Category Archives: Images

Microsoft announces Surface for Windows 8 Pro release date, new Surface accessories

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Microsoft’s more powerful version of its Surface tablet finally has a release date. Surface with Windows 8 Pro comes to market February 9. It comes packed with Intel’s Core i5 processor and it supports apps available in the Windows Store as well as legacy programs that run on Windows 7 and other previous OS’. More Pro advantages: this slate sports a 1920 x 1080 full HD display, 4GB of RAM, a fast USB 3.0 port, a Mini DisplayPort, and a pen with Palm Block technology. The Pro starts at $899 for the 64GB model; alongside it is a 128GB model that will sell for $999. Unlike the RT version, the Pro doesn’t come bundled with a keyboard cover. The Touch Cover and Type Cover sell separately for $119.99 and $129.99, respectively.

In addition to fully fleshing out the Pro’s future release, Microsoft announced a new pricing option for the Surface for Windows RT. This is the 64GB model but it ditches the keyboard cover to sell for $599. It joins the standalone 32GB model ($499), the 32GB model with Black Touch Cover ($599), and 64GB model with Black Touch Cover ($699).

And there’s more. Microsoft is adding more to its Surface accessory lineup. Three new limited edition Touch Covers featuring funky designs in red, magenta, and cyan are coming soon; they’re priced at $129.99. Also on deck is a wireless Wedge mouse whose design is inspired by the modern look of the Surface; it’s priced at $69.95.

Take a look at the Surface with Windows 8 Pro, along with the new accessories, in the gallery below.

[Via Microsoft]

Facebook introduces Graph Search, a new intuitive way to search across your social network

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On Tuesday Mark Zuckerberg hosted a Facebook event to announce an exciting new feature for his prolific and widespread social network. It’s a new way to search inside Facebook and it’s called Graph Search. Essentially Graph Search gives Facebook users the ability to make specific searches across their network of friends. For example, enter the query “my friends in New York who like Jay-Z” and a list of your friends with those specific qualifications will be provided to you. Initially Graph Search will focus on four main areas: people, photos, place, and interests. Here are a few more examples of queries you could use: “software engineers who live in San Francisco and like skiing,” “photos of my friends before 1999,” “Indian restaurants liked by my friends from India,” “movies liked by people who like movies I like.” As you can see some of these queries are a mouthful and can be very specific and Facebook is working hard to crunch all the data and develop advanced natural language recognition.

How will the new search be integrated into the site? “Graph Search will appear as a bigger search bar at the top of each page. When you search for something, that search not only determines the set of results you get, but also serves as a title for the page. You can edit the title – and in doing so create your own custom view of the content you and your friends have shared on Facebook.”

According to the social network this new feature is guiding the company back to its roots. “When Facebook first launched, the main way most people used the site was to browse around, learn about people and make new connections. Graph Search takes us back to our roots and allows people to use the graph to make new connections.” How is Graph Search different from a typical web search? Facebook explains: “Web search is designed to take a set of keywords (for example: “hip hop”) and provide the best possible results that match those keywords. With Graph Search you combine phrases (for example: “my friends in New York who like Jay-Z”) to get that set of people, places, photos or other content that’s been shared on Facebook.” Additionally, Graph Search was built “with privacy in mind;” in other words, your privacy choices determine what’s searchable.

Currently Graph Search is in beta and initially it’s rolling out slowly to users who use Facebook in English. If you want to be one of the first to try it out, you can join a wait list. Facebook sees Graph Search as an ongoing project that will continue to develop and grow and get smarter as more people use it and provide feedback. Also rolling out to Facebook users soon is integrated Bing search. For now, check out some screenshots in the gallery below and click to Facebook to watch Zuckerberg and company discuss the bold new initiative.

This new search functionality aims to tap into the goldmine of personal information people share on Facebook and take social discovery to a new level. Visiting friends and family back east and want to plan a movie marathon? With Graph Search you can quickly find out which of your friends live nearby and figure out their movie preferences in one fell swoop. Finally, an intuitive way to take all of your Likes and interests and places and photos and put it to good use.

