Ok so you may already know that Google has made an open source (linux) operating system that includes a touch interface, downloadable music, games, downloadable apps, and syncs wirelessly (calendar, contacts, IM’s, apps and emails) to Gmail, phone ..... and is not the iPhone.
Read More...

Tags:iPhone, Android, Google

The Lounge takes its first trip outside the US, to show one of the most beautiful coasts known. Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, shows its true colors in it’s amazing environments, night life, entertainment and activities. Watch part one of three and see if you would consider the all inclusive Grand Oasis Resort at Punta Cana for your own vacation destination. Read More...

Tags:Travel, Punta Cana, Grand Oasis, Dominican Republic

The Lounge is soon to enter its phase 0.2 of its developement. What that means is that it is soon to introduce a way to add video to its main site, like it has for its social network. The difference is that you need to upload an actual short or music video. Videos submitted will be looked at and placed on the site.
So gear up, prepare your films and get ready.

“Tron” story is about a hacker who is literally abducted into the world of a computer and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.

The first movies visual FX were basic but back in the day it was the best we have seen. You will see one of the main character Jeff Bridges in one of his “make me famous” movies.



This is the Sneak peak at “Tron 2” Good ol’ Jeff is back and the crowd goes wild. This video was sneakily recorded at the Comic Con where Disney gave fans a presentation. One of the best scenes in both videos is the “light cycle” where the bikes travel at high speeds and create a wall barrier made of solid light. Ok it sounds bad but the effect is very cool.



One of the best scenes of the older “Tron” film with the “light cycles”

Tags:Tron 2, Movies, Films

The trailer shows off not only The Dark Knight but a group of his friends that help The Bat fight his foes. That includes The Green Lantern, Plastic Man, and The Green Arrow to name a few.
Said to be released in November on Cartoon Network. Unlike previous versions of The Knight, this one takes a lighter side of the Batman, somewhat like the old Batman series in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, almost with the BOOM! and BAP! of the men in tights.

After a very successful run of Batman cartoons with various styles of animation, eventually it was suggested that a friendlier version of it. So take a look at the clip here. and thanks to CBR for the article, feel free to read it as it has more details, as to the creation of it.

Tags:Batman, Animated, Cartoon, Cartoon Network

By adding the Social, The Lounge intends on creating an atmosphere that will permit the mission of the magazine to get a accomplished, without relying on third party networks like MySpace or Facebook. The Lounge wants to be able to access talents to focus on its own topics and permit talents to be featured in articles in the magazine.

The site will allow for personal profiles and allow for friends to be invited, and for videos, music and pictures to be shared. Media can then be embeded to their personal website or MySpace. Each member can also blog on the site and share their insight of the industry along with sharing events or perfomances.

Among the coolest features is the ability to share and upload video and pictures from the latest cellphones using email. All this is made possible using Ning which backs the Social Network environment.

Tags:Live, Music , Movies, Films

"The newly designed application introduces a new, more compelling consumer and search experience. Through Nuance speech recognition servers, mobile consumers — with no training required — can simply speak requests into their phone like “Find the Apple store in Boston, Massachusetts,” “Score of the Boston Celtics game,” or “Play Hannah Montana Best of Both Worlds” to quickly and accurately search the mobile web or in the future dictate an IM, SMS or e-mail message. The prototype, code-named “OVS” for open voice search, will allow mobile operators to offer simple ‘say anything’ search capabilities and is search engine agnostic, able to link to any search engine of an operator’s choosing."
Eventually features such as Mobile Messaging would be incorporated.

With speech and its advanced predictive text technologies, Nuance mobile messaging solutions let users enter text for email, SMS or IM in a simple and intuitive way: By voice. For example:

Say “Send email to Mark Smith… Mark, a car service will pick you up at LAX today at 3pm” or “Send SMS to Ian Griffith…’Ian, let’s meet in the client’s lobby to discuss the presentation 20 minutes after noon today.” Then, “Send message.”

Its only the beginning. Blackberry, Palm and Windows Mobile versions are already vailable at www.nuance.com

Tags:Voice, Nuance, Apple, iPhone, search

***Confidential AT&T Information. For Internal Distribution Only.***
AT&T and Apple today announced that the iPhone 3G will be available in the U.S on July 11. iPhone 3G combines three products into one small, lightweight device: a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and it puts the Internet in your pocket with the best e-mail, web browsing, search and maps applications ever on a mobile phone.

The new version of the iPhone harnesses the power of AT&T's broad and powerful 3G mobile broadband network, which offers 3G mobile phones download speeds of up to 1.4 Mbps.

Key Device Features:

Operates on Wi-Fi, EDGE, and 3G networks
New enterprise e-mail capability with support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync
New iPhone software development kit (SDK) to support new innovative applications
Note: 2G iPhone customers will be able to download the iPhone 2.0 software from iTunes which enables new features such as access to corporate e-mail via Microsoft ActiveSync.

