especially when I am traveling for work. Be careful, however, about opening the attachments sent to you by people you don't know. Take the same precautions on your smartphone that you would on your home computer. Same goes for downloads from web sites, social networks, shortened URLs, etc.

10. Encrypt Smartphone Data

Today's smartphones make it relatively simple to encrypt the contents of the phone. This ensures that even if the phone does fall into the wrong hands and is accessed because the screen lock was bypassed, some level of protection remains. This is especially important for the memory cards of Android smartphones. The phone itself doesn't have to be stolen in order for you to lose all your documents, photos, songs, and other files.

The smartphone privacy bottom line is the same one your mother taught you when you were growing up: Don't trust strangers (or strange companies, apps, or networks.)

, Samsung's board of directors approved the spin-off of its LCD business

2012-02-20T07:02:00.003-08:00

Samsung's board of directors believes the spin-off will allow the LCD business to be more competitive going forward. Some companies, like Apple, have been reluctant to buy components like screens from Samsung, as the company also makes smartphones and tablets to compete with its own products in addition to manufacturing components.

The spin-off of the Samsung LCD business will officially take place on April 2, 2012. The new company's decisions will be made by three executive directors and four independent directors.

Indications first arose last week that Samsung was considering spinning off its LCD business, which lost $669 million last year. The spin-off sets up for a possible merger with Samsung Mobile Display, which makes next-generation organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays.

July 2011 release of OS X Lion. With Lion came Safari 5.1,

2012-02-20T07:02:00.002-08:00

Google disregarded the privacy choices of Apple, which chooses to block third-party cookies by default in its browser. And Google has nothing to do with Apple's privacy policies, which describe how Apple handles customer data.

Google argues that it manipulated Safari to resolve contradictory browser settings. Safari blocks third-party cookies by default. At the same time, Apple has implemented exceptions to Safari's third-party cookie blocking to allow social features like the +1 button to function.

Rachel Whetstone, SVP of communications and public policy, said in a statement that Google deployed its workaround code "to enable features for signed-in Google users on Safari who had opted to see personalized ads and other content--such as the ability to '+1' things that interest them."

The fact that other Google cookies got set, Google insists, was accidental. "The Safari browser contained functionality that then enabled other Google advertising cookies to be set on the browser," Whetstone explained. "We didn't anticipate that this would happen, and we have now started removing these advertising cookies from Safari browsers. It's important to stress that, just as on other browsers, these advertising cookies do not collect personal information."

Were it not for the fact that Google's advertising cookie opt-out help page stated explicitly that Safari's default setting was the functional equivalent of opting out, Google's explanation might suffice.

But rewind now to the July 2011 release of OS X Lion. With Lion came Safari 5.1, which included fo

ABC is touting an inside look at the working conditions in Foxconn

2012-02-20T07:02:00.001-08:00

ABC is touting an inside look at the working conditions in Foxconn, a key vendor for Apple and other major technology companies.

The report airs Tuesday night on the network's Nightline news program, with a preview already up on its site.

Apple has faced increasing criticism from advocate groups, which are calling for the construction of a more ethical iPhone and an improvement in the conditions at the suppliers that the company works with. Groups have already delivered hundreds of thousands of petitions to Apple stores around the world.

Kim Kardashian who recently divorced Kris Humphries of the New Jersey Nets.

2012-02-20T07:01:00.003-08:00

Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks did a sit-down interview with Rachel Nichols of ESPN that was shown on sister Disney network ABC's Good Morning America Monday morning.

In it, the single, 23-year old Harvard graduate turned overnight NBA sensation shot down rumors he's dating reality TV star Kim Kardashian who recently divorced Kris Humphries of the New Jersey Nets.

"Stuff about me dating Kim Kardashian, I mean, I have no idea where that came from and all these other rumors," said Lin, adding he doesn't think they're each others "type."

Lindsay Lohan will be returning as host of NBC's SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE on March 3rd

2012-02-20T07:01:00.001-08:00

Lohan also shared the news on her twitter account, posting, "SNL! I love @NBC !!!!!!!!!!!!!" and changing her Twitter profile picture to the network's promo advertisement. The last time Lohan appeared as host of SNL was in 2006. She has kept a strong relationship with the show and has co-starred with former head writer Tina Fey in the film 'Mean Girls'. She has often referred to the show's executive producer Lorne Michaels as her mentor.

The actress is currently finishing up a community service assignment she received after pleading guilty last spring to stealing an expensive necklace from a California jewelry store. She served five weeks of home confinement over the summer in connection with the theft.

Fake versions of Prince, Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj and LL Cool J all visited the infant, with Jay Pharoah providing the impression of Jay-Z. Justin Ti

2012-02-20T07:00:00.003-08:00

"Look at her Jay," she quipped, "sleeping peacefully in her crib, lying on one of Diana Ross' finest wigs."

Fake versions of Prince, Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj and LL Cool J all visited the infant, with Jay Pharoah providing the impression of Jay-Z. Justin Timberlake played Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon.

"Sorry I'm late. Whatever," he said. "I was just wandering barefoot in the woods of Wisconsin."

Rudolph also played Michelle Obama in the episode, but wisely refrained from reprising one of her most acclaimed skits - an impression of the late Whitney Houston.

first roadblock of the new season warned the contestants that "X Marks the Spot"

2012-02-20T07:00:00.001-08:00

Starting the nearly month-long trek around the globe by searching for the first clue hidden among 100 mini hot-air balloons hanging over the steep slope of a California vineyard, the new crop of contestants were off to South America.

The first roadblock of the new season warned the contestants that "X Marks the Spot" and featured one team member skydiving from 10,000 feet above the rural countryside, while the other was tasked with finding their landing spot.

"My uterus is in my throat," one contestant exclaimed as she was about to take the tandem tumble over Argentina.

While the first leg of what host Phil Keoghan described as a "life-changing adventure" featured vomit, tears (ironically from the professional circus clown) and lots and lots of prayers, all teams overcame their fears and made it out of the airplane.

Once safely back on solid ground, the teams raced to complete in a more down-to-earth challenge.

After watching a demonstration, each team had to produce 120 empanadas - 60 of the stuffed pastries needed to be filled with meat while the other 60 with cheese - to the satisfaction of the local judge who one contestant dismissed as the "empanada nazi."

Ghost Rider, with Nicolas Cage, was also close behind, making $22 million.

2012-02-20T06:59:00.003-08:00

The Associated Press reports that Safe House came out on top with $24 million, according to early studio estimates. Meanwhile, The Vow made just a hair less, finishing with $23.6 million. Sony’s new release, Ghost Rider, with Nicolas Cage, was also close behind, making $22 million.

However, the weekend isn’t over yet. The studios expect Monday to add to this weekend’s big profits thanks to Presidents’ Day, with most of the country’s students out of school. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal is predicting that Monday could add over $4 million to Safe House’s weekend total, bringing it up to $28.5 million. The film has already made $97.9 million worldwide. Sony predicts that The Vow could climb to $27.4 million by the end of Monday.

Ghost Rider will remain the big disappointment. It had been expected to win the box office with as much as $30 million. Now, Sony is lowering expectations, suggesting that it could finish the four-day weekend with just $25.5 million, notes The Hollywood Reporter. Hollywood.com’s Paul Dergarabedian told Bloomberg that, since the film is a comic book movie, it should have done better in February, but, “The thing is though it entered a more competitive marketplace than you would normally think for this time of the year, because Safe House and The Vow are both overperforming.”

Midnight in Paris" and Alexander Payne's family drama "The Descendants" have won top screenplay honors

2012-02-20T06:59:00.001-08:00

With his biggest hit in decades, writer-director Allen earned the guild's prize Sunday for original screenplay on "Midnight in Paris." The film stars Owen Wilson as a modern Hollywood writer who gets a chance to hang with his literary idols in the 1920s Paris of Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

Director Payne shared the adapted screenplay honor with co-writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, "The Descendants" stars George Clooney as a Hawaiian dad struggling to tend to his two daughters after a boating accident puts

More Oscar coverage

The hits, the misses, the really odd nominations
List: All the nominations
Academy Awards: More coverage, slideshows

his wife in a coma.

The wins boost the prospects for both films to earn the same prizes at next Sunday's Academy Awards, where both movies also are in the running for best picture.

But not all key Academy Awards contenders were eligible for the Writers Guild honors, including Oscar best-picture front-runner "The Artist." The black-and-white silent film is competing against "Midnight in Paris" for original screenplay, but "The Artist" was ineligible at the Writers Guild awards because it was not made under the union's contract guidelines.

The guild's prize for big-screen documentary writing went to Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega for "Better This World."

Tesla's Model X electric sedan

2012-02-16T06:19:00.002-08:00

electric sedan. it is also creating electric components for Toyota and Mercedes-Benz for their electric cars.