[Via Facebook 1, 2]

Kid Cudi explores dark depths and paves a positive future in latest Complex spread

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Scott Mescudi, better known by his stage name Kid Cudi, graces the cover of Complex Magazine for the sixth time in the zine’s February/March issue. His cover story conducted by Complex’s Director of Content Strategy Joe La Puma is available to read online, as are the stills from his photoshoot. Cudder is known to open himself up and provide candid responses in his Complex interviews and this most recent conversation doesn’t deviate from the norm. He’s all over the spectrum here; he discusses the depression that took place after he broke up with his girlfriend, popping prescription pills which didn’t take the pain away and only made it worse, seeing a therapist and realizing he had to cut the meds out of the picture entirely and get his mind right. He also went into how he’s dealing with the loss of his father at a young age and he talked about the controversy that came out of his public child custody case. He explained his definition of what it means to be “cool” and his take on the current state of hip-hop, he shared his disappointment on his lack of more contribution to Kanye’s Curel Summer record, and he expressed his general excitement over producing his own beats now. His fourth studio album Indicud is on track to drop this year, and Kid Cudi couldn’t be in a better place. Watch a peaceful Scott Mescudi introduce his next phase in music in a video embedded at the end of the interview.

Read the interview in full at Complex. Update: The zine has released more quotes that didn’t make it into the cover story interview. Cudder opens up about quitting weed, having creative control over his content, and he addresses head-on the Illuminati symbols he threw into his latest music video.

On the scene: Celebrating ‘Fringe’ at the Paley Center for Media (pictures inside)

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On Wednesday night I attended Fringe Benefits, a special screening, panel, reception, and gallery exhibit hosted by the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles. The event celebrated the cult sci-fi series Fringe which airs its third-to-last episode tonight (the final two episodes air back-to-back next Friday). As a fan of the show from the day the pilot aired in 2008, this was a very special occasion for me to attend. What better way to celebrate five phenomenal seasons of such a memorable, mind-bending show than with an intimate group of similarly passionate fans. Entertainment Weekly senior writer Jeff Jensen was on hand to introduce the screening of episode 511 “The Boy Must Live” and afterwards he moderated a Q&A panel that included star Lance Reddick (Phillip Broyles) and showrunner Joel “J.H.” Wyman.

“The Boy Must Live” airs tonight at 9PM on FOX, so I certainly won’t spoil anything for you. I will say, however, that this episode is one of the most revelatory in the show’s history as it answers many Observer-related questions. Walter (played by the talented John Noble) volunteers to take a plunge into the famous water tank to relive the memories transfered to him by the child Observer in an attempt to locate September (played by a touching Michael Cerveris). In many ways the episode is humorous; dialogue from Walter and Olivia forced the audience (and myself included) to erupt in laughter more than once during the screening. And at the same time the installment is incredibly touching; Walter and Peter share a tear-inducing moment early on in the episode. Questions are answers, emotional connections are made, and the ball is officially rolling toward next week’s big finale.

After the screening Jensen moderated a candid Q&A session with Reddick and Wyman. Below I share with you my attempt at scrupulous note-taking that took place during the entertaining back-and-forth. Continue reading On the scene: Celebrating ‘Fringe’ at the Paley Center for Media (pictures inside) →

New ‘Revenge’ promo is rated SE: Sexy for Everyone [Update: new cast photos]

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Revenge is a beautiful thing. Don’t believe me? Watch this brand new promo that debuted New Year’s Eve between ABC’s live coverage from Times Square. Whether you’re into the ladies or the guys this 30-second spot will satisfy. In one corner you’ve got Victoria’s former lackey Ashley Davenport, the Queen of Hamptons’ daughter Charlotte Grayson, and the radiant, fearless revenger Emily Thorne. And in the other corner? The Porter brothers Jack and Declan duke it out, Emily’s right-hand man Nolan Ross, and her former fiancé Daniel Grayson go shirtless. From the thumping music to the colorful imagery, this wild commercial will try to get you excited for the second half of the addicting soap’s second season. It will succeed. They sure know how to make ’em.