New Activation Process and BRE:
The iPhone 3G will be activated at point of sale when the device is purchased, in store. The BRE period will change from 14 days to 30 days and will require the device to be returned to place of purchase before service is cancelled.

Pricing and Plans
Device Pricing:
$199 8GB and $299 16GB for new activations and qualified upgrades with 2-year agreement.

Data Plans and Pricing:
The iPhone 3G will be activated on existing AT&T voice rate plans, but new data plans have been created for the 3G device.

All iPhone 3G customers are required to have one of the new data plans and qualifying voice plan.
Customers intending to use the iPhone 3G for access to corporate e-mail, business applications, or access to corporate intranet are required to activate with Enterprise Data Plan for iPhone.
The 2G data rate plans will remain available for 2G devices until further notice.
IRU service discounts for both voice and data pans will apply to iPhone 3G, but not 2G iPhone.
CRU service discounts for voice and data will apply to both 2G and 3G, when on a qualifying data plan.
IRUs will not get a discount on device purchase for 2G or iPhone 3Gs.
Data Pricing will be as follows:
Consumer Data Plan (must be added to qualified voice plan):
$30 - Unlimited Data (E-mail/Web), includes Visual Voicemail

Enterprise Data Plan (must be added to qualified voice plan):
$45 – Unlimited Data with personal and corporate e-mail, web, includes Visual Voicemail

Upgrade Eligibility and Qualified Upgrade Pricing
Upgrade eligibility will be determined based on standard upgrade eligibility rules. Customers must be upgrade eligible to receive the qualified upgrade pricing. However, not all customers will be qualified upgrades. AT&T has not determined the price of the 3G device for non-qualified upgrades.

All customers will be required to sign a 2-year agreement. There will not be a "no commitment" price for the iPhone 3G.

Note: When the 3G device launches, all active postpaid customers in good standing with a 2G iPhone will be eligible to receive the qualified upgrade pricing for a 3G device regardless of service tenure. (Customers that would not otherwise be eligible due to tenure will be made eligible at launch).

Activation Process
The new 3G device will be activated in store in both AT&T and Apple stores. Customers must accept AT&T and Apple Ts & Cs, sign a 2-year agreement, and select the data plan for the iPhone 3G before leaving the store. The current iTunes activation process will no longer be required for iPhone 3Gs, however a short tether process to unbrick the 3G device will be performed in all AT&T stores (tether cords will be provided). Apple stores will also perform this tether process, however in the event that a customer's device is not tethered in the Apple store, their device will be inoperable until they get home and tether through iTunes. Prepaid and Pick Your Plan will not be allowed on the 3G device.

The SSK has been modified to allow customers interested in the iPhone 3G to enter their information, select rate plans and data plans, and print a document that will allow COR reps to quickly access the customer's information in OPUS and save time for data entry in the activation process.

Note: In the interim, 2G iPhones will continue to be activated via iTunes - BAU. This is also true for existing AT&T customers who receive a 2G device as a gift, hand-me-down, etc. and wish to activate the device. Existing AT&T customers who switch to the 2G iPhone must tether through the iTunes process to begin using the device.

Compensation
Because the 3G device will be activated in store, compensation for the 3G device will be BAU. COR reps will receive compensation for upgrades and new activations with a 2-year agreement.

Purchase Limit
The device purchase limit will remain three (3) per customer for iPhone 3G in AT&T stores.

Allocations
If allocations are required at launch, supply chain will allocate based on January-April sales rates applied on a store-by-store basis.

Direct Fulfillment
The DF tool will be available at launch in COR for iPhone 3Gs. Customers will be required to pay for the device when the order is placed and the phone will be shipped to the store in the customer's name.

Existing Stock of 2G Devices
We will continue to sell 2G devices until stock is depleted.

Return Policy
2G Devices
Customers who recently purchased a 2G iPhone may want to return their device once they hear about the 3G model and price point, but the new device will not be available immediately. Since the announcement and launch will be about 30 days apart, we could lose some customers who are within their BRE period and want to return their device before their 14 days expires and wait for the new 3G device. We must acknowledge and address their desire to get the best device for them.

Here's how AT&T will handle 2G iPhone returns:

If a customer purchased before 5/27, we will follow BAU processes – no device returns. However, all postpaid 2G iPhone customers in good standing are upgrade eligible, so these customers will qualify to upgrade to a 3G iPhone when it is available.
If a customer purchased on or after 5/27 (within the 14-day BRE period before the product announcement on 6/9), we will let them exchange their 2G iPhone for an iPhone 3G before August 1. This means that after we launch the 3G model they can return their 2G iPhone, pay the 10% restocking fee, and purchase a new iPhone 3G before August 1.
Note: This modified return policy applies only to customers who purchase from AT&T stores.