Stuck between the end of its electric roadster and before the start of sedan production, Tesla said it lost , a unique blend of a minivan, SUV and sports car based upon our Model S platform.

Tesla is touting the response to its Model X: "One day after the reveal, we had received over 500 reservation requests."

Facebook app of Angry Birds

2012-02-16T06:19:00.001-08:00

MCN Asia (Thailand) managing director Montri Verayangkura said that with the Facebook version of Angry Birds, the game's makers hoped to have a billion people playing it worldwide in the next couple of months.

Currently more than 600 million people play Angry Birds on smart phones and other mobile devices around the world. Thailand has 13.7 million Facebook users, and the company targets all of them as potential Angry Birds devotees.

In Thailand, there have been more than 18 million downloads, both free and paid for, of Angry Birds in three versions - Classic, Season and Rio - across the Android, iOS, Blackberry and Symbian platforms.

Google relationship with China,

2012-02-16T06:18:00.002-08:00

Google has overcome two big regulatory hurdles in getting its $12.5-billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility approved by both U.S. and European regulators. China has until March 20 to decide whether or not it will wave through the deal, too.

The country’s Anti-Monopoly Bureau is now reviewing the deal — a routine part of the procedure for companies that make more than 400 million yuan ($63 million) in China and 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) globally. (Google reported revenues of nearly $38 million for 2011.) Now some think that China might use the opportunity to get Google to bring back its search business to the Mainland from Hong Kong.

Google has had a thorny relationship with China, and in 2010 relocated the bulk of its operations — its search business — to Hong Kong after allegations of hacking by Chinese authorities.

Microsoft’s $8.5 billion Skype acquisition

2012-02-16T06:18:00.001-08:00

“When you think about Skype and when you think about trying to deliver a compelling set of experiences across devices, the most fundamental experience across devices is communications,” he said at the Goldman Sachs Technology & Internet Conference, which was webcast.

“Skype extends that across all of our assets, whether it’s with Lync in the enterprise, or with Xbox Live. It’s something that really ties together all of our devices, a scenario that’s as universal as any,” said Klein, who answered questions from a financial analyst and from audience members.

Earlier Wednesday, Cisco announced its intention to appeal the European Commission’s approval of Microsoft’s $8.5 billion Skype acquisition. Cisco wants the EC to require that Microsoft and Skype support standards for interoperability with other collaboration platforms

AMEESHA PATEL and SANJAY DUTT Scandel

2012-02-15T03:25:00.001-08:00

Ameesha Patel and Sanjay Dutt share a great bond, but post the 'sangeet' ceremony of David Dhawan's son Rohit Dhawan in Goa, things seems to have changed between the two.

According to reports, Ameesha was wearing a revealing outfit at the event and that compelled Sanju, who considers Ameesha as a sister, to ask her to cover her bosom. And when Ameesha overlooked Sanjay's advice, the actor himself draped her dupatta around her shoulders. However, this didn't go well with the actress and she had a brawl with Sanju.

CHECK OUT: Ameesha challenges bikini girls

Angelina Jolie Oscar winner’s feature debut as writer-director.

2012-02-15T03:23:00.001-08:00

Angelina Jolie’s uncompromising if turgid Balkan war film In the Land of Blood and Honey – the Oscar winner’s feature debut as writer-director.

Eschewing the extensive roster of Hollywood stars that must fill her address book, Jolie has chosen to tell this story with a predominantly Balkan cast and crew, even filming a version in the local languages.

Combine this gloss-free production with the frank depiction of tough subject matter (frequent scenes of mass execution, rape and child murder) and you have to, at the very least, applaud her resolve to tell this story in such an uncommercial way.

The movie certainly isn’t in want of grit as we bear witness to shocking scenes built to remind us of ethnic cleansing that took place in Europe less than two decades ago.

Rishi Kapoor Is An Amazing Actor With His Performace in Agneepath Ranbir Kapoor

2012-02-15T03:23:00.000-08:00

Rishi Kapoor has tried various roles and has been appreciated for his work. Right now he is being applauded for his villainous avatar in Agneepath and his actor son Ranbir says his father is a wonderful performer and inspires him at acting.

“I am hearing such amazing stuff about my father and his performance in Agneepath. He has always been a wonderful performer. If a person is a good actor then he will deliver A good performance throughout his life,” Ranbir told IANS. “Today my dad is 55-plus and still he gets so many awards. Just by looking at his passion inspires me to do better work,” he added.

The 69-year-old Amitabh Bachchan was admitted to the seven-star SevenHills Hospital

2012-02-15T03:21:00.002-08:00

Jaya Bachchan and doting daughter Shweta Nanda are taking turns to take care of Amitabh Bachchan at the hospital here following his abdominal surgeries amid indications he will be discharged Friday or Saturday.

The 69-year-old was admitted to the seven-star SevenHills Hospital Saturday and he underwent two surgeries. He was to be freed Monday but it was put off after he developed acute pain.

The actor is on the fifth floor of the hospital, where son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai`s baby girl was born last year.

Watch Chronicle (2012) Movie

2012-02-15T03:21:00.001-08:00

movie while surfing the internet as well. Most of fans using several methods to watch most cracking movies which are already hunt their harts and some times they fail to what they expected from them. So there it has now become the most convincing topic to the word wide movie lovers and you may also love to take a ride about that crucial new method to get your favorite movie as possible you can.

So you may dying to take the modern ans well as newest cracking movies which are already hunt your mind with the popular keywords as well. There we can define some your favorite movies which you can watch absolutely free in the term. Here now most of fans are now moving to the ta method to watch any movie and simply there are so many ways to take that great opportunity in your hands nothing like the other relevant methods as well. Such spending low price according to their cost plan in their web sites when you going to take them as possible you can.

This new method which is still illuminating on the board to watch Chronicle movie free in the internet also packed with some valuable benefits when you going take them most. So there you don’t waste your time while surfing the internet any more. main thing is this exactly save your valuable time and also the money as well. In other methods you have to spent both of them to take a one movie than others. Hope when you going to watch movies online there you may not facing any troubles that we discovered above

Try this new awesome method to watch movies online and it may more useful for you when you are seeking for the catching Hollywood movies from the internet while surfing it at every time.. Making more positive declarations these days for the world wide movie lovers this new attend make sure that they are eligible to take their heartiest movie with out any errors of the fake creations instead the official ones. Just try that using that awesome method to watch movies as possible you can it might be more useful in your hands nothing like the others indeed.

Watch Chronicle Online, Watch Chronicle, Watch Chronicle free

shareshare

Categories : latest movies,Movie News,Movies,online movies

gold was at $1,714.41 an ounce at 1310 GMT against $1,722.49 late in New York on Monday. U.S. gold futures for February delivery were down $8.7 at $1,

2012-02-14T06:39:00.004-08:00

Gold eased on Tuesday as a brief recovery in the euro ran out of steam and Moody's warned that the agency may cut its triple-A credit ratings of France, Britain and Austria.

Spot gold was at $1,714.41 an ounce at 1310 GMT against $1,722.49 late in New York on Monday. U.S. gold futures for February delivery were down $8.7 at $1,716.00.

The euro retreated into negative territory after having hit session highs against the dollar when German economic sentiment data from ZEW suggested Europe's largest economy was holding up despite the debt crisis.

Gold remains more sensitive to moves in the euro/dollar exchange rate in the short term than to rising risk aversion, which in the past has been a positive driver of prices. It remains vulnerable to fresh losses in the single currency, which quickly came off its post-data highs.

"Gold is under some small pressure from a euro retreat, but in low volumes, as we seek to consolidate closer to decent support at $1,710," said VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.

"The market is pausing ahead of the euro zone finance ministers meeting tomorrow as well as U.S. January (inflation data) on Friday," he added. "The January rally is exhausted, and some small-scale profit-taking has kicked in."

In addition to its warning, Moody's downgraded six other European nations including Italy, Spain and Portugal, citing the risks of the euro debt crisis.

While the Moody's news rattled the markets, focus remained on Greece, which has acknowledged it still has much to do to persuade the European Union and International Monetary Fund to save it from a chaotic default.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures retreated 37 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,798 today.

2012-02-14T06:39:00.003-08:00

S&P 500 futures expiring in March slid 0.4 percent to 1,344 at 9:10 a.m. New York time. Yesterday’s advance put the benchmark gauge for American equities less than 1 percent away from its peak nine months ago of 1,363.61, which was the highest level since June 2008. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures retreated 37 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,798 today.

“We are vulnerable to a setback,” Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, which manages $54 billion, said in a telephone interview. “The market had been bid higher on the back of a remarkable array of positive surprises. I don’t view the retail sales report as bad, but rather as lack of continued better- than-expected news. In addition, there’s still fluidity to the whole European situation.”

