Sex Tempts Men: Romance Report

In a survey, half of male respondents said they’re tempted most by sex and 56% of women revealed that they are tempted by food. The annual Harlequin Romance Report 2010 explores the good, the bad, and the ugly side of temptation.

According to the report, a whopping 48% of Americans surveyed reveal that they have peeked at a colleague’s pay stub, admitting that they have given in to temptation and crossed the line to satisfy their curiosity.

“In today’s information-obsessed society and hyper-competitive job market, we know that people are willing to go to great lengths to get their hands on any ‘perceived dirt’ they know they’re not supposed to have,” said Michelle Renaud, senior manager, Public Relations, Harlequin Enterprises, a leading publishers of women’s fiction.

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Via a global online survey, says Harlequin, men and women around the world revealed how far they are willing to go when tempted and those indulgences they could not live without, even during tough economic times.

Highlights of the American survey results include:

• Forty percent of Americans surveyed believe that lusting after someone other than their partner is completely harmless.
• Almost half of American men (43%) have been tempted to hook up with a friend’s significant other.
• Twenty percent of American women surveyed admitted to taking money from their significant other’s wallet without their knowledge.
• Fifteen percent of male respondents and 10% of female respondents admitted to sabotaging a co-worker out of jealousy.
• While half of male respondents (50%) are tempted most by sex, 56% of women revealed that they are tempted by food first and foremost. 

Harlequin’s survey also revealed that buying books was the number one temptation most (75%) Americans could not resist during the 2009 recession – sacrificing vacations, shopping sprees, dining out, and going to the movies.

The survey was conducted online by Harlequin between September 17, 2009 and October 4, 2009. It was open to all adults over the age of 18.

Michael Jackson Movie with Samsung Disk

Samsung Electronics, a leading company for digital consumer electronics and information technology, has announced its Samsung S2 Portable. It’s a fully transportable external hard drive, pre-loaded with the movie ‘Michael Jackson‘s THIS IS IT’.

Timed with the DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of ‘Michael Jackson’s THIS IS IT’, the pre-loaded external HDD will be available at major European retailers from February 22, 2010.

“We are excited to present this movie starring Michael Jackson, the greatest entertainer of all time, pre-loaded on the Samsung S2 Portable,” said H.S. Lee, VP, Storage Marketing, Samsung Electronics.

Samsung’s S2 Portable has an increased capacity of 500GB and its improved data recording technology makes it the perfect solution for the increasing number of consumers who are building their personal movie collections on their PCs, says the company. 

In addition to the pre-loaded ‘Michael Jackson’s THIS IS IT’, the Samsung S2 Portable comes with USB On Board Technology. 

According to Samsung, it supports various user-friendly features such as Samsung Auto Backup that enables real-time or scheduled backup and SecretZone that encrypts and stores data on a virtual drive as well as SafetyKey, a data-security function that offers dual data protection through a password. 

The special edition will be available through retailers in Europe from February 22nd.

Availability in other regions will be determined following the initial launch, says the company.

Mobile Support for Turner Classic Movies

A new app, which will be available on multiple devices, provides info on advanced schedules, fan commentary, classic film-related widescreen video content, TCM’s movie blog, and photo galleries, with posters, artwork, and publicity stills. It’ll be available for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android mobile devices.

The first phase brings the TCM mobile device app to iPhone, itouch, Blackberry, and Android mobile devices. 

The elements include:

- A complete schedule of movies playing on TCM, with full-month views up to two months in advance, personalized to each fan’s time zone

- An optimized version of the TCM Movie Database, with synopses, credits, trivia, detailed background information from the American Film Institute film catalog and fan comments

- Video content, including movie clips, trailers and TCM promos, all presented in their original aspect ratios, including widescreen content that maximizes the landscape-view option found on some devices, such as the iPhone and itouch

- Photo galleries for films playing on TCM

- An optimized version of TCM’s MovieMorlocks movie blog

- Articles by TCM staff members writing about the history and making of films on TCM

The TCM app is available now in the U.S. for $2.99 from the iTunes app store or at http://itunes.com/apps/tcmmobile.

It’ll be available in the Blackberry App World and Android Market in February.

Photo courtesy: Turner Broadcasting System

Film Awards App for iPhone

The free app lets users read bios, watch previews, and vote for their favorite award-nominated films and stars right on their iPhone or AT&T U-verse TV screen. Telecom company AT&T has launched its Film Awards Interactive App on the App Store.