Revenge returns this Sunday, January 6 at 9PM on ABC.

Update (1/4): ABC has released a bunch of new images featuring this good-looking cast of Revenge. The most notable image, however, has to be the final group shot which features Jack sitting up against a bloody chest containing who-knows-what. Take a gander in the gallery below.

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Great Scott! LEGO is coming out with a Back to the Future set

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Dreams do come true. That’s right, LEGO is planning to release a Back to the Future set inspired by the classic 1985 film starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. The set found its feet in LEGO’s CUUSOO initiative. Besides creating their own original sets, LEGO accepts ideas from designers who think they can come up with the next best LEGO-based product. The BTTF set was one of four ideas uploaded to LEGO’s site; from there people could browse the prototypes and vote for their favorite one. After gaining 10,000 supporters, LEGO reviewed and considered it to become the next CUUSOO set to be sold in retail. Imagined by designers m.togami* and Sakuretsu (collectively known as Team BTTF), the Back to the Future Time Machine won and here is LEGO’s exciting announcement:

After analyzing the supporters of the Back to the Future project, we learned that this product has a broad, worldwide appeal. The model presented in this project is built very closely to the LEGO Group’s design standards and has therefore provided a strong base to design the final product. It has a high play value and it fits well with supporters’ price expectations.

For these reasons, the Back to the Future project has passed the LEGO Review, and has been selected for production as the next LEGO CUUSOO set. The final product, pricing, and release dates are still being determined.

To explore the other contenders in this round’s CUUSOO competition and to learn more about LEGO’s review process, click over to the company’s blog post. I’ve added some images of the prototype BTTF set in the gallery below; browse Team BTTF’s CUUSOO site to read more about their idea and to see more pictures. Keep in mind the final product may not look exactly like what you see here, but LEGO is working with the idea’s inventors so it’s OK to get a little giddy if you want. Video announcement after the break.

Though it may not be able to hit 88MPH, a LEGO Back to the Future Time Machine set is just what the Doc ordered.

Continue reading Great Scott! LEGO is coming out with a Back to the Future set →

Movie trailer round-up: ‘Pain & Gain’, ‘The Great Gatsby’ & ‘The Smurfs 2’ [Update: ‘This Is The End’ & ‘The Incredible Burt Wonderstone’]

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Before he could move onto the next Transformers movie, director Michael Bay called up Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to star in his upcoming action (comedy?) film Pain & Gain. In typical Michael Bay fashion you can expect lots of explosions and gags. A quick synopsis: “Based on the unbelievable true story of three personal trainers in 1990s Miami who, in pursuit of the American Dream, get caught up in a criminal enterprise that goes horribly wrong.” The movie also stars Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, and Ed Harris. It opens April 26, 2013.

Jump after the break for more trailers.
Continue reading Movie trailer round-up: ‘Pain & Gain’, ‘The Great Gatsby’ & ‘The Smurfs 2’ [Update: ‘This Is The End’ & ‘The Incredible Burt Wonderstone’] →

Motion poster: Hugh Jackman is ‘The Wolverine’

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Here’s something you don’t see everyday. A motion poster for a motion picture. It bears no title or release date or any words or numbers for that matter. It’s simply a muscular mutant wielding a samurai sword with retractable bone claws. Hugh Jackman reprises his role as The Wolverine in yet another upcoming X-Men film (X-Men: Days of Future Past is on the way, too). The Wolverine, directed by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma), is in fact not serving as a sequel to the 2009 spinoff X-Men Origins: Wolverine. “We’ve deliberately not called it Wolverine 2 because we want it to be placed and feel like a standalone picture,” Jackman told reporters. “With an all new cast and setting it in Japan, it’s going to give us a whole new visual aesthetic.” Yes, that is the Land of the Rising Sun all lit up in the poster’s background. Why the sudden contemplation, Logan? “The approach to character means [the movie] won’t be overloaded with mutants and teams and the like, so it’ll be more character-based,” adds Jackson. “I think in many ways it will feel like a completely different X-Men film.”

