Free iPhone

On June 25, 2009, Jackson collapsed at a rented home in Holmby Hills in Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating him by his personal physician were unsuccessful.

Resuscitation efforts continued both en route to the UCLA Medical Center, and for an hour further after arriving at approximately 1:14 pm (20:14 UTC). He was noted to have already been in cardiac arrest by the paramedics who attended his house. Jackson was announced dead at about 2:26 pm local time (21:26 UTC). Many news organizations were generally very cautious about the initial reports of his death.

Media and a crowd outside the UCLA Medical Center following his death

The cause of death has not yet been determined. The case was transferred to the Los Angeles County Coroner for investigation. There has been speculation that Michael Jackson committed suicide, was murdered, accidentily overdosed on painkiller medication, or just suffered a tragic cardiac arrest from stress/illness.

The autopsy was scheduled for Friday, June 26, 2009. A final verdict on Michael Jackson’s autopsy will only be possible after the toxicology test results are confirmed.

In the hours following Jackson’s death, his record sales increased dramatically. His album Thriller climbed to number one on the American iTunes music chart, while another eight have made it into the top 40. In the UK, where Jackson would have performed in less than three weeks, his albums occupied 14 of the top 20 places on the Amazon.co.uk sales chart with Off The Wall topping the chart. Nine of his albums were featured on the American iTunes Top 10 chart, including Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, and 3 compilations. In the UK iTunes store on June 26, thirty-nine of Jackson’s songs were in the Top 100 best selling songs list, in addition to four Jackson 5 songs. Eight of his albums took over the top ten downloaded albums and the top 5 video downloads were all Michael Jackson videos. Along with this he also entered into the top top ten single downloads with “Man in the Mirror”^.

Less than four months before Jackson’s death one of his biographers, Ian Halperin, revealed that Jackson had a secret library of over 100 unreleased songs which he planned to release after his death to support his children.

RIP Michael Jackson, a tragic loss of a genius.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Fans mourn Jackson after pop star’s sudden death (ctv.ca)
• Doctors Discuss Michael Jackson Death (idiomag.com)
• Pop icon Michael Jackson dies at 50 (ctv.ca)

True metal-heads have already modded their Rock Band / Guitar Hero kits to accommodate that DW 5000, but for those who lack any DIY genes whatsoever, there’s this. Accessory maker PDP is gearing up to ship its universal Rock Band replacement kick pedal, which conveniently ships with a “double bass adapter that allows for two pedals to be used at the same time.” Time to get to work on your coordination skills, ’cause you’ll definitely want to lay down $24.99 on this when it ships on June 1st.

[Thanks, Omar]

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Rock Band double bass pedal brings out the Joey Jordison in you originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Yesterday’s sneak peek at the iPhone 3.0 software update contained little in the way of surprises, but it did serve to underline a key point – when you buy an iPhone, you’re not just buying a piece of kit; you’re buying a platform.

Apple’s strategy seems to be one of constant update and improvement to its products. But in a new strategy, rather than forcing users into a upgrade cycle with the deviceitself, as they always have in the past with numerous iPod updates,  the company is now pushing out regular software updates every few months that add new capabilities and functionality to the handset. This strategy is nothing new, as owners of PSPs and PS3s will gladly tell you.

In truth, the improvements coming to iPhone 3.0 are designed to plug some holes in the software that should have been fixed a long time ago – copy and paste is available at long last, as is the ability to send picture messages, to type emails using a landscape keyboard and to get push notifications from many applications. These features, and many more besides, have long been available on numerous other smartphones, and Apple’s decision to belatedly address them perhaps shows that they are starting to feel the heat from other phone makers. Most of these features are already available on the iPhone, but only if you jailbreak it and use 3rd party apps.

Significantly, the iPhone 3.0 update enables iPhone and iPod touch owners to wirelessly play games together or share contacts using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and to carry out voice chat while playing.

Game developers will also be able to introduce micropayments into their games, enabling users to pay for extra levels, weapons or features in whatever game they are playing.

I’ve got an idea that Apple may have hidden quite a few features in the iPhone 3.0 that will sit there waiting until it’s installed in the anticipated new iPhone model – rumoured to be released later this summer.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Apple Opens Up More Ways To Get Paid On The iPhone, Adds Key New Features. Apps Hit 800 Million Downloads. (techcrunch.com)
• iPhone 3.0 to have copy and paste, Pre-like features — but no background apps (engadget.com)

Apple have just released the 3rd generation iPod Shuffle…and it really is tiny.

The new iPod shuffle, the smallest ever, gets around that annoyance with previous versions that meant you had no idea what track was coming next, and no ability to browse the playlist.

This iPod talks to you.  With the press of a button, it tells you what song is playing and who’s performing it. It can even tell you the names of your playlists, giving you a new way to navigate your music

Not only is this new iPod Shuffle really small, it is also really big with a 4GB memory allowing you to store up to 1000 songs, and multiple songlists.

So just how small is it?

45.2 mm (1.8″) tall x 7.8 mm (0.3″) thin to be exact.

To create the world’s smallest music player, Apple have moved the controls from the iPod shuffle to the headphone cord. This allowed them to make the new iPod shuffle dramatically smaller, and also easier to use, with the controls located where you can access them quickly.

Oh, and yet another great new quirk is that the new iPod will actually tell you when the battery is low using the same speech technology it uses to tell you what track you are listening to!

At £58 it seems like an OK deal, but I’ll be getting a free iPod Shuffle for just 3 extra referrals when I get my next free iPhone.

Get yourself a free iPod Shuffle too.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The New iPod Shuffle Can Talk (blippitt.com)
• Meet Apple’s New iPod Shuffle (It Talks!) (inquisitr.com)

Michael Jackson has today announced a string of concerts at the O2 Arena in the UK. For full details visit the O2

If you have an iPhone, chances are you are on the O2 network. But did you know you can use your O2 SIM card to get Michael Jackson Concert Tickets before they go on general sale?

That’s right, beat the queues with O2 Priority Tickets. Visit the O2 blueroom to join up and receive a free text message inviting you to purchase your Michael Jackson tickets before they go on general sale!

Of course this is for more than just Micheal Jackson, you can opt in to receive notification of any artist’s tour dates and buy priority tickets for any concert you want to attend.

Another reason to get yourself a free iPhone.

Michael Jackson was due to make a “special announcement” in London this afternoon, but has had his thunder stolen after posters were put up throughout the underground revealing he will play 10 concerts at the 02 arena this July.

Despite the posters’ appearance, the singer is still expected at the 02 arena later this afternoon to address an already-waiting press swarm.

The revealed 10-night run is shorter than anticipated, but will be a relief to some fans who wondered if the fallen superstar could fill the 20,000-capacity arena night-after-night.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Michael Jackson Plotting London Comeback Concerts? (rollingstone.com)
• Would You Pay To See Michael Jackson Perform Live? [Comebacks?] (idolator.com)