“The Film Awards Interactive App is perfect for fans who want to use their iPhone or U-verse TV to quickly access the latest information about awards, their favorite actors and films,” said G.W. Shaw, AT&T executive director of U-verse marketing. 

“This is another innovative and exciting app available from AT&T, and a great example of how we continue to enhance the entertainment experience across screens and devices.”

From iPhone or U-verse TV, the app lets you view a list of films nominated for this season’s film award shows; view movie trailers for nominated films; read biographies; and cast your vote for your favorite nominated films, actors, actresses, and directors and see instant results from other app users.

Soon after an award show airs, the app will also give iPhone users inside access to red carpet photos of their favorite TV celebrities that they can email to friends.

Similarly, Turner has introduced a new app, which will be available on multiple devices. It provides info on advanced schedules, fan commentary, classic film-related widescreen video content, TCM’s movie blog, and photo galleries, with posters, artwork, and publicity stills. It’ll be available for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android mobile devices. (Read: Mobile Support for Turner Classic Movies)

The Film Awards Interactive App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

All U-verse TV customers can access the app on channel 95.

Next Three Generations of 3D TV

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has today (Jan. 14) released its roadmap for the developments taking place in 3D TV systems. An ITU study group says that the future systems will be able to mimic the way our eyes and brains perceive the visual world.

ITU’s new roadmap would see 3D TV technology rolled out in three successive generations (technically known as profiles).

First generation: ‘Plano-stereoscopic television’ – calls for two views to be delivered to viewers’ TV sets. 

Wearing special glasses similar to those used to watch 3D cinema, viewers will be able to see depth in the picture, although the view will remain the same when they move their heads (in real life, our view changes when we move our heads).

Second generation: Will provide for multiple views, with head movement changing the view, for a viewing experience that more closely mimics real life.

Third generation: Will feature systems that record the amplitude, frequency, and phase of light waves, to reproduce almost completely human beings’ natural viewing environment. These advanced systems are some 15-20 years away, believes ITU.

“This new ITU report establishes a clear framework for the development of new types of systems that will totally change the way we experience broadcast and multimedia content,” said Valery Timofeev, director of ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau. 

“It maps out an exciting vision that won’t just change the look of entertainment, but open up a whole range of exciting new possibilities in sectors from education and healthcare to traffic management.”

According to ITU, the new 3D TV technologies being developed under ITU will also have major implications for the film and television production sector, as content will need to be filmed using special new equipment.

Boycott Bollywood

Confession: I’ve stopped watching Bollywood (loose term for Indian film industry) movies.

Reason: Movies that Bollywood makes are terrible. Most are torture on cinemagoers.

When the movie world has reached the distant moon Pandora (thanks to James Cameron’s AVATAR), Bollywood is still tottering in the company of “idiots.”

Another Reason: Bollywood has, in fact, become a family-run fiefdom full of “their fathers’ sons and their mothers’ daughters.” Here real art and creativity can’t survive. So it’s your mistake if you expect too much from Bollywood films.

So my dear countrymen (and women), if you’ve some respect for creativity, then “Boycott Bollywood.”

Your Friend
Rakesh Raman

For Rumor LG Goes High with Brooke Shields

From ’59 Feet Above the Bright Lights’ LG Mobile Phones and Sprint celebrated the launch of the new LG Lotus Elite and LG Rumor Touch. Model and actress Brooke Shields hosted the party held at the private residence of Phil Maloof of the Maloof Companies and Maloof Productions and Music in Las Vegas, NV. Watch the video

The action took place Thursday, Jan. 7 at the glass enclosed property that sits atop The Palms Casino and Resort and is said to be the highest private residence west of the Mississippi.

Those who attended the event included event host Brooke Shields, MTV “The City” star Whitney Port, Gilles Marini, Cheryl Burke, and Sabrina Bryan. 

“As a model and actress, personal expression is very important to me,” said Brooke Shields. “When LG Mobile Phones and Sprint approached me to host an event that celebrates two of their most expressive and boldly designed phones, it seemed a natural fit.”

LG Rumor Touch is the new release in the Rumor series, which first launched in 2007. With the release of LG Rumor Touch, consumers will now have access to the touchscreen technology, says LG.

And LG Lotus Elite is new in the Lotus Series. The handset is updated with a touch user interface.