The official synopsis reads like this: “Based on the celebrated comic book arc, ‘The Wolverine’ finds Logan, the eternal warrior and outsider, in Japan. There, samurai steel will clash with adamantium claw as Logan confronts a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle that will leave him forever changed.”

The Wolverine releases July 26, 2013. Look in the gallery below to see a more traditional poster and a first look at Hugh Jackman jacked up for the role.

Movie trailer round-up: ‘Oblivion’, ‘Pacific Rim’, ‘After Earth’, ‘Man of Steel’, ‘The Lone Ranger’ & ‘Iron Man 3’

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First up is Oblivion, the next movie in Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski’s arsenal. It’s superbly sci-fi and with stars Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, and Melissa Leo at the forefront, it’s shaping up to be an exciting must-see event.

Here’s all we get in a synopsis: “On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man’s confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind.” For more, sit back and mash play.

Oblivion hits theatres April 12, 2013. See a grand poster for it in the gallery below.

Jump after the break for more trailers. Continue reading Movie trailer round-up: ‘Oblivion’, ‘Pacific Rim’, ‘After Earth’, ‘Man of Steel’, ‘The Lone Ranger’ & ‘Iron Man 3’ →

‘Fringe’ showrunner reveals title of final episode, promises it to be emotionally thrilling

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Fringe celebrated 100 episodes at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver by gathering together the cast and crew of the cult sci-fi series. TVLine was on the scene and spoke with showrunner J.H. Wyman about what fans can expect from the final episode.

First thing’s first: Wyman has revealed the title of said episode and it is “An Enemy of Fate.”

Now what can that mean? Though Wyman doesn’t divulge much, he does promise that the final hour of the show–the series’ 100th episode–is going to be the most exhilarating installment yet. “It’s definitely the biggest season finale we’ve ever had,” Wyman teased. “It’s the most expensive…It’s massive, really big. I wanted to go out like, ‘Wow, how did they do that?’”

And like all the best Fringe episodes, the series ender will an emotionally thrilling one. “I wanted to make sure I handled [the action element] and the emotions with equal import,” he said.

Fringe returns from a three-week hiatus this week. Episode 8 of 13, “The Human Kind,” airs Friday night at 9PM on FOX. From this point forward the show will air uninterrupted culminating in the two-hour series finale on January 18, 2013. Check out some pictures from the 100 Episodes celebration in the gallery below.

Note: The image above is not a spoiler from the current season; it is merely a screen-cap from last year’s Comic Con gag.

[Images via BuddyTV]

More ‘Bates Motel’ stills surface, plus two teaser trailers inside

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Just last week we got our first look at Freddy Highmore and Vera Farmiga as Norman and Norma Bates in A&E’s upcoming Psycho prequel series Bates Motel. So soon after we are fed with 16 more pictures featuring Highmore, Farmiga, Max Thieriot as brother Dylan Bates, Olivia Cooke as Norman’s classmate Emma Decody, Mike Vogel (Pan Am) as Deputy Zach Shelby, Nestor Carbonell (Lost) as Sheriff Alex Romero, Nicola Peltz as Norman’s crush Bradley, plus several shots of the famous “Bates Motel” grounds.

THR is hosting the latest batch of images; click over to their site to view ’em all.

Also new today are two tantalizing teasers for the new series hailing from Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights). They are short but oh-so-creepily sweet. Watch ’em both after the break.

