Category Archives: News

Stewart & Colbert extend contracts with Comedy Central

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Jon Stewart of The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report aren’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future.  Both political satirists have extended their contracts with Comedy Central, making the network their home for at least the next few years.  Stewart, who became the host of The Daily Show in 1999, will stick with it at least until June 2013 and Cobert will man his position through 2012.  Staying with cable instead of jumping to the big networks makes sense for the dynamic duo; the cable environment allows for more creative freedom and less restriction on lambasting politicians and celebrities alike.  Something Conan is fervently looking forward to, I’m sure of it.

[Via IGN]

The Guild issue #2 is out now

Comics, News, Web Series,

Web series-turned-comic book The Guild is back with issue numero dos today.  Go ahead and preview it at Dark Horse Comics.  You can buy it there for $3.50.  Missed out on issue #1?  Download it from the App Store for a mere 99 cents here!  Here’s the synopsis for the latest issue:

Since discovering role-playing games, Cyd Sherman spends more and more time in-game as the healer Codex. As her boyfriend ignores her in favor of his fledgling band and her therapist questions whether or not she has “real” friends, Cyd decides to form her own group within the game after meeting Clara, who teaches her about reputation points, and Zaboo, who introduces her to “friending” within the game.

[Via ComicsAlliance]

Kid Cudi decides to make next album a sequel, changes its title

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Cudder and the Revolution of Evolution is no more.  Sadly.  What an awesome title, right?  In an unsurprising move, rapper Kid Cudi recently had a change of heart and decided to take a whole new direction with the album.  It will be called Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager.  He made the announcement on his blog:

i started making this project like a collab album, filled with fun and upbeat records that for the most part left you with jack shit when you were finished listening. i took a step back, went on tour, and realized im where im at because of the type of songs i write. every time i read a comment from someone saying ive touched their lives in some way is what made me want to stop fucking around and continue pouring my life into my music.  MOTM2 is dark by nature and instead of bringing you into my dreams like my first album, im bringing you into my reality.  good and bad. it will explain more of who iam aswell as pushing the envelope musically. this project will focus on many dark, fun, and ignorant moments in my life since ive been kid cudi in a exciting and cinematic nature continuing the MOTM theme.

Right off the bat, I’m not diggin’ the name change since the first title was so awesome; it just rolls off the tongue, you know?  Hopefully he’ll save it for album #3.  Anyway, making his sophomore album a sequel to Man on the Moon makes sense due to its content.  The first album brought us inside Cudi’s dreams and nightmares.  MOTM2 will venture us into his “reality.”  If it’s anything like the first go-around, which it promises to exceed, expect greatness.

[Via DatNewCudi; KidCudiBlog]

Apple reports 2010 Q2 earnings: $3.07b profit, Macs up 33%, iPods down 1%, iPhones up 131%

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As another quarter of the year flies by, Apple posts its positive earnings.  Check it: Apple posted revenue of $3.07 billion profit on $13.5 billion in revenue.  (Compare this to one year ago, Apple posted revenue of $9.08 billion on $1.62 billion in revenue.)  Says Steve Jobs: “We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever, with revenues up 49 percent and profits up 90 percent.”

Here’s a breakdown of each product category.  Apple sold 2.94 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 8.75 million iPhones (representing a 131 percent unit growth); 10.89 million iPods (representing a 1 percent unit decline).  Since the iPad was just released into the market, it’s too early to tally those numbers.  But overall, Apple has done it yet again!  Money in the bank, ya’ll.  Jobs looks to the future: “We’ve launched our revolutionary new iPad and users are loving it, and we have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year.”  Cough–iPhone 4–cough.

The stock market responded graciously to the earnings announcement.  Apple stock (APPL) closed at an all-time high of 259.22, jumping nearly six percent from the previous day.

[Via Apple]

The next iPhone is leaked into the wild

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The fellas at Gizmodo have got their hands on the fourth-generation iPhone, confirming Engadget’s initial report on the device being leaked into the wild.  The new iPhone is thinner and a bit heavier than its 3GS predecessor (it measures 4.50 by 2.31 by 0.37 inches and weighs 140 grams, three more than the 3GS) and everything is more squared off.  The aesthetics of the device go in a different direction with the new model.  The back is entirely flat and is composed of either glass or ceramic.  Also there’s an aluminium border that runs completely around the exterior.  The silent switch, power, and volume buttons are placed in their familiar positions but are now metallic.  Notice I said volume buttons; the single rocker has been replaced with two separate buttons for volume up and down.  Giz theorizes that this will likely result in one of the two buttons being designated as a shutter button for the camera.  The SIM slot is now a MicroSIM slot and its been moved from the bottom to the left side of the phone.  There’s also a second mic located at the top next to the headphone port, likely for noise cancellation purposes.  The display is slightly smaller than the 3GS’s, but its resolution is much greater.  Though Giz cannot determine its exact resolution, they would not be surprised if it sported a 960×640 screen that’s been sitting in the rumor box.  On the back there’s an upgraded camera with a larger lens plus flash.  On the front next to the earport there’s a *front-facing camera*.  Get ready for on-the-go video Skype calls!  Some other nuggets of information: its got a 16% larger battery and the internal components have been miniturized.

