'The Hobbit' to get world premiere in November

The Hobbit will receive its world premiere in New Zealand this November.

Peter Jackson returns to middle earth with the first of two movies, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, on December 14. It has now been announced that the world will get its first chance to see the movie at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington on November 28, two weeks before it hits theatres. Producers are trying to secure all of the main cast to attend.


Jackson said in a statement: "I know I speak for a company of hobbits, dwarves, elves and orcs when I say that this city holds a special place in all of our hearts. We cannot think of a more perfect way to send The Hobbit off into the world than to celebrate with a huge party here in Wellington, where the journey began".


Meanwhile, the latest of Jackson’s behind-the-scenes video blogs has just premiered over at The Hobbit Movie at Facebook. The director's seventh clip shows the project's work from Stone Street Studios, Miramar, Wellington in New Zealand and features footage of Orlando Bloom and James Nesbitt.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and features an ensemble cast including Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Bret McKenzie and Cate Blanchett. Watch the trailer above.

Guns N' Roses fans walk out

Guns N' Roses are notorious for being late onstage, but they tested their fans' patience to the limit on Tuesday May 29 by not taking to the stage until after 11pm (GMT).

The band were performing at Manchester's Arena and were due on at 10pm (GMT), however, they didn't actually hit the stage until over an hour later.

Although they were very late, the band still played a 33-song, three hour show, which finished up after 2.15am. This was despite being told by organisers that they had to finish by 11pm. By the end, there were reportedly only 6,000 in the venue, 10,000 less than the arena's capacity.

Many ticket goers were angry and took to Twitter to protest. Disgusted." A crowd member also reportedly vented their anger by hurling a pint at Axl Rose, which struck him during 'Welcome To The Jungle'.

However, the band's official Twitter paid no mind to the mass walkout, simply writing: "A tip of the hat to the good folk at the Manchester Arena. To say Manchester rocks is an understatement!

Prometheus

As Ridley Scott's new sci-fi epic lands in cinemas this week, June 1, academics at the University of Warwick have given their views on the film - and the Alien films to which it is a prequel.

Dr Jack Cohen, Honorary Professor of the University of Warwick, and one of the joint authors of Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life, says he is glad the film avoided the usual design of extraterrestrials as humanoids with ridged brows.

He commented: "The Alien universe, which Prometheus may also be part of, at least avoids the more preposterous fictional universes where most of the aliens look exactly like humans - but with slightly different types of bumpy foreheads. Aliens are likely to be much more alien."

But he added: "However the key aliens of the Alien universe still draw too much on human's own fear images and this obscures more reasoned speculation what real aliens may look like.

"The life cycle of this particular fictional race of aliens also builds on those human fear responses to produce movies that are brilliant at exploiting our fears for fun but which are also filled with scientific impossibilities. We still just can't resist making our movie aliens all too human."

Dr Nicolas Pillai, researcher at the University of Warwick's Film and Television Studies department, said: "While its trailers promise spectacular special effects, Prometheus follows a very traditional science-fiction narrative pattern. Archaeologists with conflicting agendas unearth a Pandora's Box - the curse of Tutankhamun by way of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Erich von Däniken."

Dr Pilai continued: "It also promises to excavate the past glories of director Ridley Scott. Initially conceived as a direct prequel to his 1979 film Alien, the project has mutated into something more interesting, riffing at the level of production design and tone rather than plot.

"Given this allusional approach to personal history, it seems important that Scott's protagonist is British - despite being played by Swedish actress Noomi Rapace."

And he spots a Doctor Who reference in the story: "Raised in Teesside, Scott was a young BBC designer in the early days of Doctor Who and narrowly missed the chance to design the Daleks. By calling Rapace's character Dr Elizabeth Shaw - also the name of a Doctor Who companion in 1970 - the screenwriters slyly reference a road not taken in Scott's past."

Dr Pilai concludes: "Prometheus' success may lie in its acceptance of diverse influences.

"While previous prequels have been restricted by an inevitable narrative end point, Scott's new film draws upon a wealth of transmedia artefacts - philosophical tracts, Egyptology, a 1967 Doctor Who serial called Tomb of the Cybermen.

Dark Knight Rises

The plot for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is currently being kept securely under lock and key. Judging by this weeks new theatrical trailer and the previous two films, I think it’s safe to say that we can expect something A W E S O M E!

‘The Dark Knight Rises’ stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Tom Hardy as Bane, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Jim Gordon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake, Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, and Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate. Juno Temple, Josh Pence, Daniel Sunjata, Nestor Carbonell, Tom Conti, Joey King, Brett Cullen, Chris Ellis, Josh Stewart, Christopher Judge, Adam Rodriguez and Rob Brown co-star.

‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is scheduled for release July 20th. Christopher Nolan directs the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jonathan Nolan. The official synopsis for ‘The Dark Knight Rises is below. Expect to see official posters and character posters for the film soon.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ “The Dark Knight Rises” is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar® winner Christian Bale (“The Fighter”) again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar® winner Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose”), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake. Returning to the main cast, Oscar® winner Michael Caine (“The Cider House Rules”) plays Alfred; Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon; and Oscar® winner Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”) reprises the role of Lucius Fox.

The screenplay is written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Charles Roven, who previously teamed on “Batman Begins” and the record-breaking blockbuster “The Dark Knight.” The executive producers are Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Kevin De La Noy and Thomas Tull, with Jordan Goldberg serving as co-producer. The film is based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by Bob Kane.

