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Welcome to Shahrukh Khan the superhero. Yes, the actor will be seen doing some breathtaking stunts in his upcoming film Ra.One. Catch the film’s 10 second teaser below.
He jumps from buildings, zooms on his bike through crowded alleys and dodges bullets. G.One (Shahrukh Khan) dices with death on every step of the way in this film directed by Anubhav Sinha.
Besides Shahrukh, the movie stars Arjun Rampal (villain) and Kareena Kapoor (leading lady).
The 10 second teaser of the film will have its TV premiere during the India-Australia quarterfinal match on 24th March. Before that, Shahrukh took the trouble of asking the ESPN Star to allow him to release the teaser for his fans on Twitter.
Yes, King Khan has returned to tweeting and he posted the teaser on theRa.One fan page.
“@RaOneFanClub thanx for the patience and support. insha allah u will enjoy the teasers. excited & nervous...first look out for film.” post by apunkachoice.
A couple of weeks back we put the original iPad up against the Xoom in a site-loading speed battle. While most of the feedback was positive, a few commenters expressed their disappointment that we used the original iPad instead of the iPad 2. Well, now that the iPad 2 has been released, we can in fact post the story you've been waiting for. One that will no doubt completely satisfy everyone.
So, let's get right to it.
Testing Site-loading speed is one of the simplest things to test, and it's a test many users can immediately relate to. As I said in the previous post, I'm a greater fan of real-world tests like going to actual, real sites, than of synthetic benchmarks.
We used three different Web sites for the tests: CNET.com, CBSNews.com, and GiantBomb.com. Each tablet was connected to the same closed network with no other devices on it, with the router about 5 feet away. We considered the test to begin the moment we pressed Enter and run to the time the blue progress bar on each tablet disappeared. We used iOS 4.3 for the iPad 2 and iPad, and the Xoom is using Android OS 3.0.1.
Although in the video you'll only see one iteration for each test, we actually ran each test several times; over those runs we got results consistent with what you'll see here. Also, we cleared each tablet's browser cache before each iteration of the tests was run.
Now, as much as we'd love for these tests to be completely relevant for everyone in every situation, that's nearly impossible. We tested these tablets under specific conditions in a "free" environment. The network was closed, but we can't account for noise from other networks interfering. This is a snapshot of performance in our testing environment, and your results may vary.
Conclusion The iPad 2 shows a huge improvement over the original iPad and holds its own against the Xoom for the most part. On a really busy site like CBSnews.com, however, the iPad 2 chokes a bit, while the Xoom flies through with relative ease.
We were surprised that Apple increased the maximum brightness on the iPad 2 and it will be interesting to see what effect that has on the iPad's battery life. Look for some battery life test results very soon.
Google is in the process of updating the look of its browser offerings: Version 11.0.696.12 of its WebKit-based Chrome web browser, just released into the Chrome developer channel (a.k.a. the Dev channel), features the addition of a new logo that drops the previous 3D bubble look for a flatter and simpler look – click the image to the right to view a larger version of the latest Chrome logo. Aimed at developers and early adopters, version 11.0.696.12 of Chrome also corrects issues with the New York Times Chrome app, the status bar, tooltips and various other bugs that could cause the browser to crash.post by h-online.
Just over one week ago, Google also revamped the logo for its open source Chromium web browser upon which Chrome is based. Similar to Chrome, the Chromium logo saw the shades of blue based logo transform from a slightly three dimensional object into a sharper, more two dimensional look.
Google has bought Irish company Green Parrot Pictures in a bid to improve the quality of video uploaded to YouTube.
The Dublin-based firm specialises in image processing to improve, for example, sharpness and camera shake.
Its technology has already been used by several big Hollywood film studios on movies such as X-Men and Spiderman.
Google said that Green Parrot's technology would enhance the look of videos posted on its site while using bandwidth more efficiently.
A statement, posted on Green Parrot Pictures' website said: "We're excited to join Google, where we will apply our expertise to improve the online video experience for hundreds of millions of users worldwide on may different products, platforms and services."
Green Parrot Pictures was founded six years ago by Dr Anil Kokaram, an associate professor with the school of engineering at Trinity College, Dublin.
Google, which owns YouTube plans to use Green Parrot's technology to perform on-the-fly background processing on user videos.
Writing on the official YouTube blog, Google's director of video technology, Jeremy Doig said: "What if there was a technology that could improve the quality of such videos -- sharpening the image, reducing visual noise and rendering a higher-quality, steadier video -- all while your video is simply being uploaded to the site?
"You can imagine how excited we were when we discovered a small, ambitious company based in Ireland that can do exactly this."post by bbcnews.
" Munni Badnaam Hui" has entered the Guinness Book of World Records. Over 1200 people danced for three minutes on the song, led by Malaika Arora Khan, in Melbourne, Australia . The event was organised by Indian Film Festival 2011 director Mitu Bhowmick Lange. Malaika also received a certificate for setting the record. The earlier record was set in Singapore when over 1008 people danced on a song.post by timesofindia.
sonam is being considered for the female lead in the Tamil remake of Dabangg after the original actress,Sonakshi Sinha refused the role. The Dabangg fever seems to have caught the nation in a big way. While Bollywood is all set to make a sequel toDabangg , South film industry is high on remaking the film. The Telugu remake will star Pawan Kalyan and the Tamil remake will star Simbu ( Silambarasan). Interestingly while South superstars will play Salman Khan's character, for the female lead they seem to be looking for a Bollywood face. The actress from the original, Sonakshi Sinha was offered the Tamil remake but she refused. Subsequently there were stories that Katrina Kaif might do the film, since she has already worked in some South films. However now the role has gone to Sonam Kapoor and the actress seems to be giving it a serious thought. An entry in the South film industry means more money and more fame. So if all goes well, Sonam might recreate Sonakshi's part in the Tamil Dabangg . A source adds, "There was also buzz that the gorgeous South actress Kajal Aggarwal was being considered but Simbu insisted the makers to replace her with Sonam". Incidentally not many might be aware that Sonam's father Anil Kapoor started his career with a South film (Kannada) called Pallavi Anu Pallavi which also marked the debut of Mani Ratnam as a director.post by timesofindia,
Sirish Kunder’s next ‘Joker’ starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha is now 40% complete.
The cast and crew are back from Chandigarh after completing 19 days of shoot, which accounts for approximately 40 per cent of the film.
The Chandigarh schedule was the first schedule of the film.
The next schedule will begin in April and will be shot in Mumbai. According to Kunder most of the film will be shot in Mumbai in indoor as well as outdoor sets. "We will be putting up a huge set of a forest, which will be specially designed," informs Kunder.
Besides Akshay and Sonakshi, the film also stars Shreyas Talpade, Minissha Lamba and Vindu Dara Singh. The film is produced by Kunder and Farah Khan's Three's Company and co-produced by Akshay Kumar's Hari Om Entertainment.