This prototype model of the next iPhone unfortunately cannot boot up iPhone OS 4.  That means there’s no way of finding out its storage capacity, how high-rez the screen actually is, and other secrets hidden within OS 4 built for this device (iChat, anyone?).  Do you need proof that this is the real deal?  Head over to Gizmodo and read their exhaustive breakdown for proof.  Until the final model is (likely) revealed this June at WWDC, bask in the photos and video (after the break) Giz has provided with the world.  iPhone HD, you are so close yet so far away…

[Via Gizmodo]

Continue reading The next iPhone is leaked into the wild →

All public Tweets will be archived at the Library of Congress & on Google

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Fellow Twitterers, your Tweets are about to become part of United States history.  On Wednesday Twitter announced it will be donating access to the entire archive of public Tweets to the Library of Congress “for preservation and research.”  Every 140-character public Tweet made since 2006 will find a home next to the Declaration of Independence.  According to Twitter founder Biz Stone, “only after a six-month delay can the Tweets will be used for internal library use, for non-commercial research, public display by the library itself, and preservation.”  Can you believe it?  A digital archive of Tweets.  Future tweens will get a glimpse into our world dominated by pop sensation Justin Bieber and they’ll think he was king.  All joking aside, Twitter has functioned as a virtual space where breaking news of births, deaths, tragedies, and triumphs have spread across the globe, and future generations will be able to see how we utilized social networking to quickly disseminate information and share experiences with one another.  Pretty profound if you ask me.

In related news, Stone announced a partnership with Google, introducing a new service called Google Replay.  Replay “lets you relive a real time search from specific moments in time” with Tweets.  In addition to viewing Tweets in an archived digital database at the Library of Congress, Replay is another “new way to revisit tweets related to historic events.”  Right now the service only goes back a few months, but Stone promises it will eventually be able to access Tweets since Twitter’s inception in 2006.  Google is rolling out the feature right now, and it will be made available globally within the next few weeks.  For now, Google Replay can be accessed here.  Try it out!  Search a specific keyword and experience how events relating to it unraveled in time with Tweets.

[Via TwitterBlog; GoogleBlog]

NASDAQ and CEA introduce a Smartphone Index

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This is an awesome sliver of news coming from the business world.  NASDAQ and the Consumer Electronics Association have teamed up to announce NASDAQ OMX CEA Smartphone Index.  The new index is comprised of 84 companies “that are primarily involved in the building, design and distribution of handsets, hardware, software, and mobile networks associated with the development, sale and usage of smartphones.”  The smartphone industry has certainly become an important and impactful industry as of late; receiving its own index in the stock market further cements its significance thus far in the world of technology.  Some of the companies in the index include Apple, Google, and Research in Motion (RIM).  It was given a starting value of 250.00 on April 12; today it currently sits at 257.14.

[Via MarketWatch; Engadget]

WarGames IMSAI 8080 for sale

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“Shall we play a game?”

That’s the eerie question this aged personal computer asked David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) in the classic 1983 film WarGames.  The IMSAI 8080 is the computer Broderick used to connect to the defense department’s W.O.P.R. supercomputer.  He thought he was playing a game about global thermonuclear war, but in reality he was bringing the world ever so close to nuclear devastation.  The IMSAI 8080 has been perfectly preserved since it was used as a prop in the movie.  Currently appraised at over $25,000 it is about to be sold on the market.  Whoever manages to win the Ferrari from Ferris Bueller should try to snag the IMSAI 8080 and create a next-generation KITT.  Wouldn’t that be something?  Check out a recent photograph of the device after the break.

[Via Imsai.net; Engadget]

Continue reading WarGames IMSAI 8080 for sale →

Eminem’s next album is not a sequel, it’s Recovery

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After a five year haiutus, Eminem dropped Relapse into the world.  And I liked it.  Shortly after its release Em let it be know that during the recording sessions with producer Dr. Dre they had created so much new content that all of it couldn’t fit on a single CD.  Thus began the talk of a Relapse 2, a sequel to the 2009 album that would contain the rest of the tracks that didn’t make it the first go-around.  The Em came out and said this: “I had originally planned for Relapse 2 to come out last year.  But as I kept recording and working with new producers, the idea of a sequel to Relapse started to make less and less sense to me, and I wanted to make a completely new album.  The music on Recovery came out very different from Relapse, and I think it deserves its own title.”  Relapse 2 is no more.  Recovery is due out June 22.  Producers include Just Blaze, DJ Khalil, Jim Jonsin, and Boi-1da.

