from yahoo.com

The long wait is over, the rumors are over, and at last, the Apple tablet is a reality. Armed with a 9.7-inch display, just a half-inch thick, and weighing just a pound and a half, the iPad is ... well, it's essentially just a big iPhone, albeit with a price tag that's a lot cheaper than I was expecting. Not bad, but if you were hoping for a revolutionary new product, prepare to be disappointed.
Now, before we begin, let me stress that this is not a review; Apple's big presentation today only happened a few hours ago, and I haven't had a chance to hold the iPad in my hot little hands yet. These are just prelimiary impressions based on today's announcement. A full review will have to wait until I've got a shipping iPad in the Yahoo! Tech testing lab (also known as my apartment).

So, with that little caveat out of the way ... let's get started with a few specifics, shall we?

The Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-enabled iPad (yup, that's the name Apple settled upon) will do pretty much anything an iPhone can do—including e-mail, Web browsing, calendar and event managements, photos, music and video, and apps (it'll be able to run "virtually" any app in the App Store, we're told). You'll also be able to buy books on the new iBooks store (more on that in a minute) and work on office documents using a custom version of Apple's iWork suite, all with the help on a virtual, nearly full-size QWERTY keypad.

Pricing? Much cheaper than I thought it would be: just $499 for the entry-level 16GB model, far less than the $999 price tag that many had predicted (and/or feared). You'll also be able to get a 32GB version for $599, while the 64GB flavor will cost you $699.

And yes, as predicted, 3G models will be available as well, with prepaid, no-contract plans for AT&T (and only AT&T, it should be said); expect to pay $29 a month for unlimited data, or $14 for 250MB a month ("more than a month" for most people, said a still-thin but otherwise healthy looking Steve Jobs ... which might true, so long as you don't browse too much or watch too many streaming videos). iPads with embedded 3G will cost $150 above and beyond the price of the non-3G versions (so $649 for the 16GB version, $749 for the 32GB model, and so on).

When will the iPad ship? In 60 days, Jobs promised, with an extra 30-day wait for the 3G models.

And how about battery life? Expect 10 hours, according to Sir Steve, plus a month of stand-by time. (And yes, the battery is encased in the iPad shell.)

So then ... what does the iPad do that's so special, exactly? Well ... as I said right up front, we're basically talking a big iPhone/iPod Touch here. You've got the same basic iPhone look—including the big touchscreen and the Home key at the bottom—only super-sized.

For Web browsing, for instance, you can now see an entire Web page (and be able to read the text) in one shot (although no, Flash is still not supported). When you read your e-mail messages now, you can view your inbox on the left side of the screen while you have a message open, and you've got a much bigger virtual QWERTY keypad to deal with. Now when you browse your music, you're looking at an interface that more closely resembles the desktop version of iTunes. The on-screen calendar looks like a big monthly calendar, not just a series of little numbered boxes. Mapping on the iPad is also bigger (and yes, still powered by Google), and, I suppose, better.

You'll also be able to run "nearly" every app in the App Store, either at a reduced "pixel-for-pixel" size or full screen via the magic of pixel doubling. The current Facebook app, for example, will work just fine on the iPad ... it's just a lot bigger. And in case you were wondering, well ... no, you can't run multiple apps at once, on the same iPad screen (as I was hoping).

More interesting is the potential for app developers to build apps that take advantage of the iPad's jumbo display. A revamped version of Gameloft's first-person shooter "N.O.V.A." was shown off that featured new multitouch gestures such as swiping three fingers to open a door, or two fingers to toss a grenade. On the "Need for Speed" driving game, there's now enough room to include a touch-enabled stick shift, as well as a rear-view mirror that you can tap.

We also got our first glimpse at some of the much-hyped newspaper apps for the iPad, including an app for the New York Times that looked more like a real newspaper than a phone app, complete with movable columns, slideshows, streaming video, and the ability to read in landscape or portrait modes. Not bad, but that's about all we saw from the magazine/newspaper standpoint—surprising, given all the ink that's been spilled over how the Apple tablet will supposedly revolutionize/save the publishing business.
Speaking of publishing ... yes, Jobs touted the iPad as a Kindle competitor, announcing a new e-book store called iBooks that'll let you buy and download books from five major publishers (including Penguin, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette). In terms of the e-books themselves, publishers can choose to "print" them in black & white or color, and you'll be able to change the font and font size if you wish. An initial glance at the pricing revealed several books that were conspicuously pricier than they are on the Kindle store, though.