3G Devices
The return policy for 3G is changing from 14 days to 30 days for both Apple and AT&T stores.

To cancel service within the first 30 days, the customer must return their equipment to the place of purchase (no exceptions).
If the customer cancels service after 30 days, they will be charged the ETF. The customer is not required to return the device to cancel after 30 days.
Special Notes Regarding 2G Devices

After the iPhone 3G launches, activations of 2G iPhones for new AT&T customers can be performed in COR stores or in the existing iTunes tether process. COR reps will receive compensation for activations of new AT&T customers done in store.
2G upgrades will continue to be activated via the existing iTunes tether process.
Existing 2G data plans will remain available for 2G devices until further notice.
Note: 2G iPhones are out of stock in the DCs, and the Direct Fulfillment tool for 2G is turned off. 2G iPhones have been removed from the "myRewards" incentive catalog.
Their rate plans are as follows:

With a two-year contract, the price of an 8GB iPhone 3G will be $199; the 16GB model will be priced at $299.
Unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for $30 a month, in addition to voice plans starting at $39.99 a month.
Unlimited 3G data plans for business users will be available for $45 a month, in addition to a voice plan.

No mention of any included SMS messaging but we guess that it will be extra.

Tags:iPhone, Apple, Technology

The iPhone 3G will be available July 11th in 22 countries. The maximum price around the world is $199 USD. Now showing an ad.
-$299 for the 16GB -- a white version of this size will be available too.
-Now on to the final challenge -- affordability. Started at $599 for an 8GB iPhone, now $399. The iPhone 3G 8GB will sell for... $199.

That rollout will occur over the coming few months.
China, Japan, Australia, etc. 70 countries total.
Checking off 3G from the list of challenges. The second challenge, enterprise support, is fully built-in and can be checked off. The third challenge, third party application support, can also be checked off. The fourth challenge, more countries, can be checked off as it will be available in Canada, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands and many others -- "It's a Small World" is playing as countries continue to appear on the map.




With GPS, the iPhone can do tracking. A pulsating dot is moving across the Google map as a car drives down Lombard street.
Data from cell towers, WiFi networks, and now -- GPS.
GPS support now integrated into the iPhone.

3G has great battery life on iPhone. 300 hours of standby, 2G talk-time now has 10 hours (as opposed to 5), 5 hours of 3G talk-time (most phones only have 3 hour 3G talk time), 5 to 6 hours of high-speed browsing, 7 hours of video, 24 hours of audio.

Now demoing an email download. The email attachment took 5 seconds to download on 3G and 18 seconds on EDGE. 3 seconds on WiFi.
2.8X faster. Approaching WiFi speeds (WiFi scored 17 seconds). When compared to other 3G phones (Nokia N95 and Treo 750), the iPhone is 36% faster -- and better looking.
How does the iPhone 3G tackle the challenges? 3G = faster data downloads, perfect for Safari and Mail. Comparing download speeds between 3G and EDGE. 3G finished in 21 seconds. EDGE finished in 59 seconds.
Apple has learned so much with the first iPhone. They have taken everything they've learned and more and created the iPhone 3G. Even thinner, black plastic back, solid metal buttons, same gorgeous display, camera, flush headphone jack, and dramatically improved audio

Introducing the iPhone 3G.56% of people that want an iPhone but didn't get one say it was due to price. 1) 3G network support 2) Enterprise support 3) Third party application support 4) More countries (joking about unlocked iPhones in countries not officially supported) 5) More affordable

-Users love them too -- 90% customer satisfaction (off the carts), 98% are browsing online, 94% are using email, 90% are using text messaging, 80% are using 10 or more features.
-Apple figured out what the next challenges are.
-In the first year, 6 million iPhones until Apple ran out several weeks ago.
-Users love them too -- 90% customer satisfaction (off the carts), 98% are browsing online, 94% are using email, 90% are using text messaging, 80% are using 10 or more features.
-The iPhone had an amazing intro with tremendous critical acclaim.

Steve is now talking about the First birthday of the IPHONE.
-A 60-day free trial will be available along with the iPhone 2.0 software in early July. MobileMe replaces .mac. .mac subscribers will automatically be upgraded. Steve has retaken the stage.

-He just sent a photo to a previously created gallery on Mobile.Me, which appeared through the web-based interface very quickly.

-Now he's adding a meeting through the web-based calendar and showing that it appears immediately on the iPhone. Within seconds of making an adjustment to the calendar entry through the web interface, the update appeared on the phone.

-The iDisk app allows files to be sent to people right through the app. Phil is now demonstrating the over-the-air functionality.
-The gallery app allows for drag & drop too as well as live thumbnail scaling like in iPhoto.
-The calendar app has the typical day, week, and month views. Color coding and drag & drop events is supported as well.
-The contacts app incorporates lists, live search, and Google map integration.
-The Mail app allows panes to be resized, multiple messages to be selected like a real application, and quick reply in-line.

