Google phone to be on market soon 
www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-14 09:22:18
Google Inc. has designed its own smartphone and plans to sell directly to consumers as soon as early 2010, according to media reports.
The phone, called the Nexus One and made by smartphone maker HTC, runs the search giant's Android operating system and will be sold online, bypassing wireless carriers in a rare strategic move.
Google first announced the phone had been undergoing testing by its employees in a blog post last weekend, and Wall Street Journal confirmed the device and name hours after.
The Internet giant is taking a new and potentially risky approach to selling the device, experts said. Without a mobile carrier partner, Google will ask its consumers to buy the phone online and buy cellular service for the device separately, which the Americans almost never do.
It is a significant move for the Internet giant on the mobile industry potentially challenging mobile carrier partners in the process and shaking up the business model of the mobile industry.
Google hasn't sold hardware in the past and the move may be a big step for the company into direct sales.
BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhuanet)
Claudia Schiffer plans to create own fashion label
by Astrid Wendlandt, Reuters|02 December 2009
Berlin, Germany: After lending her image to fashion designers for more than two decades, supermodel Claudia Schiffer says she is now ready to create her own fashion business, which could include cashmere wares and handbags.
The 39-year-old-German born model on Tuesday Nov 17said she was looking to give her life a new direction and was on the lookout for partners to back the launch of her brand.
"I would love to create my own lines now," Schiffer told a luxury conference in Berlin organized by the International Herald Tribune.
"I want the brand to be timeless and classic, with a fashion sensibility."
Many celebrities before Schiffer have launched their own trademarked products, ex-pop star Victoria Beckham is getting rave reviews for her evening dresses, Jennifer Lopez launched her own perfumes and Paris Hilton got into luxury watches.
But Schiffer said the product would have to "speak to her" and be close to her personality.
"Consumers are not stupid. They do understand if you don't believe in your product," she said.
Schiffer said she was looking for business partners, who did not necessarily have to be German, and she aimed to give the brand a global reach instantly.
"I would love to do cashmere, it is something I wear all the time myself...I would love to do something that is a bit more price friendly and...a lot of cashmere is very classic, I would like to create something that is a bit more fashion," she said.
But while pursuing her new business interests, Schiffer, who has recently been featuring in Yves Saint Laurent, Salvatore Ferragamo and Alberta Ferretti ad campaigns, said she hoped to continue being a model for "as long as possible."
Schiffer began her modeling career in the late 1980s and is remembered for her Chanel and Guess jeans campaigns among many others. The model said that despite her very public persona, she was a shy person who was cautious and valued loyalty.
"It takes me some time to warm up, but once you are friends with me I am friends for a long time," she said.
"I am very loyal."
Schiffer, who has been living in England for the past nine years, said she often sought to get away from the limelight.
"I do enjoy having a quiet life and on the weekends, we go away to the countryside and do normal things which make me feel good."
(Asiaone.com)
Giorgio Armani Extends
Designer Touch to New Mobile
by Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Reuters|28 October 2009
Milan, Italy: Italian fashion house Giorgio Armani presented a new 700-euro ($1,445) mobile phone, a stylish device aimed at complementing the designer's suits.
Founding designer Giorgio Armani, widely regarded as the doyen of Italian fashion, made a brief public appearance at the launch of the Armani-Samsung smartphone, which also has the new Microsoft software for mobiles.
Microsoft Corp introduced Windows Mobile 6.5 this week, which allows phones to play music, open Word and Excel documents and be synchronized over the Internet.
The sleek phone has both a touch screen and a key pad. It also includes a video player and GPS navigation, as well as bronze detailing "which coordinates perfectly with Giorgio Armani suits," according to a statement.
Armani, 75, did not speak at the presentation, only posing for photographs, but said in the statement he sought to create a phone "perfect for today's managers."
Armany, who suffered a bout of hepatitis this year, announced three senior management changes in late September, signaling an easing of his workload.
Armani, known for his classically elegant lines and muted colors in clothes, said last month he was reshuffling his agenda to take better care of himself after the illness.
The smartphone is the third phone Armani has designed for South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, wearing a tie signed by Armani, said the phone was "a statement of style" and his company was not looking to work with other designers, adding this partnership with Samsung and Armani was "a unique thing."
Source: plushasia.com
Jacko's crystal glove scoops $49,000 at auction
Sep-7-09 7:00pm2009-09-07T05:00:17
From: afp.com 
A crystal-encrusted white glove worn by late pop icon Michael Jackson has sold for 49,000 US dollars in Australia, doubling the auctioneer's estimate after a frenzied bidding war.