Finally the song is out. Deepika Padukone’s fans were waiting with bated breath for her Mit Jaaye Gham track from the coming movieDum Maaro Dum. So, does the song live up to the hype? Composed by the music director Pritam and written by Jaideep Sahni, the song, just like its title, enthralls with its music. Thus the pulsating dance track sung by Anushka Manchanda and featuring the hot Deepika Padukone will get you grooving. Deepika has channelized her inner oomph in the song and looks very natural while doing the sassy moves for the number which is choreographed by the dance director Bosco. She’s got the looks, the body and the attitude for such a scintillating number, and with this song she has not just wowed her fans but also detractors. The song is getting a huge response from the viewers. ThoughDum Maaro Dum has Bipasha Basu in lead, the makers wanted Deepika to dance to the remix of one of the most popular songs of Indian films starring Zeenat Aman.
From the banner of Yashraj Films comes another production house with the name Y Films. It is a studio that promises to deliver kick-ass films of the youth, by the youth, for the youth. Y Films is ready with their first film Luv Will Hurt! that will hit the theatres on 6th May. Yes, that’s quite timely, so you don’t have to wait long for a good film that too from the house of Yashraj Films. The first look of the film is up for you. As the name suggests Luv Will Hurt! is going to be a love story, and with the girl’s look on the poster one can understand it’s going to be a bitter-sweet love story. The movie’s promotion has kick-started through social networking sites. But the gal that features on the first look continues to be a mystery. People have started making wild guesses about her. So, who do you think plays the actress in the film Luv Will Hurt? Deepika Padukone, Shruti Haasan or Shraddha Kapoor.post by apunkachoice.
Will.i.am adds some “Big Fat Bass” to Britney Spears’ seventh studio album Femme Fatale, arriving March 29. The thumping electro-pop number takes a page out of the Black Eyed Peas’ handbook of hits, with the pop siren singing through a digital filter. “I can be your treble baby, you can be my bass,” taunts Brit on the chorus before will jumps in with a spastic verse.post by rapup.
“Oh my God, he’s amazing! He’s funny and he’s a charm,”gushed Britney about her collaborator, while the BEP frontman called her a “sweetheart.”
David Guetta has crafted dance hits with Rihanna, Kelly Rowland, and Kid Cudi, and now he’s called upon Nicki Minajfor his latest collaboration. The French DJ/producer debuted a new party record, reportedly titled “Where Dem Girls At,” featuring the Harajuku Barbie and Flo Rida at Carnaval of Salvador de Bahia in Brazil last week. A low qualityrecording has surfaced on YouTube where Nicki and Flo Rida trade verses over the pounding beat.original post by rap-up.
“So many boys in here, where do I begin?/ I see this one, I’m about to go in,” raps the Young Money diva. “Coming through the club, all the girls in the back of me/ This ain’t football, why the f**k they tryna tackle me?”
It is currently unknown where the song will appear, but it’s likely for Guetta’s upcoming album, for which he’s already recorded with 50 Cent, Usher, and will.i.am.
here is the official music video for Lil Wayne's "6 Foot, 7 Foot" single featuring his Young Money artist Cory Gunz. The visual, which was directed by Hype Williams, has been released earlier than expected. Birdman, Jae Millz, Lil Twist, Lil Za, DJ Scoob Doo, Short Dawg, Marley G and Troy Bless make cameos. There is still no release date yet on Tha Carter IV, and this video was shot in Miami earlier this year and is inspired by the movie Inception (not The Fighter).
Amazon has rolled out the tracklisting for Wiz Khalifa’s major label debut Rolling Papers. The Taylor Gang leader keeps the features to a minimum on the 14-track collection, enlisting help from Too $hort, Chevy Woods, and Curren$y,along with production from Stargate, Benny Blanco, and Jim Jonsin. Also included are “Roll Up” and his No. 1 smash “Black and Yellow.” Peep the tracklisting below before the LPblazes into stores on March 29.
1. “When I’m Gone” 2. “On My Level” feat. Too $hort 3. “Black and Yellow” 4. “Roll Up” 5. “Hopes & Dreams” 6. “Wake Up” 7. “The Race” 8. “Star of the Show” feat. Chevy Woods 9. “No Sleep” 10. “Get Your Shit” 11. “Top Floor” 12. “Fly Solo” 13. “Rooftops” feat. Curren$y 14. “Cameras”
Justin Bieber and Sean Kingstons new Single - Eenie Meenie HD 720p
Eenie meenie miney mo Catch a bad chick by her toe If she holla (if, if, if she holla) let her go Shes indecisive She cant decide She keeps on lookin From left to right Girl, cmon get closer Look in my eyes Searchin is so wrong Im Mr. Right You seem like the type To love em and leave em And disappear right after this song. So give me the night To show you, hold you Dont leave me out here dancin alone You cant make up your mind, mind, mind, mind, mind Please dont waste my time, time, time, time, time Im not tryin to rewind, wind, wind, wind, wind I wish our hearts could come together as one Cause shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova (Justin) Let me show you what your missin Paradise With me youre winning girl You dont have to roll the dice
Tell me what youre really here for Them other guys? I can see right through ya You seem like the type To love em and leave em And disappear right after the song. So give me the night To show you, hold you Dont leave me out here dancin alone Cant make up your mind Please dont waste my time Not tryin to rewind I wish our hearts could come together as one Cause shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova (Sean) Eenie meenie miney moe Catch a bad chick by her toe If she holla (if, if, if she holla) let her go Eenie meenie miney moe Catch a bad chick by her toe If she holla (if, if, if she holla) let her go Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Shorty is a eenie meenie miney mo lova Cant make up your mind Please dont waste my time Not tryin to rewind I wish our hearts could come together as one (repeat)
The 17-year-old singer is the latest star to be honoured with his own replica figure by famous museum Madame Tussauds and he unveiled his double in London today (15.03.11) in front of a few lucky fans while thousands more watched via a live web stream.
The 'Baby' hitmaker seemed impressed by his likeness although he commented that he had grown in height since he posed for it.
He told museum staff: "It's pretty incredible to see. I'm taller but this was a point in time.
"It looks awesome, thanks very much."
Fan Grace Magraff, 14, said: "I cannot believe I am in the same room as Justin and his figure is amazing. I don't want to leave; I just want to stay by his figure forever! It's brilliant, just like him. I love it!"
The waxwork was created with the help of the teenager's personal hair stylist to ensure it had his signature sweeping cut - which he recently ditched - and is dressed in a fashionable black and red shirt with jeans.
Justin gave sculptors in New York a sitting late last year, where hundreds of precise measurements were taken. The figure then took four months to complete at a cost of £150,000.
Liz Edwards, PR manager at the attraction, said: "The interest in Justin's figure has been truly phenomenal. We were absolutely inundated with requests from young fans to include him and since we announced that we were indeed making his figure we've been besieged by 'Beliebers' wanting to know when they can come and see him here. original post by musicrooms.
"We're sure they will be as pleased with the final results as Justin seems to be today."
Figures of Justin were also revealed at Madame Tussauds Amsterdam and Madame Tussauds New York today.
Kanye West rolls out the red carpet for more of his famous friends on the unfinished remix to “All of the Lights,” the Rihanna-assisted single off his platinum album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Maintaining the original beat, the revamped tune touts new verses from Lil Wayne, Drake, and G.O.O.D. Music’s Big Sean, with ‘Ye letting the guest stars do all the work.