-iDisk is integrated into Me.com as well. Phil is now demonstrating the functionality.

-Unbelievable looking Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Gallery applications. Photos are synched over the air too.


-Includes incredible Web 2.0 applications to provide a desktop-like experience on the web to work with all of the data. Me.com.
-Everything stays in sync between iPhone, Mac, and PC. Data gets synched automatically both ways.
-"It works like ActiveStink... er... ActiveSync" - Phil. Push email, contacts, and calendars. Everything is up-to-date, wherever you are.


-Exchange -- for the rest of us.
-MobileMe. Phil is on stage to demo.
-Now, something entirely new.
-Adding a third way to distribute apps -- Ad Hoc. The apps can be distributed in any way to up to 100 authorized iPhones.
-Enterprises can distribute apps just to their employees. They authorize iPhones within their enterprise and then create applications that just run on those phones. The apps can be distributed just through their intranet.

-Available in 62 countries. If the app is less than 10MB, it can be downloaded through the cell network. Otherwise, it requires WiFi or iTunes.



-Talking about the App Store. A way for developers to reach every single iPhone user. Wireless download support, automatic updates, developer sets the price and keep 70% of revenue, FairPlay wrapped, no charge to anyone for free apps.

-iPhone 2.0 will be available in early for July. Free for iPhone owners, $9.99 for iPod Touch owners.

-Fantastic Asian language support, including character recognition. All of the languages can be switched between on the fly. These are all some of the new features in the iPhone 2.0 software.
-Steve is discussing new features in the iPhone 2.0 software. First, contact search with live searching. Second, full iWork document support. Third, complete support for Office documents (Word, Excel, and now PowerPoint).

-Fourth, bulk delete & move for messages. Fifth, the ability to save images you get. Sixth, a new calculator with scientific mode when you rotate the iPhone. Seventh, parental controls. Eight, tremendous language support.

-This functionality won't be available until September, but will be seeded to developers soon. Steve has retaken the stage.

-When the user quits the application, Apple will push updates from their servers to the iPhone. The developer's servers push the notifications to Apple. These updates can include badges, sounds, and custom messages. This requires just one persistent connection and is extremely scalable.





-Apple has come up with a far better solution -- a push notification service available for all developers.

-The wrong solution would be to allow for background processes -- bad for battery life and performance. Poking fun at Windows Mobile's task manager.
-Thanking the developers for their hard work. Now talking about how the #1 request has been background support. Apple wants to solve this problem.

-In just 2 weeks, Digital Legends has brought an amazing looking 3D fantasy adventure game to the phone. Uses OpenGL and touch controls. A better experience than other mobile gaming devices. The game will be ready by September.

-The MIMvista application is for viewing medical imagery. Takes advantage of the touch screen to change the information shown, zoom in and out, and scroll around. The images can be rendered in 3D live too. The app will be available at the launch of the App Store. The last demo comes from Digital Legends.

-Showing 2 medical-based applications. First, The first is a learning application for remembering the names of parts of the body. They will have dozens of apps available within weeks of the App Store launch. The second medical app is from MIMvista.

-Next -- MLB.com. The app shows today's games with live, detailed scoring. It also includes real-time video highlights, which are delivered right after the play -- not the game. It will be included in the launch of the App Store. Next -- Modality.


-Band includes a virtual piano, drums, 12-bar blues "instrument", and a bass. All of the instruments sound very impressive and what you play can be recorded.



-Both games will be on the App Store at launch for $9.99 each. Next -- Band, written by an independent developer from the UK.


-Next -- Pangea Software. They have ported 2 games to the iPhone. The first game is Enigmo, which is a physics-based game. Makes advanced use of the touch controls as well as the CPU. The second game is Cro-Mag Rally, which is a 3D racing game -- the iPhone itself is the steering wheel.

-They call it the Mobile News Network, and it gathers content from many trusted sources. It makes use of the location API by automatically showing nearby sources. Allows news video and photos to be viewed directly through the app. You can even report on news yourself by sending a first-hand report that includes photos and text. The app will be free at the launch of the App Store.

-The app will also be available for free at the launch of the App Store. Next up -- AP (Associated Press).



-Next -- TypePad. Their native app makes it very simple to blog or send in a photo. The photo can be taken right then using the camera, or be selected from the gallery.

-User profiles show a log of where the person has been and the photos they've sent in. It's easy to call or text them as well. Works with Loopt users on other platforms and will be available for free at the launch of the App Store.

-Next -- Loopt, a location-aware social network. The app displays a map with pins representing where your friends currently are.

-The app's main screen allows you to quickly view the auctions you've listed, have bid on, or have been out-bid on. Also includes a custom photo viewer.