Auction house Bonhams & Goodmans said the glove, which went under the hammer in Melbourne late on Sunday, was the first to go on sale since the superstar's death on June 25.
The right-hand glove, made of white spandex and covered with hand-sewn clear crystals, was snapped up by the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in the United States.
Bonhams & Goodmans said Jackson wore the trademark glove to the Sydney premiere of his film "Ghosts" on November 15, 1996.
The King of Pop was in Australia for the HIStory World Tour at the time and earlier in the day had married his second wife Debbie Rowe.
Music journalist Peter Holmes and his friend Bill Hibble were apparently among the few audience members who laughed at the jokes in the short horror spoof and Jackson threw the glove to Hibble in thanks.
Hibble has since died and his father put the glove up for sale.
Las Vegas Hard Rock curator Warwick Stone said the glove would sit alongside memorabilia from Elvis Presley and Sex Pistol guitarist Sid Vicious.
"Michael Jackson gave it to someone in public in Australia and most collectors of Michael Jackson memorabilia knew about this glove," Stone told public broadcaster ABC.
"I've got the chain that used to hang around Sid Vicious's neck, I've got one of Elvis's .357 magnums which he used to shoot TVs with."
Stone said three more Jackson gloves were scheduled to come on to the market in the United States later this year but added: "I think I got the bargain."
-zimbio-
Michael Jackson Laid to Rest
Written by BangShowbiz on Sep-5-09 12:52am2009-09-04T10:52:28 
Michael Jackson was laid to rest at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park last night in a ceremony attended by his family and a host of celebrity friends. Among the stars who paid their last respects were Elizabeth Taylor, Macaulay Culkin and girlfriend Mila Kunis, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Gladys Knight, Rev. Al Sharpton, Corey Feldman, Kenny Ortega and Michael's ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley.
The service was due to start at 7 pm, but guests were kept waiting by Michael's family. Their cars did not start the journey to the service until 7.30 pm, with the ceremony finally getting underway around two hours later than planned.
Michael's children Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and seven-year-old Prince Michael II (aka "Blanket") arrived with his parents Joe and Katherine. They spent time with their father's casket before the service began, putting a crown on it in reference to his King of Pop moniker. The children sat in the front row, with a picture of the singer in front of them and lilies and roses decorating the stage.
Gladys sang "His Eye Is On The Sparrow," while songwriter Clifton Davis performed Jackson 5 song "Never Can Say Goodbye." After the ceremony, the Jackson brothers carried the gold coffin into the Great Mausoleum.
The family released a statement saying: "The Jackson Family wishes to once again thank all of Michael's fans around the world for their generous outpouring of support during this terribly difficult time. Their expressions of love for Michael and his music have sustained the Jackson Family."
After the service, it is understood some of the mourners travelled to Pasadena's Villa Sorriso eatery.
Michael died aged 50 on June 25 of acute Propofol intoxication.
-zimbio-
Read More..
Michael Jackson Has Earned
$99 Million Since His Death
Written by BangShowbiz on Aug-15-09 12:28am2009-08-14T10:28:02
Executors of Michael Jackson's estate claim money from a film deal and merchandising contracts has "flooded" into Michael's bank accounts since he died in June.
They predict the pop superstar will make another $99 million by the end of the year, and expect him to overtake Nirvana rocker Kurt Cobain and Elvis Presley -- who have made $745 million and $599 million respectively from beyond the grave -- as the highest-earning dead celebrity in the next 12 months.
Lawyer John Branca, who is co-executor of Michael’s estate, said:
Clearly this will be a new record for estates that likely will not be broken. Elvis’s estate makes $54 million a year. This will be a bigger estate. Branca and fellow co-executor, music executive John McClain, have put together a series of deals for commemorative coins, school supplies, a coffee-table book and a film. They have also been retrieving funds held for Michael by anonymous creditors, thought to amount to "several million pounds," and tallying the value of the singer's property, memorabilia and art collections.
Meanwhile, law enforcement sources claim Michael's Dr. Conrad Robert Murray had Propofol hidden in the singer's house. Police officers found three large bottles and five smaller vials of the anesthetic stashed in a closet in Murray's bedroom at the star's Los Angeles home.
They also believe Murray received regular shipments of the powerful drug -- reportedly used to help Michael sleep, and believed to have played a part in his death -- through FedEx, which he then hid in other locations.
The search warrant used to raid the Las Vegas pharmacy frequented by Murray showed investigators were looking for FedEx records relating to "the purchase, transfer, receiving, ordering, delivery and storage of Propofol to Dr. Conrad Murray." Police were also looking for credit card receipts relating to a purchase of Propofol the doctor made in May.