The red LG Lotus Elite will be available January 10, 2010 in all Sprint retail channels including www.sprint.com for $99.99 with a new two-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate. LG Lotus Elite will be available in black on February 14, 2010. 

And LG Rumor Touch will be available in the first quarter of 2010.

Disney Plans Digital 3D Movies for Home

The Walt Disney Studios plans to start releasing Disney Digital 3D content for the home on Blu-ray Disc beginning in 2010 with Disney’s A Christmas Carol and a special 3D Showcase Disc. This Disc is a compilation of upcoming 3D product, footage, and trailers from Disney’s 3D content library.

Disney’s new Digital 3D content for the home on Blu-ray will be made available in coordination with hardware manufacturers’ upcoming release of new 3D home entertainment systems.

The 3D-enabled Blu-ray release of Disney’s A Christmas Carol, expected to be available in fourth quarter of 2010, will represent the studios’ debut title that will launch a new premium line-up of Disney Digital 3D movies for the home. 

Disney’s A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey, will be a multi-sensory, three-dimensional hi-def home entertainment experience that captures the essence of the classic Dickens tale. 

Re-envisioned by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (Best Director, Forrest Gump, 1994), Disney’s A Christmas Carol will be offered as digital 3D home video presentation.

The new 3D Showcase Disc is now available for manufacturers to start placing orders so they may bundle with their 3D hardware, says Disney.

Photo courtesy: Disney

Watching TV in the Cloud

The software behemoth Microsoft has introduced Microsoft Mediaroom 2.0, the next version of its Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) platform. It’ll enable television service operators to provide their TV services to more subscribers – both inside and outside the home, using a single cloud-based infrastructure. 

Mediaroom 2.0 is scheduled to be available for operators to start testing beginning next month (Feb. 2010). 

Microsoft says it can be deployed by operators as their entertainment cloud powering the delivery of a complete television service, including cloud digital video recording (DVR), on-demand features, interactive applications, and access to both operator-hosted content and externally hosted content such as Internet TV. 

The operators’ service can be consumed by their subscribers on multiple screens including the TV (with Mediaroom set-top box), Windows Media Center, Web browsers (for Windows-based PCs and Macs), Xbox 360, and compatible smartphones.

Also new with Mediaroom 2.0, service providers will be able to offer their existing on-demand TV service to their broadband customer base using their existing set-top box inventory, thereby expanding their service footprint beyond the reach of their IPTV network. 

The same on-demand service can also be enjoyed on Windows 7-based PCs using Windows Media Center, as well as on Xbox 360. 

Service providers also can offer subscribers access to their on-demand programming remotely using a range of Web browsers running on Windows-based PCs and Macs and, in the near future, on compatible smartphones, says the company.

Mediaroom 2.0 also adds support for Microsoft Silverlight and Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) Smooth Streaming for the access and delivery of on-demand content. 

This, according to Microsoft, enables viewers to get high-quality playback experience, because IIS Smooth Streaming adapts the video stream to the user’s network connection to enable optimum video quality.

In addition, support for Microsoft PlayReady preserves the service providers’ ability to secure their content libraries and monetize consumer experiences.

Coming: Attack of the Movies 3D

Majesco Entertainment Company, which provides video games for the mass market, has announced Attack of the Movies 3D. Claimed to be the first-ever 3D shooter designed exclusively for Wii, the game transports players to six fantastic movie-themed worlds.

Players will battle large alien space cruisers, shoot underwater monsters, join the resistance against the machines and more. 

Packaged with four pairs of 3D glasses to support four-player multiplayer action, and featuring classic enemies culled from the annals of film history, this inspired 3D shooter jumps right out of your television and into your living room, explains the company.

“We all dream about being the hero in our favorite action movies,” said Gui Karyo, executive VP of Operations for Majesco. “Attack of the Movies 3D lets you live that experience out with a realism and dimensionality previously only found in movie theaters.”

In Attack of the Movies 3D, players become an integral part of movie scenes they can typically only watch.

Each scene features genre-based ultimate weapons to engage enemies, including zombie-slaying shotguns, automatic laser cannons, and more. 

In addition, branching paths, changing enemy attack patterns, unique areas and environmental challenges ensure that players never experience the same fight twice.

Developed by Panic Button Games, Attack of the Movies 3D is expected to release Spring 2010, according to the company.