In early October HP spilled the beans on the Palm Pre successor, and this week they’ve made it so you can purchase it. Feel free to order the webOS 2.0-powered Pre 2 at HP’s online store for $449.99. Why so expensive? Because HP’s selling it GSM unlocked; in other words, it’s not tied to a single carrier.
[Via BGR]
Director/producer/actor Eli Roth wants to return to his torture porn roots (Hostel, Hostel Part II). Though Roth had previously told Deadline.com’s Nikke Finke that he was ready to move from such gruesome tales, today he flipped-flopped and exclusively reported to Deadline that “old habits die hard.”
Clown is an upcoming horror flick Roth will likely serve as a producer on. Partners Jon Watts and Christopher D. Ford are set to direct and pen the script, respectively. Watts and Ford created a “mock trailer” for the movie which found its way onto YouTube and captured over 100,000 hits in a month and more importantly Roth’s attention. The concept is simple yet killer. When his son’s sixth birthday is looking gloom since the clown-for-hire doesn’t show up, a father puts on a clown suit that transforms him into a homicidal killer. The mock trailer is embedded above and it’s super creepy and I’m pretty stoked about it. Roth talked Cross Creek Pictures and Vertebra Films into financing a feature transfer.
Says Roth on Clown: “It’s new territory to make this a version of The Fly, where this guy can feel himself changing, blacking out only to find blood all over his clown suit. You’re sympathetic toward a monster until the monster actually takes over.” He continued to tell Deadline, “With horror, you have to live in the danger zone. People are hungry for the next Freddy Krueger, Michael Meyers or Jason Voorhees, and while that has to be earned, we think this cursed clown suit can do it. I am giving us permission to go as hard at this as possible. I know I said I was moving away from horror, but old habits die hard. You think you’re over certain kinds of music and then you hear a Dead Kennedys song and say, ‘Why did I stop listening, I love the Dead Kennedys.'”
Roth also has Aftershock, a thriller based on the aftermath of the February 27, 2010 Chilean earthquake, and a sci-fi flick Endangered Species waiting in the wings for theatrical releases. No word on when Clown will hit theatres, but I look forward to the real trailer to arrive.
[Via Deadline]
Hot off the heels of a stellar sequel, Paranormal Activity creator Oren Peli spilled the release date of the next movie in the series. Paramount confirms October 21, 2011 is the day. The original had a production budget set at $15,000 and generated nearly $197 million. The sequel’s budget was upped to $3 million following the original’s success, and so far it has generated a worldwide gross of around $157 million–and it’s still in theatres. Greenlighting a three-quel is a no-brainer. And with the Saw franchise (supposedly) out of the way, nothing’s stopping PA from raking in the cash next Halloween. That is, of course, if Hollywood doesn’t find a worthy horror flick to pit against it.
[Via ComingSoon; TheNumbers, here & here]
Hulu Plus has already been exhaustively detailed, so let’s get right to the good stuff. For the last four months Hulu has been testing the waters with the $9.99/month subscription based service in a preview period. Today the streaming service finally officially launched Hulu Plus to the masses. And at the same time they lowered the monthly fee to $7.99. Score! They say, “Any users who subscribed during the preview period will also receive a credit for the difference from the $9.99 preview price to be applied automatically to their next billing cycle.” So that’s been sorted out nicely. In tandem with the launch and price drop, Hulu Plus will now be accessible on Roku boxes. Check out the official PR after the break to see a list of all other Hulu Plus supported devices. All new subscribers to Hulu Plus receive a 1-week free trial–get started here.
[Via Hulu; Engadget] Continue reading Hulu Plus officially launches, drops price to $7.99/month and adds Roku support
Sony is really doing a splendid job at racking up the movies selection for its PlayStation 3 users. After making deals to bring television and movie content from Netflix and Hulu Plus, come November 23 PS3 owners will have access to VUDU’s on-demand movie service which includes more than 4,000 HD movies for all major Hollywood studios, including new releases available the same day they are released to DVD. VUDU supports 1080p HD and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound streaming, which is a big plus. VUDU plans to release a UI revision in mid-December, and it will bring a more streamlined user experience, intuitive structure, and support for next-generation motion-based input devices including the PlayStation Move controller. VUDU offers $2 for a two night rentals and new customers will receive a $5.99 credit; that’ll get you a ticket for one free HD streaming movie. Sony and VUDU official PR sits after the break. Catch a peek of VUDU on PS3 in the gallery below.
[Via Engadget]
Continue reading VUDU on-demand movie service coming to PS3 November 23
This week Twitter introduced a neat new feature for mobile users: push notifications for @mentions. Whenever you are mentioned in the Twittersphere you can make it so that you receive a text message or push notification from the Twitter app so that you’re instantly notified about it. The push notification part only works with the latest version of Twitter for iPhone, for now. Twitter is also bringing push notifications for Messages to Twitter for iPhone, a feature that Blackberry users have already been privy to. To enable these new notifications, tweak your settings at twitter.com/devices. Twitter says they’re working on bringing these new slate of features to Android and Windows Phone 7 users soon.