April 2011, smashing expectations and sending the euro to a session high against the dollar.

2012-02-14T06:39:00.001-08:00

German analyst and investor sentiment leapt to its highest level in 10 months in February, reinforcing signs that Europe's largest economy is returning to growth as the rest of the euro zone faces a mild recession.

The ZEW think tank's monthly poll of economic sentiment jumped for the third month in a row, to its highest level since April 2011, smashing expectations and sending the euro to a session high against the dollar.

This contrasted starkly with other European data showing output at factories in the euro zone tumbled in December and Portugal's recession deepened in the last quarter of 2011.

A Reuters poll showed the euro zone economy shrinking 0.4 percent in 2012, returning to growth in 2013 with a 1.0 percent expansion.

But Germany may be the trainblazer.

"Germany is leaving the winter slump earlier than rest of euro zone," said Christian Schulz of Berenberg Bank. "Germany fundamentally has a high level of competitiveness."

"The economy only contracted because euro zone crisis derailed whole European continent and beyond."

75 economists’ estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from little change to a 2 percent gain.

2012-02-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

Sales at U.S. retailers climbed in January as Americans took advantage of post-holiday discounts, showing households are being frugal in their spending.

The 0.4 percent gain followed little change in December that was initially reported as a 0.1 percent increase, Commerce Department figures showed today. Last month’s advance was half the 0.8 rise median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, reflecting an unexpected drop at auto dealers. Excluding cars, demand climbed 0.7 percent, more than projected.

Chains like Target Corp. (TGT) and Limited Brands Inc. topped analysts’ sales forecasts last month, when many companies offered incentives to bring back shoppers after holiday sales stagnated. Further gains in employment are needed to bolster wages and underpin confidence, ensuring that demand can be sustained.

“Retail sales are being driven by the improving confidence but also by decent income gains,” Millan Mulraine, a senior U.S. strategist at TD Securities in New York, said before the report.

Prices of goods imported into the U.S. rose 0.3 percent in January, reflecting higher costs for automobiles and petroleum, a report from Labor Department also showed today. It was the second increase in the past six months, indicating little pressure in prices from overseas.

Stock-index futures held earlier losses after the reports. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index maturing in March fell 0.2 percent to 1,346.8 at 8:34 a.m. in New York.

The 75 economists’ estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from little change to a 2 percent gain.

PHOTO GALLERYMazda Takeri Concept

2012-02-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

What's special about the Takeri is that it isn't one of those fantasy concept models that will go away after hitting the motor show scene as it previews the styling of the next Mazda6 range, expected in 2013.

The Takeri is the latest Mazda concept to adopt the Japanese firm's "KODO – Soul of Motion’ design theme after the production CX-5 SUV and the Shinari sports sedan study showcased at Geneva last year.

Under its swooping lines, the 4,850mm-long Takeri makes full use of Mazda's much tooted SkyActiv Technology, which aims to reduce fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions while retaining a sporty drive through a suite of powertrain, chassis and body technologies.

The study is fitted with Mazda's new SKYACTIV-D 2.2-liter turbo diesel engine (available with 150PS and 175PS) with a fuel-saving ‘i-stop’ system and six-speed SKYACTIV-Drive automatic transmission.

In addition, the Takeri is the first Mazda car to be equipped with the firm's i-ELOOP technology, short for “Intelligent Energy Loop", which is a unique regenerative braking system that converts kinetic energy to electricity during deceleration and stores it in an electric double-layer capacitor. The power is used to run the vehicle’s electric components, thus reducing the load on the engine and increasing fuel economy by up to 10 percent, according to Mazda.

PHOTO GALLERY

PHOTO GALLERYConcepts, Kia, Kia Concepts, Korea, New Cars, Reports

2012-02-13T10:57:00.000-08:00

South Korean automaker has yet to confirm the name, what it did do is drop the first official sketches and details on its upcoming proposal in the in the large sedan segment.

For the time being, Kia tells us that the car known by its internal designation "KH" will be the company's first ever rear-wheel drive sedan and it will go on sale in Korea by June this year with launch timings for other markets including North America to be confirmed at a later date.

The "KH" will likely share its platform architecture with Hyundai's Genesis saloon, though Kia is keeping a lid on information regarding the possible engine options. Nevertheless, we'd say that the Genesis' 3.8-liter V6, and 4.6-liter and 5.0-liter V8 units are prime candidates.

The South Korean company says that the design concept behind KH is "distinctive, modern and classic". At least from these renderings, certain details like the headlamp "eyebrows" and the styling of the rear end remind us of BMW's latest creations.

Kia added that the KH will be equipped with the latest technological gizmos.

Soon-Nam Lee, Kia’s Director of the Overseas Marketing Group, commented, “Our all-new flagship sedan integrates all of our key capabilities such as design, performance, high-tech features and infotainment into one striking model.

“Although launch timings for overseas markets are yet to be confirmed, this all-new rear-wheel drive large sedan will definitely become the leading model of our line-up around the world, showcasing the best of the best of Kia," Lee added.

PHOTO GALLERY

Germany’s northernmost state are on glorious display in this free Windows 7

2012-02-13T10:49:00.001-08:00

The moods and seasons of Germany’s northernmost state are on glorious display in this free Windows 7 theme by German photographer Mathias Kentrup. Hazy romantic summer skies, golden light on winter branches, and the region’s beaches and waterways are captured with hypnotically rich colors and delicate textures. To download the theme, click the Download button, and then click Open. The theme will be applied to your desktop and added to Personalization in Control Panel.

Chinese supplier Foxconn hackers joined the mounting protest over iPhone factory

2012-02-13T10:48:00.001-08:00

Apple's controversial Chinese supplier Foxconn was battling on Thursday to contain a security breach after hackers joined the mounting protest over iPhone factory conditions by leaking the login details of its entire staff.

A group calling itself Swagg Security taunted Terry Gou, the chief executive of Foxconn's parent company Hon Hai Industries, by posting his username and password along with a mass of other sensitive information on the PirateBay and Pastebin websites.

How to install ‘ThreatFire’ and now I am ghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifoing to tell you how to secure your computer using ‘ThreatFire

2012-02-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

computer is under constant attack from viruses, spyware, and identity theft. Viruses and spywares are spreading faster than ever before, and they are getting harder to stop and traditional antivirus products are not able to keep up. I have written How to install ‘ThreatFire’ and now I am going to tell you how to secure your computer using ‘ThreatFire’. You just need to follow the following simple and easy steps.

Step 1: Launch ‘ThreatFire’ (Start -> All Programs -> ThreatFire -> ThreatFire) or open ‘ThreatFire’ from taskbar tray.

Galaxy Tab 2 is 0.4 inches thick, and weighs 0.75 pounds, considerably lighter than the 9.7-inch iPad.

2012-02-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

Samsung has taken the wraps off of its next offering in the Galaxy Tab line, the Galaxy Tab 2. The seven-inch tablet is the first Samsung tablet to have Android 4.0, a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich.

The device has a 1GHz dual-core processor, a 3MP rear-facing camera and a front-facing camera for video chat. It also has some Samsung-specific features such as access to the Korean electronics company’s Music Hub, Readers Hub, Game Hub and Video Hub as well as its AllSharePlay system. The new content-sharing hub from Samsung lets users livestream their multimedia content to their new tablet from PCs, other Samsung devices and third-party cloud providers. It will have 3G or WiFi connectivity.

Comments

Weigh In
Corrections?

Gallery

From the iPod nano to the Sony Cyber-shot, tech gadgets in red and pink are all the rage for Valentine’s Day.

The Galaxy Tab 2 is 0.4 inches thick, and weighs 0.75 pounds, considerably lighter than the 9.7-inch iPad. The statement Samsung provided didn’t include a price, but Computerworld reports that the tablet will sell for $350.

The new tablet will be launched globally in March, starting in Britain.

don't mess with Victoria Beckham

2012-02-12T09:49:00.001-08:00

New York Fashion Week on Sunday that she said she hoped would forge an "emotional attachment between the garment and the wearer."

She explained in the notes for attendants of her small runway show at the New York Public Library that she used this season to explore her interest in details and technique. The crowd did include husband David, in his Sunday-best suit.

"The idea of how the body can connect to the clothes through their construction and detail fascinates me," she wrote.

The catwalk translation of that was shiny python shirt-style collars on second-skin dresses with gold hardware, and zip-back striped sheaths. Interesting twists included dresses with epaulets but no sleeves to hang them on, and harness-style backs on dresses that had high necks in the front. There was a hint of a schoolgirl vibe in some looks with the collars and flared-hem skirts.

Gone from this collection were the looser shapes Beckham had been experimenting with in past seasons.

This was Beckham's sexy, sophisticated look to the core. OK, the exception might be the motorcycle boots that one can't image Beckham giving up her stilettos for.