“It’s cold as hell, I show and tell/ Weezy home, our n***a out of jail,” spits a triumphant Tunechi, throwing it to Sean and Drizzy for their all-star appearances. Get lost in the flashing lights.post by rapup.
7,417,704 Viewers On Youtube – Who Dat Girl Official Video
Canada-(Canadian Hot 100) - 16
US-Billboard Hot 100 - 29
US-Pop Songs (Billboard) - 23
Flo Rida, is set to release his new dance floor smash ‘Who Dat Girl’ featuring Akon on March 28. The track sees the genre-busting rapper team up with R’n’B superstar and producer, Akon, creating a perfect blend Flo’s signature stop-and-go flow, melodic sensibility and massive hooks. On discussing the influence of ‘Who Dat Girl’, Flo wanted to showcase the experiences his glittering success has brought him since the release of his first two chart topping albums, Mail On Sunday and R.O.O.T.S. “Who Dat Girl” is the third single taken from the 8-track mini album, “Only 1 Flo (Pt. 1)”, which hosts a stunning collection of tracks packed with an A-list line up of collaborations including the number 1 club smash “Club Can’t Handle Me” featuring David Guetta and previous hit single ‘Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1)’. The album, executive produced by Elric “E-Class” Prince, Lee “Freezy” Prince and Mike Caren is out now.
Justin Bieber shows off his new haircut in the music video for "That Should Be Me", the latest single taken from the Canadian pop star's 'Never Say Never - The Remixes' album - The new "That Should Be Me" edit now features country-pop band Rascal Flatts. The clip isn't the best but the song is quite enjoyable! Rascal Flatts definitely add a postive new 'air' to the song. Good vocals by both acts btw. Check it out!post by directlyrics.
Green Day fans don't need to be reminded how awesome the band is in concert, but just in case anyone forgot, Billie Joe and Co. are releasing a brand new album this spring entitled 'Awesome As F***.' The live album, due to drop on March 22, features a collection of performances recorded during Green Day's 2009-2010 World Tour, held in celebration of the band's 2009 album, '21st Century Breakdown.' After wrapping up the tour, the trio spent some time trolling through their performances, selecting the most explosive for inclusion on the live album. The result is an electric compilation of 17 songs from performances in cities around the world, including newer hits, like 'Know Your Enemy' and '21 Guns,' as well as older classics, like 'When I Come Around,' and 'Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life).' Fans who purchase the album on iTunes will also get two extra bonus tracks. Fans who buy the CD will also receive a bonus DVD, featuring video footage of 16 additional performances held at venues in just about every corner of the globe. Traditionalists and purists, meanwhile, will be able to purchase the album on vinyl on April 26, and will receive a free Green Day T-shirt along with the record. You can pre-order Green Day's new album here and check out the tracklisting below. To hear the latest songs from the album, including 'Cigarettes and Valentines,' tune in to AOL Radio's New Alternative First station. Green Day, 'Awesome As F*ck' Tracklisting 01. 21st Century Breakdown - (London, England) 02. Know Your Enemy - (Manchester, England) 03. East Jesus Nowhere - (Glasgow, Scotland) 04. Holiday - (Dublin, Ireland) 05. Viva La Gloria! - (Dallas, Texas) 06. Cigarettes and Valentines - (Phoenix, Arizona) 07. Burnout - (Irvine, California) 08. Going to Pasalacqua - (Chula Vista, California ) 09. JAR - (Detroit, Michigan) 10. Who Wrote Holden Caulfield? - (New York, New York) 11. Geek Stink Breath - (Saitama-shi, Japan) 12. When I Come Around - (Berlin, Germany) 13. She - (Brisbane, Australia) 14. 21 Guns - (Mountain View, California) 15. American Idiot - (Montreal, QUE) 16. Wake Me Up When September Ends - (Nickelsdorf, Austria) 17. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) - (Nickelsdorf, Austria)
Adam Lambert has released a dance remix of 'Aftermath' to benefit the non-profit organization The Trevor Project, which focuses on support and suicide prevention for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth. The inspiring anthem encourages listeners to embrace who they are. "Anytime anybody pulls you down / Anytime anybody says you're not allowed / Just remember you are not alone / In the aftermath." The song gets a glossy, club-ready remix, thanks to Billboard, who also producedBritney Spears' 'Till the World Ends.' However, it still holds true to its inherent message. "['Aftermath'] was written about finding the courage to be honest with yourself and the people who love you," Lambert explains. "I hope this song inspires people to be who they truly want to be ... and dance!" On March 10, Lambert appeared on 'American Idol' to perform an acoustic version of the song, which originally appeared on the Indiana native's debut album, 'For Your Entertainment.' Immediately following his TV performance, the remixed track was made available for download on the singer's website.
his is my remix to Justin Bieber's hit song 'Never Say Never' which features Jaden Smith. It is remixed with Tinie Tempah's hit song 'Written In The Stars'. Both these songs represent a struggle and a way of overcoming it and I thought they suited very well! Also, they are both Brit Award winners which makes it all the more awesome! This remix is in promotion for my upcoming Justin Bieber Remix Collection which quite a few of you have requested so I hope you like it! and check out my other JB remixes!
Zynga, one of the biggest developers of online games in the world (best known for Mafia Wars and FarmVille), already has an office in Bangalore India. It has now announced its plans of setting up a game development studio alongside, called Zynga Studio I.
A name like that certainly sounds as if the studio will become one of its most important ones. Currently it employs 100 professionals in Bangalore, and 1,500 across the world. It intends to get a 100 more employees for the Zynga Studio 1 office, most of whom will be game developers.
Most of Zynga’s Bangalore office’s original employees were working on Membase, a database application used by Zynga, determining how the more than 25 million users interact with the games they play.
Zynga’s India Manager, Shan Kadavil, says that his company plans on tapping carious forms of creative talent in India, from Bollyword to animation and mobile app development.
Google’s blogging service Blogger has been used for over half a billion blog posts (with over half a trillion words in total) to date, writes product manager Chang Kim on the Blogger Buzz blog.
Those blog posts have been read by 400 million readers across the globe, Kim adds. And according to the video below, 75 percent of traffic comes from outside the United States (the service is available in 50 languages).
Now the product is getting an overhaul, the biggest change being a more modern user interface for both the editor and the dashboard (fi-na-lly), built with Google Web Toolkit.
Google says it will be showcasing the new design of the Blogger back-end at SXSW (ourcoverage of the event), as well as a new content discovery feature that lets users find new content to read based on the topics of the blog they’re visiting.
The new UI is shown extensively in the video below as well, in case you’re not in Austin.
Of note: Google says it will unveil more fresh Blogger features this year – they posit that these are only the ones they’re “allowed to talk about” at this point.
Let’s call a spade a spade: Blogger has been around for a long time, but has unequivocally been losing mindshare to the likes of Tumblr, WordPress, Posterous and even services like Facebook and Twitter for content creation purposes in the past few years.
Its audience is still enormous, though, so it’s nice to see Google hasn’t forgotten its many users around the globe.original post by techcrunch.