[Via TwitterBlog]
This week proved to be a busy one for the G-Men who’ve been hard at work making new and exciting things for us to play with on our desktops and mobile devices. There’s much to discuss, so let’s dive right in.
Hotpot: Google calls Hotpot “a local recommendation engine powered by you and your friends.” It’s essentially Google’s version of Yelp. You can search the over 50 million places Google has data about and rate the places you’ve visited using a five-star system. When you give a location a positive review, Hotpot will recommend other places to you that are similar to place you visited. For example, if you give a seafood restaurant a five-star rating, Hotpot will show you other similarly themed restaurants in your city that you’ll likely enjoy. You can also share your places rating with friends and see the places they’ve recommended using Hotpot. Using a Google account you can access the Hotpot rating app to get started. You can rate places, invite friends to the service, and view their recommendation on the desktop in Google Maps using that app, and you can rate on-the-go using the Maps app on Android devices.
Boutiques: The team at Like.com are now Google employees, and together with the search giant they have created Boutiques.com, “a personalized shopping experience that lets you find and discover fashion goods.” An odd niche website for Google to invent but hey–they’re Google and they can do what they want. Though the algorithms behind the site are likely complex, the way it works is pretty simple. You can build your own personalized boutique and get recommendations of products that match your taste, or you can browse through curated boutiques and take style cues from celebrities, stylists, designers, and fashion bloggers. The site layout is fresh and simplistic, and advanced search filters are present to help you sort though everything from shoes to clothes and handbags. There’s even iPad app available to access Boutiques in tablet form. Ladies, have at it.
Docs: You’ve been able to access Google Docs on various mobile platforms for some time now, but today Google announced that users will have the ability to edit their documents on a mobile device. Head over to docs.google.com on a supported phone (these include Android with Froyo (2.2) and iOS devices with v3.0 or higher, including the iPad) to begin a mobile edit session. You’ll notice a new “edit” button in the top right corner. Edits appear in “near realtime” between mobile devices and the desktop. And if you’ve got an Android-powered phone, you can enter text using your voice. Google’s rolling out this new feature to English-language users “in the next few days” so look out for it! Video demo here.
Voice: A native Google Voice app is finally available for iPhone users. In addition to all the GV features you already know about, the new app brings push notifications (the app will alert you instantly when you receive a new voicemail or text message) and speedy phone call connections. If you’ve got an iPhone running iOS 3.1 or later, click here to download the app. For now, this is a U.S.-only offering.
Yeah, you read that right people. A Dr. Dre single has landed on the Internet. Detox, the follow up to 2001’s The Chronic 2001, was put on the back burner when Dre decided to help out fellow rappers in the studio as producer. But now it’s starting to look like things might just be moving forward with the creation and dissemination of this vapor-album. Today a single called “Kush” hit the ‘Net and it features Dre, Akon, and D-o-double-g rapping on top of a thumping base line that should get your blood pumping. The verse material is all about the marijuana, and in a radio interview Dre wanted to dispel rumors that Detox is only going to be about this particular drug. “[The single is] about weed smoking and I don’t want people to think that’s what my album’s about,” he said. “This is actually the only song with that type of content in it. But it seems that everybody likes it. So we’re going to go ahead and push with it.” Dre did not intend for “Kush” to release as a single, but the current crop of positive feedback is making him think twice about it. Official single or not, you need to take a listen and add this song to your playlist right now. I’m not gonna scream Dre is back just yet, but I have a feeling that expected early 2011 release date is certainly on the horizon.
[audio: Dr. Dre – Kush (Featuring Akon & Snoop Dogg).mp3]
T.I. just can’t catch a break these days. Shortly after being released from prison on weapons charges, he was sent back to the doghouse for drug charges. The King is not longer Uncaged, so the rapper decided to rename his seventh studio record No Mercy. The tracklist includes some great featured artists including Kanye West & Kid Cudi on the opener “Welcome to the World”, Drake, Eminem, and Pharrell.
1. Welcome To The World (Feat. Kanye West & Kid Cudi)
2. How Life Changed (Feat. Mitchelle’l & Scarface)
3. Get Back Up (Feat. Chris Brown)
4. I Can’t Help It (Feat. Rocko)
5. That’s All She Wrote (Feat. Eminem)
6. No Mercy (Feat. The-Dream)
7. Big Picture
8. Strip (Feat. Young Dro & Trey Songz)
9. Salute
10. Amazing (Feat. Pharrell)
11. Everything On Me
12. Poppin Bottles (Feat. Drake)
13. Lay Me Down
14. Castle Walls (Feat. Christina Aguilera)
Though he’ll be behind bars when it drops, you can expect No Mercy to hit stores December 7.