-Next up -- eBay. Demonstrating Auctions on the iPhone that began development just 5 weeks ago. Incorporates much of the typical eBay functionality.
-Available at the launch of the App Store for $9.99.




-Sega is first up -- showing Super Monkey Ball again, but now with over 100 levels. Playing through the last world, which demonstrates how well the tilt-control work


-Inviting a number of developers on stage to demo their apps.

-The demo has concluded. Scott is now reading quotes from various developers discussing how great a development platform it is.

-He hooked up the controls to the API and redisplayed it in the simulator showing off the functionality. The application was then loaded onto his actual iPhone, where he is showing how it actually works on the phone. Within 10 minutes, he had created this fully functional, location-based application.

-Interface Builder keeps the orientation of the iPhone in mind and rearranges the controls appropriately. He is now displaying the app through the simulator, which now has the appropriate UI.
-He is displaying how easy it is to create a UI by dragging in interface elements and combining them.
-Uses the built-in Address Book API to access contacts as well as the Core Location API. The application will show contacts within a 10 mile radius
-Demo -- showing how to construct a UI in Interface Builder. Creating a basic Cocoa Touch application called Nearby Friends.
-Cocoa Touch makes creating great UIs a breeze. Talking now about the development tools -- xCode, Interface Builder, the iPhone simulator, and Instruments.

Core Services includes everything from a complete database layer to core location, for easily building location-based functionality into applications. Also a very fast implementation of OpenGL.

They are talking now about the SDK and the iPhone OS New features include searching for contacts as you type. CTOs of various companies discussing interest and usage in iPhone 2.0 from their employees. Higher-education has participated too. Showing a video of enterprise and higher-education use of iPhone 2.0. The enterprise world has participated in the beta program. 35% of Fortune 500 companies have participated.

Starting with enterprise. Exchange support out of the box -- push email / contacts / calendars, auto-
discovery, global address book, remote wipe.

	3 parts to iPhone 2.0 -- Enterprise, SDK, and new end-user features.
	4,000 people have been in the beta program.
	Talking about iPhone 2.0. In the first 95 days of the SDK being available, over 250k people have downloaded it.
	After lunch, Bertrand Serlet will be giving us a peak of the new OS X -- Snow Leopard.

Tags:Technology, Apple, iPhone

www.iphoneblog.com does a special report of the Blackberry Bold soon to be released by RIM, and the first gen iPhone. Although not completed the Bold does a decent job of competing with the iPhone sans touch screen. With the expected release of the iPhone 2 or the iPhone 3G as it is being called, there is no telling what the real setback is going to be for all smartphones.
Read More for video.

Tags:Technology, iPhone

Episode Zero for the Lounge Magazine from Carlos Phoenix on Vimeo.

Other download versions:
iPhone - Apple TV - Cellular iPhone - Cell Phone

Tags:Apple, iPhone, iPod, iPod, iPhone, Apple.

The movie will be a modern telling of the "G.I. Joe vs. Cobra" storyline and its compelling characters that Hasbro created 25 years ago. The premise of this fantasy is the story of the G.I. Joe team, led by Duke, and their "fight for freedom wherever there is trouble" against the evil Cobra Commander and his Cobra force.


This storyline was an instant hit with kids in the early 1980s, spawning a highly popular 3-3/4-inch action figure line, comic book collection and animated series. The G.I. Joe team will not be based in Brussels. Instead, they will be based out of the "Pit" as they were throughout the 1980s comic book series. And, in keeping with the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra fantasy, the movie will feature characters and locations from around the world. Duke, the lead character and head of the G.I. Joe team, will embody the values of bravery and heroism that the first generation of G.I. Joe figures established.

Actual Article

Tags:Films

Our friend George (Lucas) has been working on making the new generation of Star Wars fans happy. He is continuing his world of Star Wars, by releasing yet another Star Wars related feature "the Clone Wars". The feature film and animated series fill the gaps between Episodes II and III, and will be done in a 3d animated version of the short series that appeared on the cartoon network related to the clones or the Star Wars movies.

In one clip, which begins with two Jedi carriers departing from a larger Republic starship. Inside one of them, Anakin briefs his young liege Ahsoka on the upcoming battle, telling his young apprentice to stay close because it isn't practice although she's very cocky and self-assured, snapping back that she'll try not get him killed. The battle scene is quite impressive as we get to see Ahsoka in action against a large armored vehicle that's able to climb up a vertical cliff-face, followed by a scene of Count Dooku relaying his plans to his own dark apprentice Asajj Ventress via the normal Jedi hologram communication, their plans interrupted by the entrance of Ben Kenobi, leading to a short lightsaber fight between them, Ventress disarming Kenobi with her advantage of two lightsabers to his one. The animation looked somewhat primitive compared to what else is out there with the characters not being as detailed as some might like, but the battle sequences are still very exciting and impressive. (comingsoon.net)

In an interview Lucas mentions that the film will not crossover from the experimental cartoon network series but will have an anime feel to it. The TV series is designed to go 5 to 6 years and it has been production for 3 years. One years worth is ready with the second year nearing completion and third year already written. But wait there is more. A live action series is also in the works for television, set for 2010! One thing Mr. Lucas points out is that the series are not episodic, so it should follow a short story feel that Lucas is known for when doing Young Indiana Jones. There is a background world but. we experience pieces of time.