There was much opportunity to see Beckham when she took her bow: It was a brief wave as she peeked from backstage.

Motorola Mobility, the most likely manufacturer of the device. That acquisition is likely to close next week.

2012-02-12T09:46:00.001-08:00

Google is developing a home entertainment device, according to people with knowledge of the company’s plans, in a move that would bring it more broadly into consumer electronics.

The device, which exists as a prototype and will eventually be sold as a branded item to consumers, is the company’s most significant venture into hardware. While the initial purpose of the device will be for streaming music, the eventual use could be much wider.

As the Internet matures, the leading companies are trying to create full-fledged ecosystems to preserve their individual dominance. Amazon, which began as a retailer, now makes reading devices. Apple, which originally produced only hardware, now sells content.

Google still makes the vast majority of its money from Internet search. But as computing detaches from the desktop and laptop, the company cannot afford to be marginalized. The new device is an effort to control the design, production and sale of an entertainment device, just as its competitors have done so successfully.

Larry Page, who last year took the reins of the company he co-founded, has been intent on moving into hardware. The entertainment device has been in the works for more than a year, before Google made a $12.5 billion deal to buy the handset maker Motorola Mobility, the most likely manufacturer of the device. That acquisition is likely to close next week.

AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, which pay hefty subsidies on the iPhones

2012-02-12T09:45:00.004-08:00

Apple's iPhone takes big bites out of wireless carriers' profits

AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, which pay hefty subsidies on the iPhones their customers buy, have seen their earnings and stock prices drop since they began offering the Apple handsets.

iPad 3 is cleverly planned to coincide with the massive CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany

2012-02-12T09:45:00.003-08:00

This means that I’ll be forced to miss the lines that are sure to stretch for blocks, the madness, the pepper-spraying of fellow customers. But I’ll still have to make a decision about whether to drop another $500 on a second iPad, assuming Apple keeps the same pricing structure it has in the past, which it probably will.

For people who don’t have an iPad, but know they’ll need one, the decision is fairly easy. Wait a month and buy the new one when it shows up at Wal-Mart at a $3 discount. For everyone else, there are a number of questions you should ask yourself to decide whether you want to buy one, or just keep using what you already have.

Do you need the new Retina Display? This will give the iPad 3 much higher resolution, which will make photo viewing a better experience, and it will give you television and movies in true high definition. I use an iPad in conjunction with my photography, so for me, this is an easy decision.
Are you planning to use the camera? The original iPad didn’t have a camera, and that’s the model I have. The iPad 2 had a camera, but it was dreadful. While I’d never use the iPad 3 camera for anything involving serious photography (I’m lusting over the new Nikon D-800 so you can see what I mean about photo quality), it would be handy to be able to fire off a quick snapshot while I already have the iPad out anyway. Maybe I could use it for photos from airliner windows.

Websites CIA, Mexico's mining ministry and the state of Alabama were down Friday,

2012-02-12T09:45:00.001-08:00

Websites affiliated with the CIA, Mexico's mining ministry and the state of Alabama were down Friday, allegedly done in by hackers, government officials and a well-known hacking group reported.

A message Friday on a Twitter page and Tumblr feed affiliated with the hacking group known as Anonymous celebrated that the Central Intelligence Agency's website had been taken down.

The posting read: "CIA TANGO DOWN: https://www.cia.gov/ #Anonymous." A later one pointed to a news story indicating "#Anonymous hackers hit CIA, U.N., Mexico websites."

Motorola Droid 4 review

2012-02-12T09:44:00.001-08:00

Now, two years later and sucked of its disruptive significance, the only legacy remaining for the red-eyed Droid franchise is its brand equity and QWERTY slider appeal. Aside from BlackBerry addicts, most consumers appear none too chuffed to see those slide-out keypads become the stuff of mobile lore, and instead prefer those increasingly ubiquitous slabs (namely, of the 4.3-inch-and-up persuasion). So, where did it all go wrong? Why is the Droid 4, now imbued with LTE, getting the B-list treatment? Does a $200 price tag and a host of minor spec bumps (a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, 1.3 megapixel front-facer and beefier 1,785mAh battery) merit another spin around the two-year contract pole? Head on past the break to see whether this former trailblazer can still do what it's namesake robot supposedly does.

Motorola Droid 4 review

Apple Sues Samsung Court

2012-02-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

After numerous court battles playing out across Europe have led to mixed victories and losses for some of the biggest tech companies in the business, Apple is now suing Samsung in American court. Patent expert Florian Mueller says the suit is based on four patents which are the “patent equivalent of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse:

Motorola Droid 4 (Verizon Wireless) Pros & Cons

2012-02-11T13:23:00.002-08:00

Pros
Superb hardware keyboard. Fast. Good battery life. Very good call quality.
Cons
Big and heavy. Doesn't run Android 4.0.
Bottom Line
The Motorola Droid 4 gives you top-notch Android power, fast Verizon LTE, and the very best QWERTY keyboard you'll find on a phone.

Google Wallet is safe, and this round of bad publicity should not be taken out of proportion.

2012-02-11T13:23:00.001-08:00

Google Wallet has been the subject of the latest round of security paranoia, but Google has come forward to say there is nothing wrong with the product and anyone who is at risk of losing sensitive Google Wallet data is someone who made a specific decision to lower their entire phone’s security, and it is their problem. The search giant is trying to prove that Google Wallet is safe, and this round of bad publicity should not be taken out of proportion.

2010 recalls affecting more than 338,000 passenger vehicles and motorcycles.

2012-02-11T13:22:00.004-08:00

BMW North America will pay a $3 million (Dh11 million) fine to settle US government allegations that it failed to promptly notify auto regulators about safety defects and recalls.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday that it found a number of disclosure violations related to 16 investigations of 2010 recalls affecting more than 338,000 passenger vehicles and motorcycles.

The biggest recall, accounting for nearly two thirds of the total number of vehicles cited by NHTSA, involved certain BMW 5 and 6 Series cars from 2004-10 and 7 Series models from 2002-08. A potential oil leak in the brake vacuum pump heightened crash risk, regulators said.

"NHTSA expects all manufacturers to address automotive safety issues quickly and in a forthright manner," NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said in a statement.

Apple's newest tablet. iPad 3 is (allegedly) just around the corner.

2012-02-11T13:22:00.003-08:00

Apple’s walled garden can say for sure what the new device will offer — but as with any Cupertino creation, there are plenty of tips, rumors, speculation and good ol’ fashioned guesses to satisfy us till launch day. Here, a quick round-up of the most-likely details surrounding the iPad 3 (or whatever it’s called).

Display: High-resolution Retina

It’s all but certain that the iPad 3 will have a better screen than the iPad or iPad 2. Most rumors point to a Retina display, similar to what’s found on the iPhone 4/4S. The iPad 3 version will reportedly have a 2048×1024 resolution, twice that of the iPad 2′s screen. This rumor is corroborated by a recently leaked photo of what is allegedly the rear shell of the iPad 3, which includes space for a larger battery to power a more energy-hungry screen (more on this leak later).

Apple needs to make this upgrade to stay ahead of the increasing variety of Android tablets that offer better-looking displays — or so the theory goes. While this upgrade seems like a no-brainer, many expected the same with the iPad 2 last year. And, obviously, that didn’t happen.

In addition, many speculate that Apple will release a smaller, 7-inch version to go along with the new 9.7-inch model. This rumor has been floating around since last year, and has stuck around due to the popularity of Amazon’s 7-inch Kindle Fire. But if you ask us, this ain’t gonna happen. And it shouldn’t. If anything, Apple should shoot for something in the 8.9-inch range, which we’ve found to be an ideal size for tablets. But if you’re placing bets, put your money on one 9.7-inch model with a Retina display.

Design: Nearly identical to iPad 2

Windows 8 Upgrade Plans: Exclusive Research

2012-02-11T13:22:00.001-08:00

The general public won't have to wait long to get its hands on Windows 8, as Microsoft has confirmed the date on which it will make a trial version of its newest operating system freely available to anyone who wants to download it and kick the tires.

Microsoft will hold an event in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 29 to formally launch Windows 8 Consumer Preview, according to an invitation the company sent to journalists Wednesday. The date and location coincide with the World Mobile Congress, an indication that Microsoft is serious about pushing Windows 8 as a mobile operating system for tablets, as well as for traditional desktops and laptops.

HTC's products that use the feature. HTC quickly said it had developed a workaround.

2012-02-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

The unified search patent, which involves voice assistant Siri's way of searching the Net, could be a direct threat to Google's core search business, Mueller says, and he adds that the word-completion patent may cover functionality involved in Google's mobile search app.