Behind the scenes, “The Dark Knight Rises” reunites the director with several of his longtime collaborators, all of whom worked together on the “The Dark Knight.” The creative team includes director of photography Wally Pfister, who recently won an Oscar® for his work on Nolan’s “Inception”; production designer Nathan Crowley; editor Lee Smith; and Oscar®-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming (“Topsy-Turvy”). In addition, Paul Franklin and Chris Corbould, who both won Oscars® for the effects in “Inception,” supervised the visual and special effects, respectively. The music is composed by Oscar® winner Hans Zimmer (“The Lion King”).

In helming the film, Christopher Nolan is utilizing IMAX® cameras even more extensively than he did on “The Dark Knight,” which had marked the first time ever that a major feature film was partially shot with IMAX cameras. The locations span three continents and include the American cities of Pittsburgh, New York and Los Angeles, as well as sites in India, England and Scotland.

“The Dark Knight Rises” is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Legendary Pictures. Slated for release beginning July 20, 2012, the film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Pilar Ruiz

Pilar Ruiz, a photo by Sr. Pacman on Flickr.

AT&T reportedly unlocking iPhones for deployed servicemen as well

The nation’s second-largest carrier, AT&T, is beginning to unlock in-contract iPhones for the United States military personnel deployed abroad, a new report claimed Monday. As you know, AT&T is now unlocking out-of-contract iPhones for its regular subscribers.

The unexpected policy change has been instituted following unconfirmed reports last week that some disgruntled customers who had complained about the situation to Apple CEO Tim Cook via email saw their handsets unlocked.

As a result, AT&T subscribers can now slip in a SIM card from another wireless operator and use their 3G GSM iPhones with compatible cellular networks overseas and in the United States, such as T-Mobile USA (which welcomed the change)…

According to unnamed sources who spoke with MacRumors:

In addition to unlocking phones for off-contract customers, AT&T is also quietly unlocking iPhones for U.S. service members still under contract with the carrier.

The publication stressed that federal law mandates that carriers suspend service without penalty for deployed military personnel “upon presentation of their military orders”.

Though AT&T is not required to unlock the handsets, they are nonetheless choosing to do so on their own, the report has it.

If you are considering unlocking your AT&T iPhone, we have a handy survival guide to help find your way around AT&T’s online technical support chat system.

Tanking margins reportedly forcing US carriers to drop iPhone subsidies

Apple may be poised to become the world’s first trillion dollar company thanks to the iPhone, but sustainability of the pricey handset is now being put into question. One prominent analysts warns that United States carriers such as AT&T – faced with plummeting margins at a six-year low – are now considering reducing iPhone subsidies and adopting stricter upgrade policies.

If instituted, these changes could result in a more expensive iPhone and an estimated worldwide drop in sales of 27.5 million units in the June quarter, with a revenue estimate $1 billion below consensus.

Blame it on “aggressive” upgrade policies instituted by the world’s carriers. That’s the crux BITG Research analyst Walter Piecyk wrote in a Monday note to clients (via AppleInsider):

Operators, unwilling to stall the pace of ARPU growth, offered generous upgrade policies including some that enabled a fully subsidized phone upgrade only one year in to a two year contract. We expect those policies to change as the faster upgrade rate of smartphones compared to legacy feature phones has been a costly surprise to post-paid and pre-paid operators, alike.

As a result, Piecyk expects that iPhone sales in the United States will decline four million sequentially to nine million units, resulting in a worldwide drop in sales of 27.5 million units in the June quarter.

Apple retook the title of the world’s leading smartphone maker from Samsung by selling an astounding 37 million iPhones during the holiday quarter.

Interesting enough, the analyst warns carriers are banding together on this initiative. This indicates to me that carriers are growing wary and jealous because profit from the iPhone business is not being split fairly.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt, writing for Fortune, gave this quote from Piecyk’s note to clients:

The commentary by wireless operators is likely to be decidedly more firm in how they plan to continue to hold back the rising phone upgrade rates that are hurting their margins. Even weak operators like Sprint, which has a large contractual commitment with Apple, will likely experience a decline in iPhone sales based in part on changes to its upgrade policies last year.

They will not be alone as we expect a similar trend at Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, America Movil and Telefonica, to name a few. In the United States, we expect iPhone sales to decline 4 million sequentially to 9 million with the largest impact coming from AT&T, Apple’s largest customer.

He wrote that carriers will “stunt the pace of phone upgrades” in 2012, beginning this quarter, dismisses the rumors of an Apple HD TV set launch in 2012 and downplayed the Chinese market.

The analyst also did what analysts rarely do, downgrading AAPL from “neutral” to “buy”. The company is scheduled to report quarterly earnings in two weeks.

The iPhone is one expensive device to sell even if its users are more valuable to wireless companies than a typical smartphone owner. Wireless operators in the United States spend billions in upfront payments to Apple.

For example, fourth-largest Sprint Nextel had to cough up a whopping $15.5 billion to get an estimated 24 million iPhones. For each iPhone, carriers pay an estimated $600-plus, selling it to consumers for $199 or less with a two-year contract.

The service contract gradually covers cost of subsidy, allowing your carrier to eventually recoup their investment and profit. iPhone subsidies are the highest in the industry because it’s such an iconic device that attracts people.

But with four major carriers now selling the iPhone in the United States and a bunch of local ones either offering or about to offer it, customers are less inclined to switch their network just to get an iPhone. As a result, churn rate is dropping and so are the carriers’ margins.

At the same time, Apple’s margin on the iPhone business remains the envy of the industry as the company continues to gulp up well over half the mobile phone industry’s profits.

We’re only speculating here, but if carriers are really banding together to drop iPhone subsidies, Apple may be forced to make its phone more affordable to everyone.

What do you think, is a $600-plus iPhone really sustainable for carriers? Perhaps that’s just a lame excuse the carriers need to conspire and break Apple’s tight grip on the wireless industry?

iPhone 4 Wallpapers

iPhone 4 Wallpapers...cont