We’re looking forward to seeing how the service evolves in the course of this year.
We hear a lot about the impact of Apple's (AAPL) iPad 2 these days, and we will surely hear as much about the expected iPhone 5 in June. Estimates of annual shipments for these products vary, of course, but they tend to be in the general ballparks of 50 million and 100 million units, respectively.
The iPad, in particular, is credited with taking market share from the general PC/laptop market. Surely, no devices launched in 2011 could beat this huge impact from iPad 2 and iPhone 5, right?
Yes, it could happen. The worldwide annual PC market is about 400 million units.Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows operating systems dominate. The attacks on Microsoft's dominance to date have been modest: Apple's Mac OS is shipping at a rate fewer than 15 million units per year, and these devices are generally much more expensive.
Apple's iPad may ship 50 million units over the next 12 months, but most people agree that the iPad, while a superb device in many respects, is not a replacement for a laptop in the eyes of serious workers; it's an important complement, but not a replacement.
In this context, I find the lack of attention paid to Google's (GOOG) Chrome OS unwise. For the last three months, I have been using Google's Chrome OS Cr-48 laptop and compared it to Apple's MacBook Pro and my old Dell (DELL) laptop. Let me start with the conclusion right away: I think that PCs based on Google's Chrome OS stand to take over a very large share -- perhaps as much as half -- of Microsoft's Windows PC franchise, over the course of only a few short years, starting in the third quarter of this year.
If I am right about this, we could expect Google Chrome OS PCs to ship to the tune of 200 million units per year by 2014. That would mean one of the highest and fastest impacts in any computer market ever. We think of seminal product introductions: Macintosh in 1984, Windows 95 in 1995, iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010. Here is my prediction: Some time already before 2012 is over, we will look at 2011 as being the year of the commercial introduction of the Google Chrome OS PCs as an equally seminal event.
Why do I believe Google Chrome OS will decimate Windows PC sales? Because the product is vastly better for a large share of users. What are the main advantages? There are three.
1. Chrome OS is faster;
2. Chrome OS is more secure;
3. Chrome OS is cheaper.
Chrome OS argument No. 1: Speed.
Chrome OS boots much faster than Windows and Mac. Remember, what is one key source of popularity of the iPad? Because it's "instant on."
Well, nothing is exactly instant on if you are doing a proper full reboot, as opposed to waking up the device from sleep, but you get the point.
What are the numbers?
The Chrome OS prototype laptop displays the login screen in 10 seconds from a cold boot. My new MacBook Pro takes 50 seconds to do the same, and my Windows laptop 55 seconds. Then you have to enter your password, and when you've done that and see the workspace for the first time, Chrome OS is at 30 seconds, compared to the Mac's 60 seconds and my Windows machine at 1 minute and 15 seconds.
But wait, there's more. While the Chrome OS laptop is completely done at 30 seconds, the Mac and Windows laptop need more time to load all the various icons representing programs and so forth. By the time they're truly done, the Mac is at 1 minute and 50 seconds, and the Windows machine at about 10 minutes, yes, 10 minutes.
It's hard to emphasize enough how important boot-up speed is. The time it takes to get going with your laptop is critical to productivity and desire to use the machine. Few things are as frustrating as waiting. In this all-important category, Chrome OS wins hands-down.
Chrome OS argument No. 2: Security.
Traditional PCs have many inherent security holes. Malicious programs can be installed without the user knowing about it. Chrome OS turns this whole concept on its head, in that no programs can be installed. All that's going on is an OS and a browser -- and the OS treats the browser as a hostile program. Supposedly, nothing you do inside the browser can spill over into the OS.
That said, let's say someone was able to overcome this obstacle and cause some damage to the Chrome OS. Because of the fact that the Chrome OS reboots so much faster (4 times) than the fastest of its competition, you end up choosing to reboot properly so much more often because it's not a pain! Every time you reboot, Chrome OS checks the OS against a read-only part of the boot-loader to ensure that there has been no tampering to the OS. I don't see how an OS can get more secure than this.
It is interesting to contrast this unique level of security with Google's other OS -- Android. It is widely thought that Android lags behind Apple's iOS and Research In Motion's (RIMM)BlackBerry OS in terms of security.
Chrome OS is as radically different of an architecture as it gets.
One testimony in favor of Chrome OS is that the US Army Intelligence has been testing it almost exclusively because of its superior security characteristics. Remember, RIM built a very successful company with over 55 million users on its superior security attributes.
Chrome OS argument No. 3: Cost.
Most of the cost of owning a PC has little to do with the up-front price of purchasing the device. It has everything to do with tech support over the device's lifetime. A full-blown PC such as Mac or Windows is a complicated system, causing trouble for most users, and requiring time over the phone or in a store to fix. Some people suggest that a $400 laptop may cost 10 times as much ($4,000) to own over its lifetime simply because of the time it takes for you to be on the phone with tech support. Ask any company (or school district) how much they budget for the all-in cost of a PC for three to four years. Many people buy three-year tech support policies for $250 to $350.
With Chrome OS, you can pretty much forget about any software tech-support costs for the life of the device. Yes, you can always drop that laptop onto a marble floor and have to get a new one, but even that is a much simpler and cheaper replacement process than for any other PC. Aside from security, the reason not only employers and schools but also individuals are likely to choose Chrome OS starting in the third quarter, is the dramatically lower life-time cost. I detailed some of this in my article from December 20.
Chrome OS in 2011: The Launch
Acer and Samsung will launch initial Chrome OS devices by the third quarter. I believe all other PC makers will join within months thereafter, with the exceptions being Apple andHewlett-Packard (HPQ), both of whom have other OS agendas: Apple with iOS and HP with WebOS.
The first form factors are likely to be laptops -- 11-, 12-, 13-, 14-, 15- and perhaps even 17-inch versions. I imagine prices will start at $299. In addition, it should be very easy for Acer, Samsung and others to make really cheap desktop versions for $199 or less. Perhaps we could even see the first mainstream $99 PCs. By the end of 2011, I imagine over 10 million Chrome OS laptops and desktops sold, with plenty of upside in short order.
Chrome OS in 2012 and Beyond: Tablets and Smartphones
If the Chrome OS architecture is the right one for traditional PCs, it's possible that it may also be the right ones for tablets and smartphones. After all, security is as important on those devices as it is on a PC. We are going to a world of ubiquitous wireless access -- 4G as well as WiFi -- and HTML 5 and the Web pose a strong argument against local apps. I can see this happen by 2013.
Chrome OS Weaknesses
Google's Chrome OS is not for every person in every situation. It probably won't satisfy gamers. As of today, it does not run iTunes. It doesn't have offline storage for Google Docs today (or at least I don't know how to make that work). In particular, I believe it is critical for Chrome OS to enable some local file storage similar to Dropbox, so that you can continue to work uninterrupted if your network connection disappears, however briefly. If Google can only fix this one thing, I see only a clear runway for Chrome OS to massacre Microsoft's Windows PC market share starting in the third quarter
We have been reporting on various things from the Pwn2Own contest including how the iPhone 4 was hacked by Charlie Miller using Safari to swipe the entire addressbook and also how in the battle of the browsers Chrome stood strong and untouched.