The "data tapping" feature, which, for example, lets users tap on a phone number in an e-mail to automatically make a phone call, got Android-handset maker HTC into hot water last year, when the International Trade Commission ruled the company had violated Apple's patent and said it would enforce a ban on HTC's products that use the feature. HTC quickly said it had developed a workaround.

Slide-to-unlock is currently at play in an Apple legal action against the Galaxy Nexus in Germany, where a resolution of some sort is expected in March.

Earlier this month, a German court rejected Apple's request to ban the Galaxy Nexus in that country. Apple had taken issue with Samsung's products for bearing resemblance to its own products. In this new case, Mueller claims, Apple "focuses completely on strong technical patents" as opposed to "softer, design-related rights."

Google and Samsung collaborated closely on the Galaxy Nexus and unveiled it in October (at which time Samsung claimed it had been Apple-proofed).

Since the first Nexus One (from HTC), Google has used its line of Nexus phones as a showcase for the latest user interface and features available with the updated version of Android, and the Nexus phones include no OS extensions from carriers. In this case, then, "stock Android itself is at issue," as Mueller puts it. "This means that Google cannot deny its undivided responsibility for any infringement findings." Meuller adds that the Galaxy Nexus' "role as a 'lead device' could also contribute to the willingness of the court to order a preliminary injunction."

Apple's Steve Jobs thought Android was a knock-off of his company's iOS operating system and famously said Apple was "going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this." Since then, the battle between the two companies has only intensified, with information recently surfacing that suggests a Google home entertainment device may be in the works.

Speaktoit voice assistant app as an alternative to Siri for Android users.

2012-02-11T13:17:00.000-08:00

Speaktoit users can customize their avatar (similar to Android functionality) versus the plain old Siri microphone thingy that pops up from a small window at the bottom of the iPhone 4S screen.

Built-in Functionality
There are ways you use Siri to post updates to Twitter and Facebook; but, there are extra steps and setup involved inlcuding using your precious monthly text message allotment if you aren't on an unlimited plan. Posting updates to Twitter and Facebook is built in to Speaktoit - Just log in, allow access and you're set.

Additional features include posting to Foursquare, searching maps outside the US, and a more conversational exchange - Instead of listing your results like Siri, Speaktoit speaks your results.

Example: If you ask "Whats the weather like outside?"

Siri will say "Here are your weather results"...followed by the forecast listed on the screen.

Speaktoit actually says "It's 70 degrees outside"

Even still, Siri is so popular that any app with similar functionality has its work cut out for it to be seen as a legitimate contender. Out of all the other voice assistant apps currently on the market, Speaktoit may just give Siri the best run for its money. But don't take my word for it, you can download Speaktoit for iPhone from iTunes now for $1.99.

Microsoft's next Windows 8 available in time for the 2012 holiday season

2012-02-09T11:04:00.001-08:00

Windows 8 Consumer Preview event at the end of February is the strongest indication yet that the operating system could be generally available later this year--if the company is being consistent with release cadences it used with previous versions of Windows.

Microsoft on Wednesday invited journalists to a media event on Feb. 29 in Barcelona, during the World Mobile Congress, at which it will formally unveil the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Although the software is not officially being called a beta version, it's generally thought to be analogous to the "public beta 1" label that the software maker used during the pre-release period for past Windows launches.

Naomi Watts will star as Diana, Princess of Wales, in the biopic Caught in Flight

2012-02-09T10:58:00.001-08:00

Cinema hasn't been entirely silent on this subject. Stephen Frears's The Queen (2006) was all about the media-constitutional crisis in that frantic week between the princess's death and the funeral: but the focus was not on Diana, it was on Helen Mirren's shrewd yet troubled monarch and Michael Sheen's callow prime minister Tony Blair: the heroic survivors of this trauma. The sucrose French romance Amélie (2001) made a motif of Lady Di, the lonely heroine who died in a Paris underpass.

And last year a conspiracy-theory documentary called Unlawful Killing surfaced at the Cannes film festival, directed by Keith Allen and written by Victor Lewis-Smith, which appeared to take the line promoted by backer Mohamed Al Fayed, questioning the official version of events.

promoting “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” opening Friday,

2012-02-09T10:57:00.003-08:00

On a recent drive to a gym in Honolulu, where he’s promoting “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” opening Friday, Johnson says he counted at least six spots along the road where he’d been arrested at some point during his youth.

“When I was 14, I was driving the Honolulu Police Department crazy, basically getting arrested on a weekly basis,” Johnson says by phone from Hawaii. “But those are memories you always want to hold close. You can’t forget where you came from.”

At present, the 39-year-old larger-than-life actor and pro wrestling star’s life is far from such shenanigans. Witness the billboards in Times Square for both the WWE “Royal Rumble” Johnson is part of and his new film.

“Well, that’s cool as s—,” he says about his worlds colliding, “but I’ll be honest with you, it’s incredibly humbling, too.”

Kanye West’s Watch The Throne hit “Ni**as In Paris

2012-02-09T10:57:00.002-08:00

If you were expecting some fancy scenery from the City Of Lights to play into the video for Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne hit “Ni**as In Paris”, then you’re out of luck. The clip for the often-performed song is instead comprised mostly of footage shot last December during the hip hop duo’s final Staples Center gig in Los Angeles. Some headache-inducing (or, as the intro warns, epileptic fit-inducing) camera effects and a cameo by Blades Of Glory star Will Ferrell are mixed in for the heck of it. Watch below.

Jay-Z & Kanye West — ”Ni**as In Paris”

According to In Touch (via Gossip Cop), Jennifer has "separation anxiety" and has forbidden Justin "from accepting movie roles that require them to be

2012-02-09T10:57:00.001-08:00

According to In Touch (via Gossip Cop), Jennifer has "separation anxiety" and has forbidden Justin "from accepting movie roles that require them to be apart."

Justin "recently turned down two roles because they shot out of the country and Jen didn't want to be separated for that long," a "friend" dishes to the mag. "She initiated a rule that he can't be further than a five-hour plane trip so he had to pass on the projects."

"A source close to Theroux" tells Gossip Cop that In Touch's report is "ridiculous," which is probably true. If he's being kept on a short leash, he can't capitalize on his association with her, which is obviously what he's trying to do: Since they've hooked up, Justin has switched his representation to CAA, Jennifer's agency, and his asking price has reportedly gone up to $10 million per movie. But he needs to strike while the iron is hot: According to Justin's IMDb profile, he doesn't have any projects in the works, so instead of taking a break, he needs to hustle to cash in before they inevitably break up.

What do you think? Is Jennifer Aniston "wrecking" Justin Theroux's career? Is this probably untrue? Sound off in the comments!

The Expendables 2 and The Last Stand, it was time for a little tune up on my shoulder.

2012-02-09T10:55:00.000-08:00

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were in the same pre-op room awaiting shoulder surgery? The former California governor posted a picture on his Whosay blog of the two action stars with IVs, waiting to get cut open. Arnold, 64, and Sly, 65, costar in the upcoming The Tomb. “After all the action, stunts & physical abuse shooting The Expendables 2 and The Last Stand, it was time for a little tune up on my shoulder. Look who was coincidentally waiting in line behind me for his shoulder surgery.’’

the road-show program of Academy Awards short subjects

2012-02-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

Beginning with the live-action nominees, Norwegian director Hallvar Witzo does wonderful things with scripter Linn-Jeanethe Kyed’s “Tuba Atlantic,” a droll study of how 70-year-old Oskar (Edvard Haegstad) handles some rather unsettling news from his doctor. The prognosis: only six more days of life. (“That’s very precise,” Oskar mutters.)

Oskar’s a cantankerous coot, living alone at the edge of the bitterly cold ocean. He has embraced novel methods of killing the raucous seagulls that make sleep impossible. His beloved isolation is invaded by the inappropriately cheerful Inger (Ingrid Viken), a bubbly teen with a mission, as a Jesus-preaching “Angel of Death” assigned to help Oskar through the “five stages” of accepting his fate.

Both these characters are captivating misfits, forever living in the shadows of more successful siblings. Oskar initially wants nothing to do with Inger’s “ministrations,” of course, but events — and a huge, rather peculiar “something” concealed beneath a massive tarp, and pointing out toward sea — will conspire to build a most unlikely relationship.

Unusual technology also is at the heart of writer/director Andrew Bowler’s “Time Freak,” the hilarious saga of a regular guy, Evan (John Conor Brooke), who discovers that his best friend and roommate, Stillman (Michael Nathanson), has developed a working time machine.

Rather than indulge his long-gestating desire to check out ancient Rome, though, Stillman has grown obsessed with replaying the events of the previous 24 hours, in order to perfect his encounters with a dry-cleaner and an attractive young woman (Emilea Wilson).

Bowler’s film is superbly paced and impeccably edited; the payoff, in the final scene, is priceless.