[Via HipHipDX]
Kid Cudi’s sophomore record Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager had a terrific first week in sales. It sold 176,298 copies in just seven days! Feel free to compare this to sales from last years debut; MOTM: The End of Day sold 104,000 copies. Cudder’s heading in the right direction, that’s for sure. And here’s a awesome stat for yah: 26,000 copies were preordered on iTunes, making this album one of the fastest selling records for Universal Music before it even released! Speaking of iTunes, 55,000 copies of the album were purchased on iTunes on day one. Quite impressive, young Mescudi. If you haven’t got your paws on this runaway hit, only lord knows what you’re waiting for.
[Via DatNewCudi]
After years of legal disputes, including trademark infringements, originating in the ’70s (it was Apple Corps. vs Apple Computer), the band and the tech company decided to make peace in 2007, and just three years later the two are able to celebrate with the release of the entire Beatles music catalog on iTunes.
Apple threw up a teaser page last night that said, “Tomorrow is just another day. That you’ll never forget.” This morning at 10AM ET the teaser disappeared to reveal an image of the Fab Four and it reads, “The Beatles. Now on iTunes.” iTunes now offers the band’s 13 studio albums, ranging from Please Please Me (1963) to Let It Be (1970). Each remastered album comes with their respective tracks, a mini-documentary, and iTunes LP content (which includes liner notes and photos); they priced at $12.99 and individual tracks go for the standard $1.29. The mini-documentaries are “album only” purchases.
In addition to the 13 studio albums, iTunes also offers Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2, the 1988 release that bundles 33 Beatles songs that were not included on the original U.K. albums. The store also sells The Beatles (1962-1966) collection known as “The Red Album”; it includes 26 popular Beatles songs ranging from their debut up until the release of Revolver. The Beatles (1967-1970) or “The Blue Album” includes 28 popular Beatles songs from their later years. The “Red” & “Blue” albums released simultaneously in 1973, three years after the band broke up. Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2 and the “Red” & “Blue” albums cost $19.99 each; like their studio album counterparts they come with iTunes LP content.
And finally there’s the Beatles-iTunes motherload. For $149 you can make your life easy and purchase The Beatles Box Set which includes all 13 studio albums, Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2, and a video of the band’s first U.S. concert–the 1964 show at Washington Coliseum. The box set comes with every mini-documentary from the individual albums, as well as a ton of iTunes LP content.
That about sums it up. The Beatles are on iTunes. Boom. Besides adding all this amazing content to iTunes, Apple has put together a new ad campaign featuring Beatles songs and black-and-white photos. Head over to Apple’s new Beatles page to watch all five ads. There you’ll also find a link to watch the 1964 show at Washington Coliseum; the 41 minute concert (which is a “worldwide iTunes exclusive”) will be available to stream for free on the site for the remainder of the year.
Look after the break for the official PR. In it Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the two remaining Beatles Ringo and Paul, Yoko Ono Lennon, Olivia Harrison, and EMI Group CEO Roger Faxon share their excitement and relief that the Beatles collection has finally arrived on iTunes.
I happened to purchase the physical Beatles box set when it released in limited quantities last year, but I’m glad the entire collection is available in the world’s largest online retailer of music. The ease of previewing and downloading tracks will give newcomers a healthy dose of some of the greatest music ever produced. With The Beatles: Rock Band and Beatles music on iTunes, the current generation of young people is pretty much golden.
[Via Apple; iTunes] Continue reading The Beatles has arrived on iTunes
Parks and Rec is coming, Parks and Rec is coming! Sorry, I can hardly contain my excitement for the return of Leslie Knope and the entire Pawnee gang. Today NBC announced its midseason schedule, which includes the return of The Biggest Loser, Minute to Win It, Parks and Recreation, and The Marriage Ref and Who Do You Think You Are?, four series premieres (The Cape, Harry’s Law, Perfect Couples, America’s Next Great Restaurant), and some program shuffling. The biggest shakeup? Starting January 20 NBC’s Thursday night comedy lineup will include six–count ’em–six comedies in the extended 8PM to 11PM block. It’s the first time since the 1991-92 season that NBC is pulling such a stunt. The lineup includes Community, Perfect Couples, The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, and Outsourced. Other scheduling shifts: Parenthood moves to Monday, Law & Order: Los Angeles to Tuesday, Chase to Wednesday, and Law & Order: SVU to 10PM on Wednesday. In related news, NBC renewed 30 Rock for a sixth season. Jump after the break to review the full sched. Click here to preview the new NBC shows.
[Via Deadline] Continue reading NBC announces midseason schedule