Now we wanted to inform you of just how well Google did in this hackers paradise.Chrome survived and so did Android as unhacked so well done to Google. They must have been pretty confident in their browser as there was a cash prize up for grabs of 20k for anyone or team that could exploit the browser on day one, talk about putting your money where your mouth is.
So despite all of the malware that has been popping up in the Android market recently the notebook that they had at the event (CR-48) survived the attacks of hackers who tried to break it, Shane McGlaun over at androidcommunity says that it’s nice to see because of the recent malware problems in the Android Market. Windows 7 also managed to survive the exploitations and come out unscathed.
If the Pwn2Own 2011 contest is something you would like to read more about then head over to ibtimes where one of their authors has rounded up all of the exploits as well as those who stood strong in his round up.
What are your views on hacking? Are you surprised that Google’s OS and browser survived the onslaught? Let us know in the comments section below.
Shah Rukh Khan has reportedly decided to commission a videogame based on his upcoming movie RA.One, a source has revealed. The PlayStation game is currently in production in Los Angeles and will be used as a promotional tool, The Times of India reports. A source said: "There will be two main characters in the game, G.One and RA.One. Besides these two, there will be other fighters too. Basically, it's a fight game." Khan has allegedly been thinking about the game for a year, but the deal with the makers of the game only recently secured. The My Name is Khan star reportedly wants to ensure that the fighters in the game will have the same look and weapons as their characters in the film. Saif Ali Khan has also said that he wants to launch a PlayStation game for his upcoming film Agent Vinod.
Fresh from its fantastic new trailer that announced its Oscar candidacy, Super 8 has unveiled its new poster and it’s just as thoughtful, whimsical and tantalizing as its preview. With the money shot names of JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg prominently featured, it also has a sideways perspective that recalls the knocked-over super-8 camera that may or may not have recorded whatever was in that train. Unless you’re Christopher Rosen, check out the poster below!
And since I’m absolutely 100% positive Chris isn’t reading this, I’ll just say that the brother couldn’t be more wrong about Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban and Iron Man 2. Still love ya, boo!post by movieline.
Justin Bartha has confirmed that his character Doug will be appearing in the upcoming sequel to The Hangover, despite being absent from the film's recent teaser trailer. Bartha also claimed that, contrary to what people might have expected, Doug will be playing a much larger role in the follow-up than he did in the first film. "Doug isn't lost in this one," Bartha explained to Empire . "There are similar circumstances, but he's a little bit more involved," The actor also warned fans of the original not to dismiss the sequel as a simple cash-in, and promised that it would stand up to the high quality of the first film. "Well your first instinct is to think, 'Sequel - s**tty version of the first film out to make money'," Bartha added. "But as soon as that thought entered my head I remembered; this is a movie written and directed by Todd Phillips with the cast and crew of The Hangover." The Hangover: Part II is due to be released in US cinemas on May 26, and in the UK on May 27.
Apple Inc. may have sold as many as 500,000 iPad 2 computers after retail outlets ran out of the tablet-style device on its debut weekend, said Piper Jaffray Cos. analyst Gene Munster.
Stores run by Apple, Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. contacted by Munster’s team had sold out of the device, he said in a research note yesterday. Online orders via Apple’s website are taking up to a month for delivery, up from less than a week when sales began.
Early estimates suggest demand for iPads remains buoyant even as competitors such as Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. enter the tablet market. Apple sold more than 300,000 units of the first iPad in the 24 hours after its April debut.
“IPads are sold out across virtually all channels,” Munster said in the research note. “We were unable to find any availability.”
Munster said Apple will probably surpass his early prediction that 5.5 million iPads would be sold this quarter, which ends this month. Munster, based in Minneapolis, said that 70 percent of the customers surveyed by his team were first-time iPad buyers, signaling Apple is expanding its user base.
Apple may have sold three times as many iPad 2s in the debut as the first iPad, according to Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with Global Equities Research. All of the handful of Best Buy stores surveyed by Global Equities sold out of the iPad in four minutes, Chowdhry wrote.
Thinner, Lighter Model
The new model, which comes in white and black, is lighter, thinner, includes a more powerful processor and has front and rear cameras. It ranges in price from $499 for a base model to $829 for the top-of-the-line version.
Materials used in the iPad 2 cost about $326.60, according to research firm IHS ISuppli, which based its analysis on a version that has 32 gigabytes of memory and works with the mobile phone standard know as global system for mobile communications. That’s up from $320 for the earlier model.
Apple expanded the number of retail outlets where the device was available, including 236 retails stores in the U.S. and thousands of AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, Best Buy, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and Target stores.
“Demand for the next-generation iPad has been amazing and we are working hard to get iPad 2 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible,” said Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple. The company has not issued a first-weekend sales figure for the iPad 2.
Apple similarly didn’t have enough of the iPhone 4 in the days after its June introduction.
102 Tablets In Works
Through December, Apple had sold 14.8 million iPads, generating $9.6 billion in sales, making it one of the fastest- selling consumer-electronic devices in history.
Rivals including Motorola Mobility, Samsung Electronics Co., Research In Motion Ltd. andHewlett-Packard Co. are introducing tablet computers to compete with the iPad. Overall, there are 102 tablets from 64 makers either on sale or in development, according to consulting firm PRTM.
On March 11, hundreds of people lined up at the Fifth Avenue store in New York. Store workers handed out free hot chocolate and water to those waiting.
“I’m a student, and I hate carrying my laptop to school. It’s like five pounds and the iPad is a lot lighter,” said Jay Narang, 19, a sophomore at Baruch College. “I was going to get the first one, but I knew they were going to come out with one with cameras, so why not just wait?”
Francis Degode, 44, lives outside of Brussels and said he came to New York for the release because it would take too long to get one at home. Degode got in line at 6 a.m. in the rain on March 11 to get his first iPad.
“The iPad 2 is faster, and there are two cameras. It’s very useful,” Degode said. “It’s the gadget of the year.”
The iPad 2 goes on sale in 26 more countries, including Belgium and elsewhere in Europe, on March 25.
Apple rose $5.32 to $351.99 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading on March 11. The shares have risen 9.1 percent this year.
Apple will make its new and improved tablet available in North America at 5pm today
Apple's iPad 2 was unveiled at the start of March and includes the Apple A5 processor - up to twice as fast as the Apple A4 and capable of 9x faster graphics than the original iPad.
iPad 2 also features front and back cameras, for taking stills, video and facetime video calls. The device is currently available to pre-order from Apple, and has the same pricing structure as its predecessor, starting at $499 (just over £300).
“iPad 2 launches in the UK on 25 March”
Apple unleashed the promised iOS version 4.3 on Wednesday - the update includes improved features and security measures.
For what the iPad 2 could mean for gaming check out our feature, or read our list for the top games you need to show off your iPad or iPad 2.
iPad 2 launches in the UK on 25 March, as well as numerous other territories including Mexico, New Zealand, Spain and other European countries.
