Monday 5 August 2013

Peter Capaldi is new 'Doctor Who' star

Peter Capaldi is new 'Doctor Who' star

Peter Capaldi has been named as the 12th Doctor, replacing Matt Smith in classic British sci-fi series.Doctor Who logoPeter Capaldi is the new Doctor. The 12th star of British TV show "Doctor Who" was announced live on the BBC Sunday, ready to replace Matt Smith as the time-travelling hero.
In "Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor," a half-hour special looking back over the 50-year history of the classic sci-fi show, the actor playing the next Doctor was revealed live on television for the first time. Glaswegian actor Capaldi previously appeared in the episode "The Fires of Pompeii" and "Who" spin-off "Torchwood" but is best known for playing the fabulously sweary Malcolm Tucker in "The Thick of It" and "In The Loop." Previous forays into fantasy include Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" and "World War Z," in which he played of all things a W.H.O. Doctor.
Now let's hear from the man himself:55-year-old Capaldi is also an Oscar winner, for his 1995 short film "Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life", starring Richard E. Grant -- who has also played the Doctor, albeit in a charity spoof episode and a non-canon animation.
Current TARDIS incumbent Matt Smith hands over his sonic screwdriver to the 12th Doctor in a special episode on December 25. "Who" head honcho Stephen Moffatt will then guide the new Doctor and companion Clara, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, into the eighth series of the show since "Doctor Who" was revived in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston in the lead role. Series 8 is expected to be broadcast in August 2014.
But before then, there's the small matter of a 50th birthday to celebrate. Alongside a drama about the creation of the show, Smith joins forces with previous Doctor David Tennant in a special 50th anniversary episode on 23 November. The special episode, also starring John Hurt, will be broadcast around the world exactly half a century after the show first put kids behind the sofa one momentous Saturday teatime in 1963.
The 50th anniversary will be shown in 3D and in cinemas too.
The 21st century Doctors follow earlier incarnations of the wandering Time Lord played in the show's original run by William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann.
What do you think of the new Doctor? Time-travel to the comments to tell me your thoughts. Allons-y, Geronimo, and another as-yet-unknown catchphrase!

iPhone's camera is awful, says new Nokia ad

iPhone's camera is awful, says new Nokia ad

Nokia decides to mock the iPhone 5 ad in which Apple claims more people take pictures with iPhone than any other camera. Nokia is about quality, it says.One way of justifying that you haven't sold as many gadgets as another manufacturer is to explain that you're all about quality, not quantity.
This fine argument has been used by Apple more than once.
In a new ad, Nokia picks it up and slaps Apple across the chops with it.
For here is Nokia taking Apple's rather presumptive ad about its camera -- you know, the one that claims more people take pictures with an iPhone than with any other camera -- and slathering derision all over it.
The ad lures you into believing this might be that very Apple ad, or at least another in the series.
Then the voice of Helsinki sinks its teeth into Apple's hubris: "At Nokia, we prefer to build for quality, not quantity."
This is a noble intent, one not currently believed by my engineer friend George, who has now had to have his Lumia 920 replaced four times.Here, though, Nokia tries to show several examples of what it sees as the sheer prosaic ordinariness of Apple's camera offering.
Here, pictures on the iPhone 5 resemble snaps from an Instamatic compared with the dazzling joys achieved by the Lumia 925.
Colors sing, action is captured by a veritable symphony of options.
Why would anyone buy an iPhone 5 after this? Why wouldn't everyone want an 8.7-megapixel camera, Carl Zeiss lens, and dual LED flash at their side all the time?
Especially when it can also text Pia about the new extra-pink Hello Kitty slippers its owner craves.
Clearly, Nokia has embraced the concept of its phones being a wonderful camera with a keyboard attached.
It's an understandable strategy, one that has already been expressed in the new Lumia 1020 ad.
Given that most people seem to use their phones for everything but actually talking to people, it's as well to own something that is identifiably yours.
Now, all Nokia has to do is to make its image a touch more contemporary. It can't readily make an ad suggesting all iPhone users are geriatric gum-grinders.
Samsung's already taken that space.

Apple launches third-party charger trade-in program

The power adapter swap comes on the heels of a death in China believed to have been linked to a counterfeit Apple USB power charger.In the wake of an electrocution in China reportedly linked to a third-party power adapter connected to an iPhone, Apple has launched a trade-in program to replace users' third-party chargers with its own.
Apple's power adapter.Noting that some third-party or counterfeit power adapters may be poorly designed and result in safety issues, Apple announced Monday that itsUSB Power Adapter Takeback Program will swap non-Apple chargers with its own for $10.
"Customer safety is a top priority at Apple," Apple said in a statement. "That's why all of our products -- including USB power adapters for iPhone, iPad, and iPod -- undergo rigorous testing for safety and reliability and are designed to meet government safety standards around the world."
Scrutiny of third-party and counterfeit chargers intensified last month after a 23-year-old Chinese woman was reportedly killed while answering a call on her iPhone 5, which is believed to have been connected to a third-party USB charger. In a separate incident, a 30-year-old man in Beijing was shocked while plugging his iPhone 4 into a third-party charger, leaving him in a coma for several days.Beginning August 16, iPhone, iPad, or iPod users can drop third-party chargers at an Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider and pay $10 for an Apple USB adapter, which usually retails for $19. Apple said users' old adapters will be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.
The deal runs through October 18 and is limited to one trade-in per device. To qualify, iPhone, iPad, or iPod users must bring their device with them at the time of trade-in to verify the serial number.

Motorola Moto X

Motorola Moto X