22-year-old's first film The Woman In Black,

2012-02-08T09:46:00.001-08:00

The Harry Potter star, who has been doing the rounds to promote The Woman In Black, released on Friday 10 February, will introduce the film before a special screening on Saturday.

The ghostly tale is the 22-year-old's first film project post-Potter and tells the story of Arthur Kipps, a lawyer who is forced to leave his young son and travel to a remote village to attend to the affairs of the recently deceased owner of Eel Marsh House.

It has been eagerly awaited by fans of the actor. Jon Nutton, Marketing Director for Empire Cinemas said: "We're very excited to have the star of such a hotly anticipated film coming to the cinema to talk to our audience about his latest success. Daniel Radcliffe is a big star on the UK Cinema scene so we are very proud to be playing host to him at our Leicester Square Cinema.

Empire Cinemas are always looking for new ways to give our audience the best possible experience and there's no better way to enjoy this film than having the star actor introduce it."

Members of the public are invited to apply for tickets to the event at 3pm at the Empire cinema, Leicester Square.

36-year-old David Beckham larger-than-life version billboard

2012-02-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

David Beckham continued his assault on the fashion world as his brand landed in New York City yesterday.

The football star did his best impression of King Kong as a larger-than-life version of himself was unveiled the side of a building in The Big Apple.

The 36-year-old has been painted onto a billboard in the iconic city and will no doubt be the cause of many traffic incidents as passersby get entranced by the black and white image.

Katy Perry’s not blue at do Katy Perry ex 'still there for her' Seems Russell is not so B-randy Hollywood honk for Russell Brand

2012-02-08T09:44:00.002-08:00

Russell Brand doesn't want Katy Perry's money

Before the split ... Katy and Russell

By BECI WOOD

Published: Today at 12:58

RUSSELL Brand doesn't want any of estranged wife Katy Perry's money when their divorce is finalised at the end of June, reports say.

Despite their vastly different bank balances, the British comic — who filed for divorce on December 30 last year after just 14 months of marriage — didn't sign a pre-nup.

According to Forbes he is worth a relatively small £4million in comparison to the Firework singer's £28 million fortune.

And under Californian law Russell is entitled to half of Katy's assets. But he has told Katy he doesn't want a penny from her and wants their split to be as amicable as possible.

Gossip website TMZ reports that Russell filed divorce papers on Tuesday but has to wait until June 30 for it to become official because there is a six-month waiting period.

$1.25 billion, phone giant Nokia said Wednesday that it plans to cut 4,000 jobs

2012-02-08T09:44:00.001-08:00

Officials at Nokia, which is moving its entire smartphone portfolio to Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, said the changes mean its assembly operations will be closer to Asian component suppliers, allowing for faster production. Nokia maintains production facilities in China and South Korea.

More Mobility Insights

White Papers

Mobile BI: Actionable Intelligence for the Agile Enterprise
Creating the Enterprise-Class Tablet Environment - by Yankee Group

More >>

Reports

Strategy: Optimize Your Mobile Infrastructure
Strategy: Education's Technology Dilemma

More >>

Webcasts

Maximize ROI with Database Consolidation onto Private Clouds
Effective IT Inventory and Asset Management: From Quagmire to Quick Fix

More >>

The affected plants in Komarom, Hungary; Reynosa, Mexico; and Salo, Finland will shift their focus to finishing and customization, Nokia said.

"With the planned changes, our factories at Komarom, Reynosa, and Salo will continue to play an important role serving our smartphone customers," said Nokia executive VP Niklas Savander, in a statement. "This gives us a unique ability to both provide customization and be more responsive to customers' needs."

[ Nokia's partnership with Microsoft speaks to a mobile-based future. Read more about Microsoft's mobile OS strategy: Microsoft Windows 8 Unification Plan: Grand, But Risky. ]

The job cuts will impact about 2,300 workers in Komarom, 700 in Reynosa, and 1,000 in Salo, according to reports. "We recognize the planned changes are difficult for our employees and we are committed to supporting our personnel and their local communities during this transition," said Savander.

The shakeup at Nokia is part of the fallout from its decision last year to strike a formal alliance with Microsoft and shift virtually the entirety of its smartphone lineup from the Symbian OS to Windows Phone 7 and beyond. Since then, the company has announced more than 15,000 layoffs as it retools its operations to support Windows Phone.

PC suppliers shipped 16.3 million units in Western Europe in Q4, and 58.5 million units in 2011

2012-02-08T09:43:00.002-08:00

HP and Dell were hit hard in the UK, with only Apple showing impressive growth. However, in Western Europe, both Lenovo and Asus managed to increase their PC shipments in a market that was hit by sustained economic recession and by growing shipments of high-priced smartphones and tablets. Either way, PC companies didn't appear to get the boom they might once have expected from Christmas.

In a statement, Gartner principal analyst Meike Escherich said: "Uptake of professional PCs for migrations to Windows 7 remained subdued due to the troubled economic outlook. PC shipments in the professional segment declined 13.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, but the consumer segment suffered a bigger decline, falling 18 percent."

In the fourth quarter in Western Europe, HP remained the largest supplier, and fractionally increased its market share to 22.2 percent despite shipments falling by 15.7 percent. This was due to the now-familiar disaster at Acer, which saw shipments fall by 46.1 percent. Asus overtook Dell, increasing its shipments by 1.5 percent. Lenovo, in fifth place, increased its shipments by 13.9 percent, making it the most successful of the Windows PC vendors, though it did benefit from taking over Medion. (Apple failed to make the Top 5.)

WipEout 2048 for the bargain price of £284, Sony's UK 3G carrier partner Vodafone has announced.

2012-02-08T09:43:00.001-08:00

PS Vita's potential customers could do worse than check out a new deal from Vodafone.

Published on Feb 8, 2012

PS Vita 3G will be offered with WipEout 2048 for the bargain price of £284, Sony's UK 3G carrier partner Vodafone has announced.

The 3G version of the PS Vita will set you back £279 from Vodafone - which is in line with Sony's RRP for the device - but also comes with a free 4GB memory card.

WipEout 2048 can be bagged for free by simply topping up with £5 of data connectivity at the same time - Vodafone will then send you a code to download the game.

PS Vita and its launch line-up of games launches in the US and UK on 22 February.

Hollywood hottie is being blamed for interfering between Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis.

2012-02-06T06:35:00.001-08:00

Jennifer Aniston’s relationship with Brad Pitt, now the Hollywood hottie is being blamed for interfering between Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis.

As gossip flies around cyberspace about the alleged break-up of Depp and French-born Paradis, a source has told told the The Enquirer: "It's no coincidence that things began to unravel for Johnny and Vanessa when he started working with Angelina.

Vanessa was absolutely convinced that Johnny slept with Angelina, and her jealousy and suspicions ended up destroying them."

Apparently the two had 'obvious' off-screen chemistry and were constantly hanging out and giggling together like teenagers.

It had been alleged that Vanessa and Depp, who have two children together, Lily-Rose, 12, and Jack, nine, have been 'living separate lives' for some time.

But, recently, on a French chat show, after Paradis's rambled response to questions about the split, a presenter asked her, “Why don't you respond to the rumour and put an end to it? Is the rumour false?”

Paradis replied: “Yes it's false - of course it's false.”

Black Sands and is still rumoured to appear in Mikael Håfström's The Tomb. Arnold Schwarzenegger Photos

2012-02-06T06:33:00.002-08:00

Arnold Schwarzenegger who returns to cinemas this year in the August release of the high octane sequel to The Expendables has revealed that he would be happy to work in the Bollywood film industry.

Speaking to NDTV, The Terminator action hero said "Maybe if there is a good script and a good, interesting director, then - I mean I worked already all over the world - I would not mind working in India."

The former California governor is currently on a trip to the country and drew comparisons between the amount of films Bollywood and Hollywood make in a year adding "What's amazing about India is that they have an extraordinary movie industry. They do over 700 movies a year. I mean I don't think there was ever a year when America did 700 movies. It is really amazing if you think about it."

Schwarzenegger has Jee-woon Kim's Last Stand in post production and arrives in cinemas on January 18 next year and is gearing up to star as The Stranger in Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh's Black Sands and is still rumoured to appear in Mikael Håfström's The Tomb.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Photos

‘The Dirty Picture’ and the film was highly appreciated by the audiences

2012-02-06T06:33:00.001-08:00

Vidya Balan is the most desirable woman for Jacqueline Fernandez

The Sri Lankan beauty queen, Jacqueline Fernandez, who won the Miss Sri Lanka Universe in 2006, is the 7^th most desirable women as per the ITIMES’ POLL of ‘Most Desirable’ women of 2011. However, when the 26-year-old model was asked about who she thinks should be the most desirable women, she immediately replied by saying Vidya Balan, who gained the 6^th position.