"Battle: Los Angeles," an action film filled with chaos and destruction, bombed the competition at the box office this weekend, leaving "Mars Needs Moms" in need of a rescue mission.
"Mars Needs Moms," a performance-capture film that cost Walt Disney Studios around $150 million to produce, grossed only a studio-estimated $6.8 million, making it the lowest opening ever for a 3-D animated film debuting in more than 2,000 theaters. The family film was annihilated by the $36-million haul of "Battle: Los Angeles," which centers on a Marine unit's struggle against aliens invading the city. "Mars" also fell behind the weekend's other new release, a gothic retelling of "Red Riding Hood," which opened to a so-so $14.1 million.
A largely male contingent went to see "Battle," and while young men loved the movie, general audiences gave it an average grade of B, according to market research firm CinemaScore.
Rory Bruer, Sony Pictures' distribution president, attributed some of the film's success to its ability to attract minority audiences with an ethnically diverse cast that includes Latina actress Michelle Rodriguez and African American singer Ne-Yo.
"From everything we've seen, it was certainly resonating very strongly with Hispanic and African American audiences. The diversity of the cast was perfect, and they were all over the media to make this work," he said, adding that star Aaron Eckhart also traveled to armed-services bases to screen the film for troops.
"Battle" was co-financed by Sony and Relativity Media for about $75 million, according to two people close to the production, although a Sony spokesperson said tax incentives brought that figure down to $70 million.
Overseas, where the movie is titled "World Invasion: Battle: Los Angeles" in some countries to broaden its appeal, Sony also saw good results. It opened to $16.7 million in 33 foreign markets. It was the No. 1 film in Russia, where it grossed $4.6 million, and also took the top spot in South Korea, the United Kingdom and India.
Conversely, "Mars Needs Moms" grossed only $2.1 million in the 14 foreign markets in which it opened. Traditionally, animated family films have been one of the most successful genres for Hollywood both overseas and in the U.S. In 2010, the highest-grossing film worldwide was "Toy Story 3," and four other animated films made it into last year's top 10, including "Shrek Forever After" and "Tangled." Many studios are already banking on the success of their animated tent poles out this summer, like DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda 2" and Disney's "Cars 2."
For "Mars Needs Moms" to fare so poorly — especially given that 3-D receipts boosted its grosses — makes it a blight on the record of a studio known for its repeated success with animated films. It also shows that no matter how seemingly reliable the animated genre is, the formula doesn't always hold up.
Still, it's unclear what went wrong with "Mars Needs Moms," which, on the surface, seems to have no glaring problems. Audiences who saw the movie enjoyed it as much as "Battle," also giving the film a B. Not surprisingly, the movie played best with families, who were 88% of the audience, and 68% of its business came from 3-D receipts.
Some in the industry suggested that the maternal overtones of the film's title turned off adolescents, or that the performance-capture technology used to animate the characters gave the movie an unfamiliar look. (The technology, in which live actors' facial and body movements are mapped onto animated characters, has been seen before, however, in successful family films like "The Polar Express.")
Chuck Viane, president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios, shrugged off both of those suggestions.
"Honestly, I've never seen a movie — possibly with the exception of 'The Shawshank Redemption' — where the title made a difference," he said. "We're as perplexed as anyone as to what the circumstances were, and we're all disappointed because our filmmakers worked hard and put in a couple of years of their life to make an exceptionally well-made 3-D movie."
The moderate debut for "Red Riding Hood" came from its largely female audience, 56% of whom were younger than 24. The movie, which stars Amanda Seyfried as a strong-willed teenager in a love triangle and was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, cost Warner Bros. $42 million. Though the movie is off to an OK start, it won't come close to replicating the success of Hardwicke's 2008 "Twilight." Despite poor reviews, audiences didn't hate the film, giving it an average grade of B-minus.
Last weekend's No. 1 film, Paramount's computer-animated "Rango," held up well. After opening to a decent $38.1 million, the film dropped only 39%, grossing $23.1 million for a strong second-place finish this weekend. It was unclear whether moviegoers would continue to turn up to see "Rango" after initial audiences gave it the weak average grade of C-plus. But it appears the movie, which stars Johnny Depp as the voice of a chameleon, will have a healthy box-office life.post by latimes.
Rumours began last summer that Google was gearing up to take on Facebook with a big social product codenamed “Google Me”. While no such fully formed product has emerged since, we’ve heard word today that it’s scheduled to launch at this year’s I/O developers’ conference on 10 and 11 May.
While Google CEO Eric Schmidt suggested in September last year that a ‘social layer’ was coming to all the company’s products, it’s yet to materialise.
That said, many of its products have had social features added in recent months.Place reviews in Google Maps, personalised news, increasingly social search results and experiments with Foursquare-like features are just some of the examples of late. Throw in the acquisition of socially focused apps developer Slide back in August 2010, and it’s clear that the company is planning a more social future.
So, could the service launch at I/O? For the past two years, Google has made big product launches at the conference. Two years ago saw Wave make its debut and last year, Google TV was unveiled. That said, Wave has since been effectively mothballed, while Google TV is yet to make a real mark. If “Google Me” does show its face this May (not necessarily under that specific name), the company will surely be hoping for ‘third time lucky’.original post by thenextweb.
Guinness World Records has confirmed that the Kinect for the Xbox 360 has cracked the world record for fastest selling consumer electronics device for a period of 60 days. Microsoft managed to sell an average of 133,333 Kinect units per day, making a total of 8 million units in its first 60 days of sale from 4 November 2010 to 3 January 2011.
If you think about it, this means that every hour over 5 thousand people bought the Kinect. Impressive numbers indeed, but the story doesn’t end there. Today marks the day of an even bigger achievement for Microsoft, as the company announced that they have sold their 10th million Kinect. Not only that, but along with them they sold over 10 million standalone games specially designed to makes use of the sensor, too.
In comparison, Kinect’s main rivals – the PlayStation Move and the Wii with its Wiimote can’t brag about their sales so much. PlayStation’s Move sense controller sold merely 4.1 million units for roughly 2 months (from September 20 last year, when it was launched, to November 30). And as far as the Wii goes, Nintendo reported back in January that it sold 7 million units in 2010, which doesn’t seem too good, compared to the 10 million consoles it shipped in 2008.post by blog gsmarena.
As he had already predicted, cracker Charlie Miller has won the PWN2OWN contest by cracking Safari and Mac OS X within seconds of the start of the competition. “It took a couple of seconds. They clicked on the link and I took control of the machine,” Miller said after his accomplishment. He took home the USD 10000 prize, as well as the MacBook he performed the exploit on. Internet Explorer 8 fell a while later by cracker Nils, who also cracked Safari and Firefox after being done with IE8.
Miller cracked Safari running on a fully patched installation of Mac OS X on a MacBook. The details of the exploit will not be given out until Apple has published a patch to ensure that others don’t run with the exploit and abuse it. This is the second year in a row that Safari on the Mac is the first to fall in the PWN2OWN contest, again by Miller’s hands.