Bates Motel premieres on A&E next year. Continue reading More ‘Bates Motel’ stills surface, plus two teaser trailers inside →

Google intros Nexus 4 smartphone, Nexus 10 tablet running the updated Android Jelly Bean 4.2

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On the same day that Microsoft launched Windows Phone 8 and detailed a hardware lineup, Google decided to announce new hardware along with a new version Android.

Google leaves it up to many third party smartphone manufacturers to develop devices to run Android. Once in a while, however, the search engine likes to inject its own cream into the crop with devices branded Nexus. The next smartphone featuring vanilla Android is the Nexus 4 and it’s a collaboration between Google and LG this time. Here are the hard specs: 4.7-inch WXGA True HD IPS Plus display (1280 x 768 resolution, 320ppi) with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection; Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor; 2GB RAM; 8 megapixel rear camera with 1080p video recording and 1.3 megapixel front camera; 2,100mAh battery promising 15.3 hours talk time and 390 hours of standby; 8GB and 16GB storage capacities; WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth; supports NFC and wireless charging; ports include Micro USB, SlimPort HDMI, and 3.5mm headphone jack; it’s 9.1mm thin and weighs 139g; and it supports 3G (WCDMA) and HSPA+ networks. The Nexus 4 comes loaded with the latest version of Android (Jelly Bean 4.2) and it releases November 13 at $299 (8GB) and $349 (16GB); it will be sold as an unlocked device at those prices in the Google Play store. Buy the 16GB model from T-Mobile with a new two-year contract and you can get it for a more affordable $199. On launch day it will be available in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Spain and Australia and it’ll start to roll out to Europe, Central/South Americas, Asia, CIS and the Middle East beginning in late November.

Google is already in the tablet game with the Nexus 7, and today they’ve decided to up their game with an even larger slate to directly compete with Apple’s iPad. A collaboration with Samsung, the Nexus 10 packs–you guessed it–a 10.055-inch WQXGA display with an incredible 2560 x 1600 resolution (300 ppi) and Corning Gorilla Glass 2 coat of protection. Other specs include: dual-core Cortex A15-based 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos 5250 processor; Mali T604 GPU; 2GB RAM; 5 megapixel rear camera and 1.9 megapixel front camera; front-facing stereo speakers; 9000 mAh battery promising 9 hours of continuous video playback and 500 hours of standby; 16GB and 32GB storage capacities; WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth; supports NFC; ports include Micro USB, Magnetic Pogo pin charger, Micro HDMI, and 3.5mm headphone jack; and it’s 8.9mm thin and weighs 603g. The Nexus 10 too comes preinstalled with Jelly Bean 4.2 and it releases November 13 at $399 (8GB) and $499 (16GB); these slates are WiFi-only.

Google’s original Nexus 7 slate is seeing an update. The 8GB model is no longer offered; in its place are 16GB ($199) and 32GB ($249) flavors. Available today are those WiFi-only models, and come November 13 a 32GB model with WiFi and HSPA+ data (with AT&T and T-Mobile in the US) will sell for $299.

In addition to announcing a new smartphone and tablet, Google injected new life into Android with the latest version of Jelly Bean 4.2. Photo Sphere allows you to take pictures in every direction and stitch them together for immersive panoramic images; Gesture Typing brings Swype-like interaction to the virtual keyboard; support for multiple user accounts gives your friends and family their own personal spaces on a single device (this feature is limited to tablets only running v4.2); Daydream allows you to personalize your screensaver with photos and news; and Google Now and Google Search have been updated with more cards and an enhanced interface, respectively. For more, click the source link below. (Update: The Google Search app for iOS has been updated with improved voice search that rivals Siri. Download here, video demo after the break.)

And just like that, Google has their very own lineup of Android-powered Nexus devices in three different sizes. Get a closer look at the Nexus 4 phone and Nexus 10 tablet in the galleries embedded above; after the break there’s video.

[Via Google 1, 2] Continue reading Google intros Nexus 4 smartphone, Nexus 10 tablet running the updated Android Jelly Bean 4.2 →