ZEITGEIST: MOVING FORWARD | OFFICIAL RELEASE | 2011

Looking Back: The Top 10 Best Official Movie Posters from 2010 by Firstshowing.net

#10 Toy Story 3


Colorful, vibrant and combining all our favorite toys of the past with characters from Sunnyside Day Care, this poster doesn't even need a title for audiences to know exactly what movie this poster is hyping.

#9 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


Despite the fact that his poster is for both parts of the epic finale, the dark imagery of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is simultaneously beautiful and haunting. Since we didn't see this tragedy unfold in Part I of the epic franchise finale, you can be sure plenty of action is right around for corner with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.

#8 - Devil


Though the appearance of M. Night Shyamalan's name in the trailer garnered snickers from audiences, this poster is more subtle and impressive than the filmmaker's career as of late. Focusing on the isolated location for the film's primary spooky happenings, the light behind these elevator doors creates an alternate, foreboding version of a certain religious symbol and literally turns it on its head to represent the evil that lurks within.

#7 - Predators


Though many posters simply featured the cast wandering around the jungle, this poster takes the viewpoint of the Predators in the film and goes the extra mile by showing its victims in the trademark heat vision that was so masterfully used in the original film. Though it's simple, and obscures Adrien Brody's face, this was definitely my favorite poster for the film.

#6 - Tron Legacy


We've featured more than a few Tron Legacy posters, but it was this awesome throwback to the original Tron poster that struck me as the most stunning. Fortunately, those who attended the Tron Night preview in October got a small version of this theatrical poster, but I think I need to get my hands on a full size version.

#5 - The Next Three Days


An overlooked thriller from earlier this year, Paul Haggis' loses the melodrama with The Next Three Days and delivers a decent thriller. And while the mosaic of notes, maps and more making up Russell Crowe's face is cool on its own, once you've seen the film, this poster becomes all the more relevant.

#4 - Black Swan


I liked the art-deco promo posters for Black Swan as much as everyone else, but this poster for Darren Aronofsky's dark masterpiece is my favorite. The imagery is subtly haunting by taking Natalie Portman's pristine face and putting a porcelain crack right down the side of it. A great image for Portman's dark turn towards becoming the Black Swan.

#3 - Inception


This M.C. Escher-inspired (see here) poster is just the surface of all the twisted dream levels that make up the mind-boggling story of Inception. Your mind is the scene of the crime, but it might also be the scene of some hard-hitting headaches if you ever got lost in the twisted city on this poster.

#2 - Let Me In


The stark imagery of a near-perfect snow angel tainted by blood nearly sums up the conflicted character of Abby in Matt Reeves' Let Me In. It's the difficulty that comes with looking like a child, but having to act like a monster just to live that's ever-present and using something as childish as a snow angel with the haunting image of blood around it just gives me goosebumps.

#1 - Buried


It's the bold simplicity of this poster that makes it my absolutely #1 top favorite of the year. No names, no title, and you can't tell that Ryan Reynolds is even inside that box, buried by darkness of this beautiful teaser poster. While the Saul Bass inspired poster for this same film was also very impressive, it was this poster alone that got me absolutely pumped to see this flick.