A while after, Internet Explorer 8, running on Windows 7, also fell. Windows 7 was running on a Sony Vaio P, and was cracked by a cracker named Nils, who wishes to remain anonymous. He also won a cash prize and got to keep the Vaio P. Several Microsoft security folk were on sight to witness the exploit. This exploit is also kept under wraps until Microsoft releases a patch. Later on, Nils also broke into Safari (Mac) and Firefox.
All the cracks happened on day one of the contest, which means the operating systems and browsers were fully patched, with no additional plugins loaded. So far, only Chrome hasn’t been cracked yet, but that probably won’t take long, seeing how quick the first browsers were exploited.
Still on the table… this year’s contest will also offer a $10,000 prize for every vulnerability successfully exploited in Windows Mobile, Android, Symbian, and the iPhone and BlackBerry OSes. The competition runs through Friday… so it ain’t over yet.
The newest version of Chrome 10 has finally been launched, and it is filled with fun new features that should please the masses. One of the best features is password management, which allows for synching multiple comps with the same settings. There is also passphrase data encryption that takes security to the next level by ensuring that your passwords stay secure, should you ever have your data hacked. Google says that it “uses a cryptographic key generated from your Google Account password.” Another thing that Google has done to improve security is quarter off Flash so security problems wouldn’t threaten outside systems.
The latest Chrome update also includes faster Javascript, and a new Settings tab. The Settings tab allows you to flip between Google’s settings of “Basic,” “Personal,” and “Under the Hood.” The new settings tab also includes a search box in the left nav panel, which enables you access settings for whatever keyword you in. The new Javascript tech is dubbed “CrankShaft,” and it works by ameliorating the engine speed for optimization.
If you haven’t yet downloaded Chrome, you will find that Chrome 10 is now available. Everyone who has Chrome already will have their browsers automatically updated to the next version.
In related news, the Pwn2Own hacking competition started Wednesday, in Canada. Before the competition commenced, Google quickly fixed 25 vulnerabilities, 15 of which were rated “high,” which is the tier below the most severe ranking. In total, Google paid $16,174 to hackers who clued them in before the competition started. The man who took home the most money from this was Sergey Glazunov, who took home a nice $6500. So far in Pwn2Own, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are safe, butInternet Explorer 8 and Safari were taken down. George Hotz had signed up to hack Chrome, but was a no show (probably because of his current legal problems).original post by reviewsofelectronics.
Google Chrome 10 stable has released and it comes with a surprising number of new features
New Setting Interface. The options dialog is now a web page that opens in a new tab. [screenshot]
Default page zoom value. Go to the Options page and select "Under the hood" (or paste chrome://settings/advanced in the address bar) and change the "page zoom" value.
Synchronize passwords option is not enabled by default and it requires your confirmation before saving your passwords to your Google Account. There's even an extra security feature that lets you choose a custom encryption passphrase, so that your passwords are safe even if someone guesses your Google Account password. [screenshot]
Reorder the apps from the new tab page using drag and drop. [screenshot]
New V8 JavaScript engine, named "Crankshaft" is 66% faster than Chrome 9.
Hardware acceleration for Web videos. Traditionally, web browsers relied entirely on the CPU to render web page content. Chrome 10 can take advantage of the GPU. You can test it on YouTube's HTML5 site.
Adobe Flash plugin is sanboxed in Chrome 10 for Windows. This is one of the reasons why Google decided to bundle the plugin with Chrome.
Run in the background. Apps and extensions that use the new background feature can continue to run in the background — even if the user closes down all of Chrome's windows. Gmail's notification will now work even after closing Chrome. To find all the extensions and apps that support backgrounding, click "view background pages" in Chrome's menu and check the highlighted items.
Chrome disables certain outdated plugins (Adobe Reader, Java or QuickTime) by default and provides an option to update to the latest version.
Google has released Google Chrome 10 to the stable channel, making the update available to everyone. Last month, Google released the first public beta of Chrome 10, which showed off the browser's updated V8 JavaScript engine known as "Crankshaft," which offers a boost in performance of no less than 66% in Google's V8 benchmark suite compared to Chrome 9.0 Stable. Google revised the settings interface, and a handful of other features. Chrome 10 also puts Adobe Flash in the sandbox on Windows machines, includes encrypted password sync in Chrome Sync by default, supports hardware acceleration for HTML 5 video (while removing support for the H.264 codec), as well as for background WebApps, webNavigation extension API, and improved malware reporting. post by cio and winmatrix.
RockMelt can now be downloaded without an invitation! RockMelt is a new social browser made by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen. It's built around Facebook, realtime feeds, and faster search. RockMelt is a Chromium based browser, so Google's Chrome users won't find it difficult to switch.
Transform Windows 7 To Mac OS X Lion Support: - Windows 7 - X86(32Bit) and X64(64Bit) - Best Work in X86(32Bit) - All Language Versions Programs: Reshacker 3.5.2.84 by Angus Johnson [link] Universal Theme Patcher 1.5.0.22 by deepxw [link] Moveex 1.0.1 by Frank P.Westlake [link] JPGtoBMP 1.0 by efg's Computer Labs [link] Leftsider 1.0.3 by hsiw [link] RocketDock 1.3.5 by punk software [link] UberIcon 1.0.4 by punk software [link] VirtuaWin 4.1.0.7 by Johan Piculell [link] YzShadow 1.9 by M.Yamaguchi [link] Download: http://hameddanger.d...Seven-200630438
Chromium, the open source, 'avant-garde' development version of Google Chrome has introduced a few new features in the latest versions, both visual and practical. One cool change is the brand new Chromium logo, the first revamp since the project started.
There are a couple of experimental features related to usability and the UI and also a few relating to hardware acceleration and 3D content. The new Chromium logo does look rather similar to the old one, for obvious reasons, but is somewhat more refined and more polished. Despite having simplified lines, it feels better defined than the logo it's replacing. The new logo is visible in the About box, the biggest in-app version, but also in the new tab page. Of course, it also replaces the default Chromium icon used by the operating system. While Chrome and Chromium do maintain separate identities, the revamp signals a similarly redesigned logo landing in Chrome soon enough as well, perhaps even in the next dev channel release. The two logos have always been identical, apart from the color scheme. The Chromium logo features shades of blue, while the Chrome logo is made up of the Google colors. On a more practical note, the latest versions of Chromium also feature quite a few new experimental flags. For example, there's an improved Omnibox which does a better job at matching URL's you have visited to what you're typing. With substring and multi-fragment matching, the enhanced Omnibox should be even better at recovering and providing the history suggestions that are the most relevant to what you're typing. Another small tweak hidden behind a flag works similar to Firefox 4's Switch to Tab, a functionality we knew the Chrome team was already working on. With the "Focus existing tab on open" experiment enabled, choosing an URL that is already opened in a different tab from the Omnibox will bring that tab to the foreground rather than opening the URL in a new one. Another interesting addition, also in the experimental zone, is a FPS counter which shows up when hardware acceleration is enabled as a way of monitoring performance. It's of no real use to regular users, but regular users wouldn't be running Chromium in the first place.original post by winmatrix.
TOKYO — A ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded slammed Japan’s eastern coast today, killing hundreds of people as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of control. Tsunami warnings blanketed the entire Pacific, as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West Coast.