One of the most important questions asked by Comingsoon.net was:
"CS: Do you think you'd have other people continue the "Star Wars" saga past "Episode VI" or turn some of the other material into films?
Lucas: But there's no story past "Episode VI", there's just no story. It's a certain story about Anakin Skywalker and once Anakin Skywalker dies, that's kind of the end of the story. There is no story about Luke Skywalker, I mean apart from the books. But there's three worlds: There's my world that I made up, there's the licensing world that's the books, the comics, all that kind of stuff, the games, which is their world, and then there's the fans' world, which is also very rich in imagination, but they don't always mesh. All I'm in charge of is my world. I can't be in charge of those other people's world, because I can't keep up with it. "

It should be exciting to see the wars that were mentioned and briefly shown in the original films, now get the full attention of stories ala "Band of Brothers". Movie releases in mid August and TV show opens in the fall of 2008.


starwars Sneak Peak

Tags:Films

Yesterday Apple reintroduced the iPhone. How? By showing all of us that it is not a phone, nor smartphone. It is a miniature computing/ communications device. They showed us some skin by flashing us some insight to what is inside the OS of the phone, in the end it was understood that the iPhone is really more like a thinned out full OS, making it like the Macbook AIR for the pocket.
Apple turned over the SDK for software developers, to unleash havoc in the cellular work and relief to the business world.
For starters, the licensed the active sync protocol for Outlook exchange capabilities. What does that mean for business? Well syncing with the office is more like it, your email gets pushed to your phone like the blackberry, your contacts are synced across the U.S. even as your secretary is adding numbers to your contact list in the office computer, it shows up instantly on your cell, so you have the latest info. A new meeting? Your secretary adds it to your office computer (with Outlook) and you corporate Exchange server sends the latest calendar info to your phone instantly.

Software: Um what can i say? 3D gaming, and robust apps have access to some of the latest technologies Apple has to offer. Apple has added SQLite to handle database type apps which will offer some heavy duty capabilities. Apple also has permitted access for the applications to the camera, address book, calendar, and wireless features to that anyone can create applications that can do all sorts of fun or serious things. For example, Apple demonstrated the ability to play games by using movement of the phone with its accelerometer, and 3D like sound so if you are playing a game with headphones you can hear when something is behind you without needing 5.1 surround. The question is weather you can use the video output to watch the game you are playing on an HD screen?

This will be a phone game changer, with near laptop capabilities for the traveler ( like the macbook Air) Apple is introducing a new way people interact with technology. It will take years for any mobile phone manufacturer who have been making "iPhone killers" to out maneuver this move by Apple.

All I can say is with the combination of Business apps, and network capabilities, and mobile entertainment, (games, movie rentals, podcasts) which for the first time , can connect you to your office and home in ways that no one has ever thought of.
Sit back and enjoy the revolution.

Tags:Technology, iPhone, Apple

After it has been proved that Comcast have been short changing users of BitTorrent from having the full speeds that customers have been paying for, the cable internet company decided to make it official by burying in their fine print riddled Terms of Service agreement. According to Ars technica, a representative from the company stats that this is the first change in two years.


After it was found that Comcast practices of limiting internet speeds to customers there was a class-action lawsuit by an angry customer. The FCC has been getting its own earful complaints, and according to Ars Technicas report , "Comcast has denied throttling BitTorrent traffic, saying that the ISP just "delays" or "postpones" it on occasion. One analogy used by a Comcast executive was that of trying to make a phone call and getting a busy signal for a time, until the call actually goes through. A more accurate explanation of Comcast's use of TCP reset packets, to build on the phone analogy, would be talking on the phone with someone and then both of you hearing the other's voice saying "hang up." That's the effect of the forged reset packets: convincing the BitTorrent clients that the other(s) have stopped responding."

Our Take: Comcast is just one of the companies playing consumers. Many do not know that there is a quiet battle being made again by the big companies ( like recording labels (wanting to control music prices and distribution), oil companies( deterring the electric car), Walmart (forcing companies to use China for manufacturing nearly anything it sells), to name a few) to control internet traffic and wanting to change the pricing rules to customers. For example the idea of tiers for the amount of internet access you want. Kind of like how many minutes you want for your cell phone, but with bytes. How much internet do you want to download. Now if that happens, it can hamper the way the internet is merging with our lives.
Soon video online will be mainstream, renting movies online, tv on demand, streaming music, podcasts ( online ham radio like shows), video podcasts etc... can potentially be next on the Comcast agenda. The more internet you desire, the more you pay, and if it goes beyond a certain amount the can cut you off.