FirstShowing

iPad 2 Case Images Leak Out; Quickly Pulled

Leaked images of purported cases for Apple's iPad 2—or whatever the successor device will actually be called—have hit the news site 9to5 Mac and the trading site Alibaba. However, don't run over there expecting to see exactly what Apple's to-be-announced product might look like.
Why's that? An unnamed company has allegedly contacted said sites with takedown notices for the case pictures. And according to Padgadget, which spoke to a company involved in Apple's supply chain, the reasoning behind the takedowns is that the leaked images are "extremely accurate" based on what the actual design of the iPad 2 allegedly is.
The iPad 2—again, based on the leaked pictures—looks as if it will run with a contoured structure in a manner similar to Apple's rectangle-to-curves redesign of the iPhone and iPod Touch devices. As well, expect to see tapered edges on the iPad refresh. The iPad will gain a larger rear speaker and, more importantly, a rear-facing camera. While it might appear silly for one to hold up a giant tablet device to take a giant picture, camera support is certainly one feature that iPad owners (or wannabe owners) have been clamoring for throughout the year.
A mysterious, unidentifiable port found on the iPad 2's design schematics is validated by the existence of an opening on the left side of the iPad 2's rumored case shots. While many are citing this as proof that the iPad will be the first Apple mobile device to come with a built-in USB port, the jury's still out as to which kind of USB port it will actually be—a regular USB connection, a mini-USB connection or, if neither, a boring ol' SD card slot.
The details unveiled by the alleged case still don't cover many of the rumors persisting over the iPad 2. And that's even assuming that the cases themselves are legitimate—nobody's revealing the mysterious company behind the case image takedowns.

PCMAG

Apple vs. Android: The view from Google

A pair of veteran high-tech luminaries, both hired by Google (GOOG) within the past 14 months, chose this week to write on their private blogs about how they see the Apple (AAPL) vs. Android competition shaping up in 2011.

What's interesting is that they disagree.

Former Microsoft (MSFT) start-up evangelist Don Dodge, who posted his predictions Monday, neatly summarizes the conventional wisdom. In the horse race between Android and iPhone, he writes, "Both will win because they are playing different games. Android will win the market share battle, but Apple will generate bigger profits."

"Apple develops and controls the hardware and software on all their devices," he writes in The Next Big Thing. "The Mac has never had more than 10% market share, but has been extremely profitable for Apple. Apple goes for the high end of the market where they can charge high prices and enjoy great profit margins. Apple has been successful with this strategy multiple times, and will do it again with iPhone.

"Google has a very different strategy with Android. Google provides software (Android) for free, and makes Google search, Google Voice, Gmail, Contacts, Maps, Places, and other services work seamlessly with Android. Mobile search and advertising are the revenue streams for Google. The advertising revenues are certainly lower versus selling hardware, but the profit margins are very good."

Tim Bray, who left Sun Microsystems (JAVAD) in February and joined Google in March, sees it differently. "I'm less convinced," he writes in a piece posted Thursday on his Ongoing blog.


"The iOS ecosystem is something like the Apple ecosystem of yore, but the App Store bouncer at the door is a huge, qualitative difference. And the Android ecosystem, at least in its hardware-agnosticism, recalls Windows, but Google's business goals are so different that trying for historical analogies seems really risky to me.

"Anyhow, what do I think? I think Apple will sell a ton of devices because they're good, and superbly marketed. I think a bunch of people will sell a ton of Android devices because they're good and there are so many options for different needs and networks and price-points.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Apple shipped a cheap iPhone. And there's nothing fundamental in Android that would get in the way of a industrial-design and user-experience rock-star team, whether at Google or one of the handset makers, testing the hypothesis that these things are central to Apple's success.

"Which is to say, it would be sort of surprising, but not that much, if this time next year, dirt-cheap iPhones were competing against Androids that push the user-experience lever farther than Apple or anyone else ever has. In that scenario, where are the prognosticators' towers of sand?"

CNN

Pope: Mass attack in Egypt 'offends God

Pope Benedict XVI says an apparent suicide bombing outside a Mass in Egypt that left 21 worshippers dead "offends God and all of humanity."
The pope offered condolences and expressed his grief for the victims and their families during his traditional Sunday Angelus prayer.
He compared the attack to bombs placed near churches in Iraq, saying both are meant to intimidate Christians and prevent them from attending services. Benedict has repeatedly denounced the violent campaign against Christians in Iraq blamed on al-Qaida militants.
He also remembered the "numerous" pastoral workers killed in 2010.
The pope urged Christians Saturday in his New Year's appeal to remain strong in the face of intolerance and violence.