-zimbio.com-
CSL Blueberry-i 
By ZAM KARIM
TAKING a leaf out of its more illustrious competitor's book, CSL's Blueberry-i mobile phone sports a black, shiny housing with a silver trim around its edges.
Even its Qwerty mini keyboard resembles RIM's BlackBerry to a certain extent.
However the design similarities between CSL's offering and the BlackBerry Bold 9000 handset is only skin deep - as at the end of the day, the Blueberry-i is definitely no BlackBerry.
As a matter of fact, take away the casing and what you would get is a basic mobile phone with a few surprises thrown in.
Looking closer
The phone, which sits firmly in the palm, has a shiny housing and display that attracts fingerprints and dust.
Apart from the mini USB port at the bottom, users will find no other buttons on the sides. The port is used to connect multiple accessories, including the charger, data cable as well as the included USB earphone.
Despite its avant-garde look, the Blueberry-i only offers pretty basic features that include dualband GSM, GPRS, VGA camera and Bluetooth connectivity with A2DP profile.
The extra surprises are dual SIM card slots, multiple language support (Chinese, English and Bahasa Malaysia) and a password-protected SMS inbox.
Also available are a list of Islamic features, including the Azan call to prayer, Kiblat directional finder and an optional Al-Quran reading application.
It offers a meagre 1MB of user memory but users can expand the storage capacity via the built-in microSD card slot. A 2GB card is included in the package.
The card slot is behind the battery so the memory card is not hotswappable.
2-in-1
The two SIM card slots can be used simultaneously but you can close one when it is not in use. Switching between the two numbers is easy thanks to the two dedicated buttons on the phone - each time you want to dial a number, just press the one associated with the SIM card to do so.
It was really simple and fuss free and that's how we like it.
It is a great feature especially for those who travel a lot since you can easily slip a prepaid SIM card into the phone while keeping the original SIM active.
Moving on, we also noticed that the volume of the built-in speaker was extremely loud. It was so deafening that we kept it reduced to only the first level (there are seven levels altogether) most of the time.
The only time we pumped up the volume was when we wanted to listen to MP3 music with some friends. It was like having a portable mini hifi indeed. Even at the highest volume level, we didn't detect any cracking in the audio.
The bundled headset provides a good listening experience but since the phone only has a mini USB port you can't use your favourite standard 3.5mm-based headphone in its place.
But thanks to its Bluetooth with A2DP profile support, you can still replace the earphone with a Bluetooth headset instead.
Speed texter
Typing messages on the Qwerty keyboard is another reason - apart from the look or the excellent built-in speaker - why one would want to get this phone in the first place.
Feedback from the keyboard was good, with a distinct click for each key press. You can even type easily using one hand.
There is no predictive text input to help users but since one can type quite fast on it we were willing to forgive the omission.
The subtle white light that illuminates the keyboard makes it easier to read in areas with low light and it also adds a sense of class.
The Blueberry-i comes with a VGA camera and as such you should not expect much. There are some basic settings like white balance, scene mode and effects but they didn't really add much.
Video recording is possible but the end result was almost always choppy.
The lens is protected by what looks like a hard clear glass cover. Users can clean the fingerprints, dust or grime off it easily but we don't think that it is scratch-proof though.
Conclusion
Plenty of mobile phone users just want to make calls and do not want to bother with other features such as the camera or multimedia capabilities. That's why basic phones are still sold in the market and are still popular despite all the fancy phones around.
Coupled with its low price tag, good looks and equally important, dual SIM card slots, the Blueberry-i certainly fits into that category.
Pros: Qwerty keyboard is great for texting; dual SIM card support; loud speakers; low price.
Cons: Bad picture quality; basic specifications.
CSL BLUEBERRY-i
Dual-band phone Camera: 0.3-megapixels (VGA)
Display: 2.2in QVGA 262,000 colours ( 220 x 176-pixels)
Messaging: MMS, SMS, e-mail
Connectivity: Bluetooth, GPRS
Phone memory: 1MB
Expansion slot: MicroSD
Battery type: 700mAh lithium-ion
Standby/talk time: 180/3 hours
Other features: Dual SIM card slots, Qwerty mini keyboard, FM radio, MP3 player, MPEG4 playback, video and sound recorder, e-book reader, Java applications
Weight: 103g
Dimensions (w x d x h): 110 x 50 x 16mm
Price: $178.50
This story was first published in The Star/Asia News Network.
-asiaone-