Companies like Verizon are known for limiting their unlimited plans if they feel you are abusing access. We are in a world where we make calls now using the internet, entire new industries are reliant on the access you have. Who should be permitted to limit that? The companies? Google? Yahoo? The Government? Who really controls the internet? Have we become to reliant to this online abyss? Phones are now internet compliant, soon TV's will stream video using ethernet or wifi, cars will have internet access, we are literally in the beginning stages of being an internet based zombie society and we don't even pay attention to how, who nor why.

Pay attention people, we can loose control like we have with fuel, and the constitution. Let me know what you think.

Tags:Internet, Technology

By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan apartment, and police said drugs may have been a factor. The Australian-born actor was 28. Police said Ledger was naked in his bed with an unknown number of sleeping pills near the body.

Ledger had an appointment for a massage at a residence in the tony SoHo neighborhood, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. A housekeeper who went to let him know the massage therapist had arrived found him dead at 3:26 p.m.
A large crowd of paparazzi and gawkers began gathering Tuesday evening outside the building on an upscale block, where several police officers guarded the door. The medical examiner's office planned an autopsy on Wednesday, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.
More at Yahoo News.

Tags:Films

JJ Abrams, has marketed his latest film using every trick of the entertainment and marketing 2.0 world. Starting with using handheld prosumer cameras to film the entire film ( Video) to creating multiple fake sites of corporations (as well as corporate protesters ) that secretly give back story to the film "Cloverfield") then making them closedown as if the gov't closed them as an act of terrorism, creating a artificial soft drink that began its history on "Alias" and making the company that makes the drink come to life online and secretly link it to the main backstory of the monster (SLUSHO).


Also doing a Japanese comic, releasing videos that look like news coverage of disasters in the ocean (caused by the Cloverfield monster) in every language thinkable. Even the strange site we thought was the original "Cloverfield" site which showed photos from the film among other things, http://www.1-18-08.com/. JJ Abrams clearly knew what he was doing.
Geeksofdoom explains:
" Well, as it turns out, main character Rob revealed a few weeks ago on his MySpace Blog that the job he’s taking in Japan is as the V.P. of Marketing and Promotions for Slusho. Slusho happens to be owned by Tagruato and the company’s CEO Ganu Yoshida was planning a trip to NYC to meet with the owner of BevVo, the largest privatized water manufacturer in the world, to discuss distributing Slusho through pre-established public waterways and to tour potential Slusho manufacturing plants in the United States.
T.I.D.O. is against Tagruato because they claim that Tagruato’s research and practices are destroying our oceans, which would be the cause for T.I.D.O.’s alleged guerilla tactics.

Now, how does this involve the monster? A recently released Japanese online manga tie-in (said to be the first issue of four) (ENGLISH TRANSLATED VERSION)follows the story of Kishin, a Japanese boy who, along with his mother, has something to do with the monster. Simultaneously, we’re shown a cargo ship at sea pulling something chained to the back; we don’t seen exactly what’s being pulled until the last panel when a pair eyes emerges from the water. The ship bears the Targuato logo.
So, that ship could be pulling the “Coverfield” monster OR possibly its mother. According to the film’s production notes, Abrams claims that “Clover” is a baby who’s been “down there in the water for thousands and thousands of years.” In the film, it’s insinuated that the confused, frightened monster sprung up from New York Harbor (hence, its first target, The Statue of Liberty) where it either overturned an oil tanker or was disturbed by a capsized oiler tank. According to Cloverfield News, the oil tanker looks like it too bears the Targuato logo.
According to FSR, director Matt Reeves revealed to them that in the final scene with Rob and Beth on the ferris wheel at Coney Island a month before the monster attack, something can be seen splashing into the water behind them. (The clue was to “Watch the skies, my friends. Watch the skies. &rdquo. Speculation is that this was the monster either falling into the water, or just splashing around in it. (See image just below at right of the splash in the water.)