Just Blaze hypes the album: “As far as what’s going on in Detroit, a lot of good music is being made. He’s really back spitting. The wordplay is crazy, the metaphors are crazy. He’s really back on his game. He had his ups, he had his downs, he’s back way, way, way up. This is definitely going to be up there with the best of his albums, for sure, for sure. The fact that he’s branched out working with a lot of different people now, collaborating in a lot of different ways that he never has before, I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people.”

[Via RapRadar; MTV News]

Droid welcomes new family member: Droid Incredible by HTC

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Say hello to Droid Incredible.  It joins the Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris on Verizon Wireless.  And it packs quite the punch: it’s powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, features a 3.7 inch WVGA (480×800) AMOLED capacitive touch display, its got an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, and it runs Android 2.1 with the latest HTC Sense overlay.  Besides that, you’ll find the usual suspects like GPS, 3G, WiFi, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.  It goes on sale with VZW on April 29 for $199.99, after a $100 mail-in rebate and a 2-year agreement.

Essentially the Droid Incredible is an updated version of the Nexus One, a phone that is currently only available for T-Mobile (but it’s supposedly come to Verizon later this month).  Its got the same processor but a better camera.  The significant difference lies in the software.  While both phones are 100% Android, the Droid Incredible’s got the HTC Sense UI built on top of it, allowing for a bit more UI customization.  If you’re a VZW customer, the Droid Incredible just became the best Android phone to get; that’s of course if you don’t mind the lack of a physical keyboard.  If that’s a necessity, the orignal Droid (which was recently upgraded to Android 2.1) is the one for you.  Full PR after the break.

[Via Engadget]

Continue reading Droid welcomes new family member: Droid Incredible by HTC →

Macbook Pros get a refresh: faster Intel processors, NVIDIA graphics

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On Tuesday Apple refreshed their Macbook Pro line, at long last.  The 15.4 inch and 17 inch models now have 2010 Intel processors; the 13 inch model is sticking with Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4GHz/2.53 GHz).  The 15.4 inch MBP can be puchased with a Core i5 (2.4 GHz/2.53 GHz) or Core i7 (2.66 GHz) processor, while the 17 inch MBP can be configured with this i5 (2.53 GHz) and i7 (2.66GHz).  The 15 and 17 inch models got fitted with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M (256MB/512MB); the 13 incher’s got the NVIDIA GeForce 320M integrated graphics.

The GeForce GT 330M features “automatic graphics switching technology” a process whereby the computer automatically switches between using the integrated and discrete graphics.  Apple describes how it works: it “switches graphics processors on the fly to give you performance when you need it (when you’re playing the latest 3D game, for example) and better battery efficiency when you don’t (such as when you’re reading email). MacBook Pro transfers the workload between the powerful discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics processor and integrated Intel HD Graphics so seamlessly, you won’t even notice.”  That last part there is key; the user never has to worry about toggling on/off a graphics card.  Depending on what type of application you’re using, it’s all done on the fly.

All MBPs come standard with 4GB of RAM and a hard drive (250GB for 13 inch, 320GB/500GB for 15 & 17 inch).  There’s an option to swap out the HD for a solid state drive (128GB/256GB/512GB) on all models.  Battery life on the 13 inch remains at 10 hours, while the 15 & 17 inch models will manage 8 to 9 hours on a single charge.  There are three display options for the 15 inch: Glossy Widescreen (1440×900), Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen (1680×1050), and Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen (1680×1050).  The 17 inch comes with a 1920×1200 display, with glossy and antiglare options.

The unibody enclosure, ports and all, have stayed the same.  The only new addition is one that cannot be seen, only touched: the multitouch trackpad now supports inertial scrolling, “an intuitive way to scroll through large photo libraries, lengthy documents and long web sites” just like you’re used to on the iPhone.

The 13 inch MBP starts at $1,199; the 15 inch base price has jumped $100 to $1,799; and the 17 inch starts at $2,299.  They are all available to purchase today.  Apple’s online store says all 15 & 17 inch models ship within 24 hours, but give the 13 inch 2-3 days to ship.

Long overdue, but they’re finally here.  Faster processors, better graphics chips, new customizations.  Here’s the deal: if you purchased a MBP within the last year, stick with that you got; if it’s been longer than that and you’ve been waiting for the new Intel processors to hit the MBP with bated breath, go for it.  Look after the break for the full  list of specs and customization options.

[Via Apple]

Continue reading Macbook Pros get a refresh: faster Intel processors, NVIDIA graphics →

Joss Whedon set to direct Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’

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OK, did you take that all in?  Good.

According to Deadline, Buffy the Vampire Slayer–Dollhouse–Firefly–Serenity–Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog creator Joss Whedon is in “final negotiations” to direct Marvel Studio’s mega-sequel The Avengers!  Whedon has been rumored to helm the massive superhero flick for some time now, and I can’t believe the stars are aligning.  The Avengers will bring together Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), The Hulk (Edward Norton), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), SHIELD leader.  Others are expected to join, too.  Thor and Captain America will be introduced in their own movies sometime next year.  The Avengers is on track to hit theatres May 2012.

[Via Deadline]