Vidya Balan last year played a leading role in Milan Luthria’s ‘The Dirty Picture’ and the film was highly appreciated by the audiences. Nevertheless, to fulfil the role’s requirement Balan was asked to gain almost 15kgs of weight and Fernandez believes it needs a lot of courage for an actress to gain so much weight.

Fernandez insisted gaining so much weight is not an easy job at all for someone who is related to the Bollywood industry.

Fernandez said, “Vidya Balan. She is everything a woman wants to be. In an industry where actresses go through tremendous pressure of looking pretty, thin, glamorous constantly, this is one actress who is comfortable in her skin. She is so real on and off the screen. She is not pretentious. She is confident of who she is and that makes her enviable and desirable. I loved The Dirty Picture.”

Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon and Julia Roberts.

2012-02-06T06:33:00.000-08:00

Priyanka Chopra has been signed up to the Hollywood agency CAA (Creative Artists Agency) that has in the past refused many Bollywood stars that have approached them. CAA has their headquarters in Los Angeles and boasts a client list that includes Hollywood stars such as George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon and Julia Roberts.

Priyanka Chopra confirmed the news to the media saying, “ Yes, I have a completely new team working for me in Los Angeles. Let’s see how things go.”

The Bollywood actress, who has a debut music album set to launch this year, caught the attention of the agency due to the international album deal she signed with Universal. A source close to the actress confirmed this telling the media, “Priyanka is gaining popularity in LA due to the big-ticket album deal she has signed with Universal.”

Priyanka Chopra is currently shooting for the Bollywood movie Krissh 2 opposite Hrithik Roshan. The actress will next be seen on the big screen in the movie Teri Meri Kahaani opposite Shahid Kapoor, which is set to release in June 2012.

Karan Johar’s revival of Agneepath Bollywood Film Review: Agneepath

2012-02-06T06:28:00.000-08:00

During the course of the film, I pretty much experienced all sorts of emotions. Joy and sadness kept triggering a smile or a tiniest drop of tear. However, the most strong and prominent emotion that I felt was anger. This did not have anything to do with
the make of the film. Instead, it was attributed to some of the characters that Karan Johar and film-director Karan Malhotra had managed to present a bit too well. These characters included the Kancha, played by Sanjay Dutt, and Rauf Lala that was being played
by Rishi Kapoor.

If there were any images of Sanjay Dutt’s “Munna Bhai MBBS” in my brain, his role of Kacha completely eradicated them from my mind. From the time he made his first appearance in the film to the time he made an exit, courtesy of Hrithik Roshan who was playing
the role of Vijay Deenanth Chauhan, originally played by Amitabh Bachan, the character of Kancha was disgusting in the sense that one could feel real hatred for him. His loathsome personality and lack of humanity depicted him as a demon. Unfortunately, Sanjay

HTC Titan 2 and the Nokia Lumia 900

2012-02-05T10:21:00.001-08:00

Apple have had a historic quarter, Android devices have the lions share of the market, so where now for Windows Phone?

Let’s be honest here, Microsoft will not go gently into the good night of the smartphone wars. Windows Phone is going to get a lot of attention during 2012, and the Redmond company (along with their hardware partners) are going to be pushing hard at every step of the way. So what are the goals they can measure their progress against.

First up will be the March launch on AT&T in America of the two darlings from CES, the HTC Titan 2 and the Nokia Lumia 900. Arguably the Lumia is the more important of the two, with Nokia committing their smartphone line to run Windows Phone, but both Microsoft and AT&T will want to see a successful HTC handset as well to prove the benefits of Windows Phone as a platform, and not something dominated by Nokia. Expect promotions, bonuses, and incentives to help this – and lots of press and media over the sales figures.

Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima stars alongside the rock band Motley Crue in Kia’s Super Bowl

2012-02-05T10:19:00.002-08:00

ou won’t see it on television, but if you hit play you may not be watching TV for a long time anyway.

Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima stars alongside the rock band Motley Crue in Kia’s Super Bowl ad, but she gets the spotlight to herself in a video released by the automaker on the internet that shows nothing but the scantily clad Brazilian standing on an auto racing track waving a checkered flag…for five hours straight.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/02/05/adriana-lima-stars-in-5-hour-kia-commercial/#ixzz1lLPDzOu4

Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. leading the chant of “L-U-V Madonna!”

2012-02-05T10:19:00.001-08:00

Madonna’s betting on a lot of overlap between her fan base and Gronk’s. Not only is she jumping back into the scene with her Sunday halftime gig, but her “Give Me All Your Luvin’ ” video is an orgy of rah-rahing cheerleaders and beefy football players.

The video, released yesterday along with the single, aims to bridge Madonna’s heyday and her (planned) comeback. It’s packed with references to her signature looks (“Like a Virgin” rosary beads, Marilyn Monroe outfits) and modern Lady Gaga weirdness (the cheerleaders wear creepy anime masks). To show she’s eternally hip, the clip also features Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. leading the chant of “L-U-V Madonna!”

Without the video, the song is a simple, sweet piece of pop. It will need a remix to get the clubs thumping (it’s too slow), and Gwen Stefani kind of owns the pop cheerleader thing. But the song has enough going for it — hypnotic melody, sugary synths, Minaj rap, industry muscle — to make the Top 10.

Harry Potter is looking good for Daniel Radcliffe.

2012-02-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

Life after Harry Potter is looking good for Daniel Radcliffe.

Radcliffe's The Woman in Black grossed a scary-good $21 million, per estimates, and gave Chronicle a run for the No. 1 spot in the weekend box-office standings.

Drew Barrymore's slump, meanwhile, continued.

RELATED: New-look Radcliffe "weird[s] people out?"

Woman in Black, Radcliffe's first post-Potter film since the world's most-successful franchise folded last summer, is already in the black, having made its money off a reported $13 million budget.

The gothic, haunted-house tale did OK with critics, too, netting mostly positive reviews in the estimations of Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

In another solid weekend for Hollywood, Chronicle got even better reviews, and made even more money ($22 million) off an even-smaller budget ($12 million).

The no-star, Zapped-gone-bad sci-fi action movie scored with younger audiences, in general, and men, in particular.

Barrymore's $40 million-ish Big Miracle, meanwhile, debuted in fourth place, with an estimated $8.5 million Friday-Sunday take.

The whale movie marks the actress' third-straight, subpar box-office performance. On the upside, its performance did improve on the openings of Going the Distance and Everybody's Fine.

Overall, multiplexes continued to recover from last year's downturn. Ticket sales were up a whopping 33 percent for the same Super Bowl weekend last year, Exhibitor Relations estimated.

Hot Priyamani in Maharani Movie Stills [ Gallery View ] Hot Priyamani in Maharani Movie Stills

2012-02-04T05:40:00.000-08:00

Hot Priyamani in Maharani Movie Stills [ Gallery View ]

GQ magazine about his dressing, has responded to the report saying that he has a keen eye for fashion.

2012-02-04T05:39:00.002-08:00

men’s magazine, which focuses on men’s fashion. The magazine tagged Chris Brown as the most worst dressed singer in its recent edition. The official statement of GQ said: "For someone who seems

to have so much disposable income – he boasts on one track about spending "15 grand on a phone" and charged over $500 for meet-and-greets on his last tour – Brown seems utterly adverse to investing in tailoring, combining the worst excesses of XXL sizing with
a penchant for deeply unflattering costumes," reports GQ. "Sorry "Team Breezy", but you may have to look away now…"

GQ (UK) almost ripped the singer to pieces in its best dressed men of 2012 issue. However, Mr Brown said: "The clothes don’t wear you, you wear the clothes. A lot of my fashion icons today are like Pharrell, he has a lot of incredible style and him being
from Virginia, that’s always one of those things that get the kids going excited. For me, I was excited as a kid, being able to see him influence the world with his fashion and him being from where I’m from. That was kinda dope. People wanna be the artist
on TV, not saying they embody the artist, but they look up to the person that’s their idols and role models."

GQ is incredibly popular in the UK and it is considered as famous as ladies fashion magazine Vogue. So its judgement is not meaningless. Chris Brown should really invest some money into tailoring, in order to meet the challenges of dressing in the industry.

The Rock" Johnson, Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Kristin Davis, Luis Guzman, Michael Caine, Vanessa Hudgens, josh hutcherson

2012-02-04T05:39:00.001-08:00

How would you describe Journey 2 Mysterious Island (2)?

The film is a lot of fun. It's visually stunning with some great special effects, some great action sequences, some great tension and adventure. Last, but certainly not least, I look great in 3D.

And how would The Rock describe it?

The Rock would describe the film in the same way that I just described it. But at the end, he'd say: "The Rock looks great in 3D."

What was it like working with Michael Caine (3)? You get into some good arguments in the first half.