But, if the monster was down in the water for thousands of years already, how could it have fallen from the sky? Another theory is that it could be the rogue piece that recently fell off the Japanese government’s “ChimpanzIII” satellite. Why? Because according to the Tagruato Web site, coincidentally, Tagruato scientists and engineers are working on tracking down the missing piece which disappeared into the Atlantic Ocean (the Targuato site is currently “down for maintenance&rdquo. Perhaps the fallen satellite is what disturbed the monster’s slumber. Also, according to Cloverfield Ending Credits, the main ingredient for Slusho is found at the satellite deep ocean dropzone and that while searching for satellite and ingredients, Targuato woke the Cloverfield monster. The main ingredient of Slusho apparently has the power to turn a tiny fish into a huge whale (explains the monster’s size) and since deep sea creatures naturally have very high heat resistance, this is why the monster was unaffected by the military bomb attacks.
Whatever the cause, the skyscraper-sized monster is awake now and seemly impervious to military assaults. The filmmakers realized that because of the monster’s size and strength, there’d be no way for the human characters to have intimate contact and combat with it. That’s where all those smaller spider/crab-like parasites come in. If the monster started out as a baby with maybe microscopic parasites on it, it would make sense that if the monster grew to a much larger size, so would the parasites. Apparently, once the monster tore into the city, it was able to remove these pests from its body by rubbing its back against a building, thereby setting the fast-paced and now very vicious parasites free to ravage the citizens of New York City.

And here’s where we get into the super-unknown territory. While we know that the monster is just scared and hungry, chomping away on the tiny little humans, what we don’t know is what the parasites are out for. Typically, a parasite will attach itself and live off a larger organism. In the film, the parasites are smaller than the humans and are attacking by biting. Perhaps they are just blood-sucking parasites? There’s no evidence that they enter the human bodies and take over their new host. Either way, the affects of their attack on the humans is unexplained. Soon after Marlena, one of the main characters, is bitten, she begins bleeding from the eyes and then it seems like her stomach explodes (the audience doesn’t get to see this up close, since Marlena is behind a tarp when this happens and only the outline of her body is shown).

Why don’t we see the gore? In case you didn’t know, Cloverfield is filmed from the perspective of Hud, Rob’s best friend, who was tasked with the recording of Rob’s going-away party. It’s Hud, who, armed with a handycam, captures the Statue of Liberty’s head crashing onto the street in front of their building. From there, Hud and Rob, along with their friends Marlena, Lily, and James, attempt to cross the Brooklyn Bridge during a mandatory evacuation of New York City. Rob then receives a phone call from the woman he loves, Beth, who’s injured and trapped in her apartment in midtown — the opposite direction of the evacuation route. That’s when the group decides to turn back to rescue Beth. Their journey — interspersed with footage of the monster’s rampaging — is all captured by Hud’s shaky video camera work, which is why certain aspects of the film are left to the audience’s imagination.
Where does Coney Island come in? Rob’s brother James took Rob’s video camera to use at the party, but never put in a new tape. (Why Rob would have a camera that still requires tape is quite interesting, considering the camera seems to have a very high battery life as well as night vision of all things!) Hud was inadvertently recording over footage taken a month prior when Rob and Beth spent the day together. (Rob had always been in love with Beth, but they had been “just friends” until that day when, unbeknownst to their friends, they slept together, then spent the next day having fun in Coney Island). This is why the old footage of Rob and Beth will periodically appear on screen and why the movie ends with the couple on the ferris wheel.
What happened to the monster, the parasites, and the rest of the city? Reports from movie-goers are that if you stay until the movie’s end credits, you can hear someone say “Help us.” This could mean that Rob and Beth, who at the end were trapped under a bridge in Central Park after the military bombed it, could still be alive. Also, it’s said that if you play the audio backward, you can hear someone say, “It’s still alive,” which could mean that the Cloverfield monster is still alive.
As far as the humans go, even if Rob and Beth didn’t survive, Lily was evacuated by military helicopter and last we saw, she survived. We know from the beginning of the movie that the reason we’re seeing this film is because some time after the attack the tape was retrieved. But, we also know that the morning after the attack, the military was going to destroy NYC if they couldn’t defeat the monster. Since the bridge in Central Park where Rob and Beth were hiding under gets bombed by the military that morning, it can be assumed that Manhattan is destroyed. OR, perhaps, since the monster conveniently showed up in Central Park, maybe the military was able to kill the monster and maybe even save Rob and Beth.

Judging by the tape’s survival and the new pictures that were posted on the film’s official site, either the monster was defeated or it gave up the attack and left the city. (I think it’s the latter.) One photo from the site shows a man in a small boat floating in bloodied water; another shows the bloody, bitten into carcass of a whale or some other sea creature. (See the images here after left; click for larger view.)
So, with a film this successful, what about the inevitable sequel? B-D spoke with director Matt Reeves, who said, “Only time will tell. While we were on set making the film we talked about the possibilities and directions of how a sequel can go. The fun of this movie was that it might not have been the only movie being made that night, there might be another movie! In today’s day and age of people filming their lives on their iphones and handy cams, uploading it to youtube…That was kind of exciting thinking about that.” So, if there’s a sequel, it might be chronicling the same events, but through the lens of another person’s perspective.
It’s obvious, though, that this is not the last we’ve seen of Cloverfield."

Here is Mr. Abrams in an interview about how this all came to be.