Another new feature: a trio of productivity apps based on Apple's existing iWork suite, including Pages (for word processing), Numbers (spreadsheet), and Keynote (presentations). As you might expect, each app ($9.99 each in the App Store) takes advantage of all the iPad's touch features; for example, in Numbers, you can call up a specific virtual keypad for entering cell functions, which is a nice touch. However, since there's no true multitasking on the iPad, you can't, say, have a Web page open while you're composing a document in Pages. That's a major drawback in my book (at least in terms of using the iPad as a laptop replacement).

The iPad will come with three accessories, by the way: a standard dock that'll prop the device up for viewing videos, slideshows, or other documents; a dock with a physical keyboard attached; and a "really nice" case.

Missing features in the iPad: No built-in camera (so no, there's no facial recognition that would, for instance, automatically identify different family members and switch to their personalized iPad view). No TV subscriptions (as had been previously rumored). No Flash support for the Web browser.  No app multitasking. No haptic feedback for the virtual QWERTY keypad ... and indeed, nothing all that new on the UI front at all.

Overall, the most surprising thing about the iPad is the $499 price tag for the low-end model ... and that was a wise decision, because frankly, I still don't understand why I'd want an iPod in addition to my iPhone and my MacBook.

Am I disappointed in today's big announcement? Well, it's hard to imagine what Steve Jobs possibly could have unveiled today that would have lived up to the hype, and it'll take some time for the reality of the iPad to sink in (for me, anyway).

But my immediate reaction ... yep, disappointment. The iPad looks like an interesting refinement of the iPhone/iPod Touch model, but does it break the mold like the original iPhone did? Personally, I don't think so. Will I buy one? Probably yes, because tech is my business ... buy if I were the average gadget freak, I just don't know. Will it replace my laptop? Maybe while I'm lounging on the sofa (although browsing the Web on my iPhone suits me just fine, frankly), but certainly not during a business trip. 

Anyway, I really want to hear from you guys. What do you think? Excited by the iPad? Disappointed? Want to buy one? How about that name? Fire away below.

In their never-ending quest to provide you with hard-hitting journalism, "Cosmopolitan" magazine just put out a list of Things Men Think Are Overrated.  Some of them might surprise you.  Here they are . . .
 
#1.)  THE SMELL OF PERFUME.  It's okay, but "Cosmo" says guys prefer the smell of a woman's HAIR.

#2.)  A GIRL WHO WATCHES FOOTBALL.  If a woman truly likes football, that's great.  But if she's just watching it because she thinks a guy wants her to, it's a waste of time.  Guys appreciate the effort . . . but they're fine watching it alone.

#3.)  PICNICS.  Eating outside is great, but men prefer cookouts.  If you give a guy the choice between eating a sandwich out of a wicker basket, or a hamburger off a flaming grill, he'll almost ALWAYS choose the grill.

#4.)  BED AND BREAKFASTS.  Men prefer ANY other form of lodging.  At a bed and breakfast, the rooms are "cute" . . . which means they're LAME . . . breakfast is served WAY too early, and all the other guests are old.

#5.)  DOUBLE DATES.  They're usually a little awkward.  WOMEN are the ones who set them up, so they've at least got one friend there to talk to.  But the two guys are complete strangers.  And not all men can bond instantly.

#6.)  MAKE-UP SEX.  Guys think it's overrated because they hate fighting almost as much as they love sex, so there's really not much of a net gain with make-up sex.  And guys like regular sex just as much.
(Cosmopolitan.com)

Lifehouse – Halfway Gone
The Christian rockers are back, and with an alternative sound. Lifehouse for years have made a sound for themselves with songs like “You & Me”, “First Time”, & the mega-hit “Hanging my a moment”. With Halfway Gone Lifehouse sounds a bit pissed and to stress there anger they used a techno mixer and “wooooooooos” I must admit I've been a Lifehouse fan since their start but this sound could make any alternativee Death Cab fansplay-listst (even if this band is sooooo corporatete)

Pop/R&B superstar Rihanna will appear on Oprah! today as part of a broadcast that will raise money for the organization Hope for Haiti.

Rihanna is one of my favorite debut artists of the past ten years, and this project reinforces her Caribbean heritage in a sweet way after a year of scandal. Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” is one of the great anthems in the history of music. She effortlessly slips in the “hoo” at the end of the second verse a lot of artists choose to avoid (such as Stevie Wonder and even Bob Marley himself when he sang it live).

Thirty years after its initial release, it has themes that relate the situation in Haiti: technology vs. nature, rich vs. poor, or as the old saying goes, “man’s inhumanity to man.”

Rihanna told Oprah, “This song for me, growing up, anytime there was a difficult situation, I always listened to this song because it was so liberating,” said Rihanna. “Even now I listen to it when my back is up against the wall. I feel like the people of Haiti need to hear something inspiring.”