We had an outstanding chemistry from the beginning. I have been such a big admirer of Sir Michael for years now. He is humble, he's gracious, he's a man's man, tells a great dirty joke. We had a great chemistry offscreen, and a great biting chemistry onscreen.

You sing in this film, too. At what point did you realise this was going to happen? Can you play the ukulele?

We needed a break in the third act because there's tension – the island's sinking and there's so much mayhem – we needed a good moment where the audience could just breathe. We came up with the campfire scene, and I thought: "Why don't I pull out the ukulele, sing What a Wonderful World to the others and change the second verse around so I take a few jabs at Michael and call him Yoda?".That's me playing the ukulele. I grew up in a musical family; the majority of my growing up was done in Hawaii. It's what we do. You sing, you dance, you play ukulele and you drink.

So you sang What a Wonderful World in the film and you recorded It Doesn't Matter with Wyclef (4). Should we expect an album soon?

Agneepath Statistics Reports

2012-02-04T05:38:00.002-08:00

+8 Because This Is Hrithik’s Finest Hour, even if not his best performance. A film truly worthy of him as a hero. Also, please give him brown lenses the next time around.

-10 To Sanjay Dutt and his grand ham treatment of a character so well written, the only thing wrong with this epic remake. High time, Sanjubaba stopped recycling his more recent performances.

+10 To The Witch-Hunt Scene, showing the true nature of a mob. Plus four to the scene that demonstrates Rauf Lala’s (Rishi Kapoor) power in Mumbai.

+10 To The Kid Killing The Dirty Cop Scene! I squealed with joy and what was probably a tiny orgasm.

+2 To Priyanka in Gun guna yeh gaana re. Reminds us of Sridevi with her gimmicks.

+2 To Details Like The Telegram, The Tahalka Movie Poster and the brown Eagle water bottle! But the chawl was obviously in a studio.

-10 To The Brother-Sister Reunion Scene. Cut 10 more: Full family emotional derailment. Right when Karan Malhotra was doing so well outside the Dharma perimeter.

+3 For Pulling Up From That Nosedive with the signature Naam Vijay Chauhan line, punctuated with knife stabs.

-3 Because The Post-Interval Pains could have been avoided by killing the emotional music! The rest of the score was brilliant.

+7 Because The Writer Kept The Stakes High for Vijay, even killing the heroine for it.

+7 To Hrithik’s Blood-Drenched Climax. He joins the Grand Bloody Climax Club of Dutt in Sadak, SRK in Baazigar, Aamir in Ghulam, then pushes it OTT with Akshay in Khiladiyon ka Khiladi. Minus three for that.

The 64-year-old Hollywood actor-turned- politician was due to attend the Green Globe Foundation Awards in Delhi

2012-02-04T05:38:00.001-08:00

We went to him asking him to come, but he just didn’t,” says a source. Abhishek, on the other hand, pleaded ignorance. “I had no idea. I wasn’t told anything like that (about being presented an award by Arnie). I was just told that I’ll be honoured,” he said.

Schwarzenegger, however, tried making up for his absence by congratulating Abhishek on Twitter. “Congrats on the Green Globe, @juniorbachchan. More celebrities should be pumping up green progress. I’ll be back, & we should get together (sic),” he posted.

At Bukhara, Arnie asked for tandoori fare — sikandari raan, tandoori jhinga, dal bukhara, bharwan kulcha and ended the meal with kulfi and rasmalai. A cigar connoisseur, he also went shopping for cigars at Kastros at the Santushti Complex. “He bought a pack of Cuban cigars from here. I couldn’t meet him, but he left a cigar for me,” says Manish Datt, owner of the store

, Daniel Radcliffe wouldn’t be afraid of much.

2012-02-04T05:35:00.000-08:00

You may think that after battling Lord Voldemort as Harry Potter for most of his life, Daniel Radcliffe wouldn’t be afraid of much.

It seems though there is one thing that does disturb the star more than anything else: Wyoming’s Yellowstone volcano.

The star, who once again faces dark forces in his new film The Woman in Black, told ET Online that the damage the dormant volcano could cause if it erupts.

"[Yellowstone is] ready to go off any minute… It's overdue and it could happen at any time, and if it does, we're screwed," Radcliffe said. “I watch too much Nat Geo.”

Well, it has been over 70,000 years since the last eruption from the Yellowstone volcano was recorded, so perhaps he doesn’t need to be too worried just at the moment.

The Woman in Black opens in the UK on February 10^th and is out now in the US.

Facebook CEO, and other company execs, taking home each year.

2012-02-02T08:22:00.000-08:00

It's probably safe to assume that Mark Zuckerberg has a bit more cash on hand than the average person, but until today, we weren't exactly sure how much the Facebook CEO, and other company execs, were taking home each year.

According to paperwork filed with the SEC yesterday in conjunction with Facebook's much-publicized IPO,, Zuckerberg took home about $1.5 million in salary, bonus, and other compensation. But that's pocket change compared to his stock holdings. The social network's founder owns 533.8 million shares, or 28.4 percent, of Facebook stock.

With a potential valuation up to $100 billion, that could make Zuckerberg worth about $28.4 billion.

Specifically, Zuckerberg last year earned a base salary of $483,333 and took home $220,500 in bonuses and $783,529 in other compensation, which included use of a private jet, as well as real estate and financial planning.

With billions in stock, however, Zuckerberg will switch to a $1 per year salary in January 2013. He is also the "holder of the majority of the voting power," the filing said.

Official Madhuri Dixit website teaser! you can connect now. Looking forward to hearing from you

2012-02-02T08:19:00.003-08:00

"Here is first reward... Official Madhuri Dixit website teaser! you can connect now. Looking forward to hearing from you," the 44-year-old posted on her micro-blogging site Twitter.

"Official teaser site is madhuridixit-nene.com! Planning a media rich experience with exclusive content for you! Thank you for your support," she further tweeted.

After hits like Tezaab, Ram Lakhan, Sajan, Beta, Dil, Hum Aapke Hain Koun!, Dil Toh Pagal Hai and Devdas, the Bollywood diva, known for her natural acting talent and graceful dancing, tied the knot in 2002 with Shriram Madhav Nene, a doctor based in Denver and moved there.

Post-marriage, Madhuri worked in just Aaja Nachle, which didn't do so well but her stint as the judge on dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4 allowed her to reconnect with her fans in a big way.

Now she is back in B-town to play another innings.

Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20120193484&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=bollywood&nid=171988&cp

Amir Khan fiancée Faryal celebrated with a £150,000 bash at the Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium.

2012-02-02T08:19:00.001-08:00

Amir Khan has certainly scored a knockout. The boxer had an enormous smile on his face last night, and one look at his stunning fiancée shows why.

Khan, 25, and 20-year-old Faryal Makhdoom revealed their plans to marry earlier this month, and made it official this weekend by exchanging rings in front of 1,000 of their nearest and dearest at a lavish engagement party.

The couple celebrated with a £150,000 bash at the Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2093807/Amir-Khan-engaged-Faryal-Makhdoom-Boxer-introduces-fianc-e-Bolton-Wanderers-stadium.html#ixzz1l3NDzKcL

“Vidya takes it in a good spirit.,” Priyanka

2012-02-02T08:16:00.004-08:00

“Vidya takes it in a good spirit. I wore a fat suit to imitate her. After the act she herself told me how funny it looked. She wasn''t offended at all. She is extremely sporting,” Priyanka said.

“Vidya was great in The Dirty Picture. Very few actresses have the courage to gain about 15 kgs for a role!” she added.

Clyfford Still to the tune of $10,000 by "sliding her buttocks" against it, among other offenses.

2012-02-02T08:16:00.003-08:00

Pranava Prakash's nude paintings prompt scuffle in India

The art world has suffered a couple of indignities lately -- with nudity at the heart of the matter, however strangely.

First, in case you missed this bit of Internet cotton candy the first time around, a Colorado woman allegedly damaged a painting from the late abstract expressionist artist Clyfford Still to the tune of $10,000 by "sliding her buttocks" against it, among other offenses.

Now, Indian neopop artist Pranava Prakash has been thrashed, according to the Times of India, by unidentified men who took issue with nude depictions of several Bollywood stars, including Vidya Balan and Pakistani actor Veena Malik. Whatever happened to taking your complaints to video, like the honorable if misguided Andy Rooney did in his codgerly rant against public art?

Anyway, the Times of India goes on to report that Prakash was attacked in Noida's Espace Alternative Gallery on Sunday after the men barged into the space, yelling out "slogans" against nudity. According to the gallery owner, the artist tried to calm them and was promptly pushed around, his paintings also torn down.

After the incident, Prakash told the newspaper: "I was just walking about the gallery when some unidentified men appeared and started misbehaving with me. They accused me of disrespecting India's culture."