Police said 200 to 300 bodies have been found in the northeastern coastal city of Sendai. Police said another 88 were confirmed killed and 349 were missing.
The death toll was likely to continue climbing given the scale of the disaster.
The magnitude 8.9 offshore quake unleashed a 23-foot tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks for hours, many of them of more than magnitude 6.0.
U.S. President Barack Obama voiced condolences to Japan today for the people who perished in a massive earthquake, saying the United States "stands ready to help" in any way it can.
At the same time, Obama said in a statement that his administration will "continue to closely monitor tsunamis around Japan and the Pacific going forward" and he directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be ready to help if U.S. states or territories are struck.
Obama’s chief of staff Bill Daley notified the president about the earthquake in Japan at 4 a.m. Washington time. Obama said the U.S. is ready to support the Japanese people "in this time of great trial."
"The friendship and alliance between our two nations is unshakeable," he said, "and only strengthens our resolve to stand with the people of Japan as they overcome this tragedy."
Obama had earlier scheduled a White House news conference for late-morning today and was expected to discuss the situation in Japan at that time.
"Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the people of Japan, particularly those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake and tsunamis," Obama’s statement said.
The Pentagon said earlier that the U.S. Pacific Command reported all American military personnel in Japan had been accounted for. Press secretary Geoff Morrell said there are no reports of injuries to U.S. personnel there or damage to U.S. installations or ships in the area.
The Japanese government ordered thousands of residents near a nuclear power plant in Onahama city to evacuate because the plant’s system was unable to cool the reactor. The reactor was not leaking radiation but its core remained hot even after a shutdown.
The plant is 170 miles northeast of Tokyo.
Dozens of cities and villages along a 1,300-mile stretch of coastline were shaken by violent tremors that reached as far away as Tokyo, hundreds of miles from the epicenter.
“The earthquake has caused major damage in broad areas in northern Japan,” Prime Minister Naoto Kan said at a news conference.
Trouble was reported at two other nuclear plants as well, but there was no radiation leak at any.
Even for a country used to earthquakes, this one was of horrific proportions because of the tsunami that crashed ashore, swallowing everything in its path as it surged several miles inland before retreating. The apocalyptic images of surging water broadcast by Japanese TV networks resembled scenes from a Hollywood disaster movie.
Large fishing boats and other sea vessels rode high waves into the cities, slamming against overpasses or scraping under them and snapping power lines along the way.
Upturned and partially submerged vehicles were seen bobbing in the water. Ships anchored in ports crashed against each other.
The highways to the worst-hit coastal areas were severely damaged and communications, including telephone lines, were snapped. Train services in northeastern Japan and in Tokyo, which normally serve 10 million people a day, were also suspended, leaving untold numbers stranded in stations or roaming the streets.
Tokyo’s Narita airport was closed indefinitely.
Jesse Johnson, a native of Nevada who lives in Chiba, north of Tokyo, was eating at a sushi restaurant with his wife when the quake hit.
“At first it didn’t feel unusual, but then it went on and on. So I got myself and my wife under the table,” he told the Associated Press. “I’ve lived in Japan for 10 years and I’ve never felt anything like this before. The aftershocks keep coming. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t know whether it’s me shaking or an earthquake.”
Waves of muddy waters flowed over farmland near the city of Sendai, carrying buildings, some on fire, inland as cars attempted to drive away. Sendai airport, north of Tokyo, was inundated with cars, trucks, buses and thick mud deposited over its runways. Fires spread through a section of the city, public broadcaster NHK reported.
More than 300 houses were washed away in Ofunato City alone. Television footage showed mangled debris, uprooted trees, upturned cars and shattered timber littering streets.
The tsunami roared over embankments, washing anything in its path inland before reversing directions and carrying the cars, homes and other debris out to sea. Flames shot from some of the houses, probably because of burst gas pipes.
“Our initial assessment indicates that there has already been enormous damage,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said. “We will make maximum relief effort based on that assessment.”
He said the Defense Ministry was sending troops to the quake-hit region. A utility aircraft and several helicopters were on the way.
A large fire erupted at the Cosmo oil refinery in Ichihara city in Chiba prefecture and burned out of control with 100-foot-high flames whipping into the sky.
From northeastern Japan’s Miyagi prefecture, NHK showed footage of a large ship being swept away and ramming directly into a breakwater in Kesennuma city.
NHK said more than 4 million buildings were without power in Tokyo and its suburbs.
Also in Miyagi, a fire broke out in a turbine building of a nuclear power plant, but it was later extinguished, said Tohoku Electric Power Co. the company said.
A reactor area of a nearby plant was leaking water, the company said. But it was unclear if the leak was caused by tsunami water or something else. There were no reports of radioactive leaks at any of Japan’s nuclear plants.
Jefferies International Limited, a global investment banking group, said it estimated overall losses to be about $10 billion.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 2:46 p.m. quake was a magnitude 8.9, the biggest earthquake to hit Japan since officials began keeping records in the late 1800s, and one of the biggest ever recorded in the world.
The quake struck at a depth of six miles, about 80 miles off the eastern coast, the agency said. The area is 240 miles northeast of Tokyo.
A tsunami warning was extended to a number of Pacific, Southeast Asian and Latin American nations, including Japan, Russia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Chile. In the Philippines, authorities ordered an evacuation of coastal communities, but no unusual waves were reported.
Thousands of people fled their homes in Indonesia after officials warned of a tsunami up to 6 feet high. But waves of only 4 inches were measured. No big waves came to the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, either.
The first waves hit Hawaii about 9 a.m. EST today. Officials predicted they would experience waves up to 6 feet.
In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo. The tremor bent the upper tip of the iconic Tokyo Tower, a 1,093-foot steel structure inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Osamu Akiya, 46, was working in Tokyo at his office in a trading company when the quake hit.
It sent bookshelves and computers crashing to the floor, and cracks appeared in the walls.
“I’ve been through many earthquakes, but I’ve never felt anything like this,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to get home tonight.”
Footage on NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks. It also showed a glass shelter at a bus stop in Tokyo smashed by the quake and a weeping woman nearby being comforted by another woman.
Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday that caused no damage.
Hiroshi Sato, a disaster management official in northern Iwate prefecture, said officials were having trouble getting an overall picture of the destruction.
“We don’t even know the extent of damage. Roads were badly damaged and cut off as tsunami washed away debris, cars and many other things,” he said.
Dozens of fires were reported in northern prefectures of Fukushima, Sendai, Iwate and Ibaraki. Collapsed homes and landslides were also reported in Miyagi.
Japan’s worst previous quake was in 1923 in Kanto, an 8.3-magnitude temblor that killed 143,000 people, according to USGS. A 7.2-magnitude quake in Kobe city in 1996 killed 6,400 people.
Japan lies on the Ring of Fire — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching around the Pacific where about 90% of the world’s quakes occur, including the one that triggered the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 12 nations. A magnitude-8.8 temblor that shook central Chile last February also generated a tsunami and killed 524 people.
Associated Press writers Jay Alabaster, Julie Pace, Mari Yamaguchi, Tomoko A. Hosaka and Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.original post by freep.