Newsday

Google takes heat over Android tablet OS

Android device makers around the world are anticipating great things from the next version of Google's mobile software, and they need the boost. Apple has a strong head start with sales of its popular iPad, while the App Store and iTunes give it apps and content, to boot.

But after a year of prodding Google, device makers think they've finally won with the upcoming "Honeycomb" upgrade to Android, which is expected by the end of the first quarter and is supposed to be the first version of the software designed for tablets instead of smartphones.

Earlier this year, for example, Samsung Electronics, had to fight to have the Android Market app, which connects users to the software's online treasure trove of over 150,000 apps, on its Galaxy Tab, according to one executive who asked not to be named due to his company's close relationship with Google.

At the time that Samsung was developing the Galaxy Tab to use Android, Google was struggling to decide if it wanted to put its upcoming Chrome OS in tablets and make Android exclusive to smartphones. The Chrome OS better fits Google's Cloud strategy, the executive said.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.

Google's decision to make a tablet-friendly version of Android became a must after Apple launched its groundbreaking iPad, analysts say.


Earlier in the year, Google probably thought that Chrome OS might be the right platform for tablets. However, the importance of the compatibility of apps across smartphones and tablets, evident from the iPad experience, has created the need for Google to ensure that the commercial success of apps can be preserved in the tablet proposition," said Martin Bradley, an analyst at Strategy Analytics.

Apple sold nearly 8 million iPads through the end of September, making it one of the hottest products of the year. (That tally is from official Apple figures from its quarterly earnings conference call and doesn't include holiday sales.)

By being first, Apple has set the tone for the entire market. Tablet makers need to put out the same OS for their smartphones and tablets so apps can be shared on either device. Even more important, apps specifically designed for tablets need to be made available, to take advantage of the larger screens, more powerful processors and expanded memory on board.

Of the 300,000 or so apps available to Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users, 40,000 are specifically designed for the iPad, and they are marketed that way on Apple's App Store.

By contrast, Google's Android Market does not offer any tablet-only apps to users, only smartphone apps. However, upstart Appslib is filling the void with its own tablet-only app store for Android lovers. Appslib is not affiliated with Google.

Computer World

'Most Sophisticated' Android Trojan Surfaces in China

Geinimi, a highly sophisticated Trojan, has been detected in Android devices in China.
However, it appears to be more of a sign of things to come rather than a serious threat to U.S. Android users.
Dubbed Geinimi (a scrambulation of Gemini) by Lookout Mobile Security, a startup based in San Francisco, the botnet-like Trojan sends location information, device identity and even stored contacts to an unknown server.
According to Lookout co-founder Kevin MaHaffe, the most significant feature of Geinimi is its sophisticated command-and-control mechanism.
"A server can tell the Trojan what it can do, which makes it more advanced than other Android malware we've seen," he said. "
The mobile Trojan has been found in apps infected and repackaged to look like legitimate apps, and uploaded onto Chinese third-party app stores. Infections have been found in games like "Monkey Jump 2," "Sex Positions," "President vs. Aliens," "City Defense," and "Baseball Superstars 2010."
GetJar and Android Marketplace have not reported any cases yet.
One quick and dirty method for detecting mobile Trojans, MaHaffe says, is to learn an app's permissions and compare them to what the downloaded app is actually asking for. For instance, if the app's description only lists requests for age and gender, a red flag should go up if your downloaded app suddenly asks for your home address, too.
Although the Geimini Trojan has yet to land in the U.S., MaHaffe warns smartphone users not to get lazy about protecting their phones as mobile malware becomes increasingly sophisticated.
"Attackers are still figuring it out on the mobile landscape," he said. "There's a lot of sophistication for PC malware, but smartphone users need to start protecting their phones as they do their computers."
For starters, MaHaffe advises people to use the same level of discernment towards smartphone downloads as they would with PC downloads.
"People probably wouldn't download software from nefarious Web sites," he said. "Same thing with mobile apps—be careful where you download mobile apps from. Look at developer ratings, user reviews of the app."

PCMAG