“Redemption Song” also includes a self-referential theme about the power of music, made all the more poignant by being the last song on the last Bob Marley album, “Uprising.”  As someone else tweeted about this version, “Bob Marley would be proud,” and I agree.

 I recieved an e-mailing today regarding a wonderful memorial to INXS's original front man, Michael Hutchence.  A Facebook profile created by Jim Guest is striving to push INXS's song "Don't Change" (from their 1982 album Shabooh Shoobah) to #1 on the charts before January 22nd. This date marks what would have been the late singer's 50th birthday. Approximately 2,000 downloads of this song from Amazon.com or Itunes between January 18th and 23rd in America would be needed to achieve our goal. Please take a look at this news article:

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/michael-hutchence-fans-want-an-inxs-no1/story-e6frfmqr-1225817495242

And refer to the Facebook profile for more information:

http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=232609958138&ref=mf

Here is the most recent publication about our cause:

http://cfmmusicscene.com/?p=1442

Take a listen to the song:

According to recent post on the band's webpage, The Gin Blossoms will be releasing their long awaited fifth studio album this spring, which will be followed by an extensive tour through the summer.  The album, a follow up to the band's 2006 release Major Lodge Victory, will be their first at their new label home 429 records.

This news got me excited, that I started to wikipedia them, found out about this deep cut... what a classic Blossoms sound.

According to posts on Chris Cornell's Twitter and MySpace pages, it appears that he and his former Soundgarden band mates will reunite after a 12 year hiatus.

"The 12 year break is over & school is back in session. Sign up now," Cornell's post read.  "Knights of the Soundtable ride again!"

The post also mentions the website http://www.soundgardenworld.com/ which appears to be the future homepage for the band.  Mysteriously no one else from Soundgarden has come out to confirm the rumors, or with any comments.  An official announcement with more details is expected soon.

One of the prominent grunge acts coming out of Seattle in the early 90's, Soundgarden went on to sell eight million records in the United States, and an estimated twenty million worldwide.  In the spring of 1997 the band announced their break up due to internal strife over its creative direction.

Cornell's posts confirming the band's reunion came at approximately midnight eastern time on January 1st, 2010. 

Linkin Park
When Chester Bennington launched his side project, Dead by Sunrise, in the fall of 2009, he made it clear that it was in no way going to affect the making of Linkin Park’s next album. Indeed, the band have spent most of 2009 working on their follow-up to 2007’s Minutes to Midnight, although they took a break to release “New Divide” as part of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen soundtrack. “They’re going to have to come up with a new genre name for what this record is,” singer Mike Shinoda bragged to Rolling Stone about their forthcoming record.

Radiohead
In 2009, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke released a solo track on the New Moon soundtrack, and the band put out a couple of one-off singles. Those releases, coupled with a comment by Yorke that the band didn’t want to focus on making traditional albums anymore, suggested that perhaps 2007’s In Rainbows was going to be the group’s last record for a while. But according to guitarist Ed O’Brien, the band will be putting out a new album in 2010 after recording over the winter. No idea what it will sound like or if Radiohead will do a pay-what-you-like online release again like they did with In Rainbows.

Stone Temple Pilots
In 2008, Stone Temple Pilots reunited for a tour, and in 2010 the band will be putting out their first new studio record in nine years. Working with veteran rock producer Don Was, the band hope to reclaim their commercial clout from the 1990s, when albums like Core and Purple went platinum many times over.

U2
Hot on the heels of the release of 2009’s No Line on the Horizon, U2 discussed releasing a companion album, just as they did with Zooropa after Achtung Baby back in the early ‘90s. If the Irish quartet decide to go that way, the album would be called Songs of Ascent and would feature a contemplative, introspective sound. But U2 may ultimately choose to pursue new material, or they might return to songs that were part of the aborted Rick Rubin sessions that didn’t make it onto No Line. Of course, there may also be no new U2 album in 2010 – the band members do have a pretty busy touring schedule ahead of them.

Aaron Lewis
Staind’s frontman has talked about putting out his first solo album since December 2008, but there’s still no official word about whether it’s happening. We may get a better idea at the beginning of 2010 when he hits the road for a two-month solo tour. Maybe he’ll pull out some new material for these shows?

Blink-182
Blink-182 reunited in 2009 for a successful U.S. tour. The band had wanted to put out an album before the tour, but logistics kept that from happening. So 2010 could be a year when we see a new Blink record – actually, we could see two. The band will be working on a record but so will drummer Travis Barker, who is shooting for a spring release of his first solo disc.

Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon will try to build on the success of 2008’s Only by the Night with their next album, which will come out some time in 2010. Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill has said that the Tennessee quartet were going to try to be “more adventurous” on their next album and mentioned that the new songs sound like everything from the Band to Radiohead to Thin Lizzy.