Christina Aguilera & Cher Sizzle In Upcoming Burlesque Movie

Burlesque is an upcoming American contemporary musical film directed and written by Steve Antin starring Cher and Christina Aguilera. The movie is set for release on November 24th and will be distributed by Screen Gems, a subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Christina Aguilera will make her theatrical film and musical debut as the lead character, and this will mark Cher’s first starring role (and musical film) in a decade since 1999′s Tea with Mussolini.

Ali (Christina Aguilera) is a small-town girl with a big voice who escapes hardship and an uncertain future to follow her dreams to LA. After stumbling upon The Burlesque Lounge (inspired by Bob Fosse’s Cabaret), a majestic but ailing theater that is home to an inspired musical revue, Ali lands a job as a cocktail waitress from Tess (Cher), the club’s proprietor and headliner. Burlesque’s outrageous costumes and bold choreography enrapture the young ingenue, who vows to perform there one day.

Soon enough, Ali builds a friendship with a featured dancer (Julianne Hough), finds an enemy in a troubled, jealous performer (Kristen Bell), and garners the affection of Jack (Cam Gigandet), a bartender and fellow musician. With the help of a sharp-witted stage manager (Stanley Tucci) and gender-bending host (Alan Cumming), Ali makes her way from the bar to the stage. Her spectacular voice restores The Burlesque Lounge to its former glory, though not before a charismatic entrepreneur (Eric Dane) arrives with an enticing proposal.

Here is an additional exclusive clip from Burlesque of Christina Aguilera singing “Something’s Got A Hold On Me”:

How To Quickly Turn The PS3 Into A Great Media Center

The PS3 has been a hot topic recently with the introduction of 3D gaming, and also with the Playstation Move being released the device has become an even more impressive machine. One of the features that I’m surprised is often left out in the advertisements is PS3′s media center capabilities. What I plan to show you here is crash course on how to setup the PS3 as a media center to get the most out of your PS3.

I have tried numerous media center applications and the easiest to get up and running in my opinion is PS3 Media Server which is programmed in Java and can be downloaded here for PC or Mac.

So let’s get started:

1. First make sure your PS3 is connected to your home network. In the PS3’s main menu, navigate to Settings – Network Settings – Internet Connection, press X on your controller and select Enabled. Then go to Internet Connection Settings (also under Network Settings), and select your network name (SSID). Enter the network password if you have one.

2. Then install PS3 Media Server.

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3. Next run PS3 Media server and go the Navigation/Share Settings Tab.

4. From here add the folders you would like the PS3 to see by clicking on the add folder icon to the lower left.

5. Once added click the Save Icon at the top of the PS3 Media Center Application.

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6. Now fire up your PS3 if not on already and the application should recognize the device. You can check this by clicking on the status tab of PS3 Media Server, as shown above.

7. Once the PS3 has been found and recognized you can navigate to your media on the PS3 with your SixAxis controller to either the Video or Music tab depending on the media you want to play.

8. You should see a PS3 Media Center Icon once in these tabs and you can browse your media by pressing X on this icon and scrolling through your shared media.

9. Once you navigate to your media simply press X and enjoy the show.

Even though the PS3 can handle most media types with ease you may come across videos the PS3 does not natively support.

One of the great things about PS3 Media Center is it can transcode the videos to make them playable through the PS3.

This can be done by navigating to the #–Transcode–# folder of your shared media with the PS3 and playing it through there instead.

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Note: Transcoding video is somewhat of an intense application for a computer to run so results may vary depending on your computer setup. Also there are settings you can play with in the Transcode Settings tab of PS3 Media server that may help with streaming over wifi if you find you are having issues with video playback or stuttering.

If for some reason you feel PS3 Media Server isn’t you your liking and would like to try other software here is a comprehensive list of known DLNA-Compliant and UPnP media server applications:

Windows

•         Allegro Media Server
•         Cidero Internet Radio Station Server
•         Cyber Media Gate
•         Cyberlink Digital Home Enabler Kit
•         Fuppes
•         Mezzmo
•         Musicmatch Jukebox
•         Nero MediaHome
•         On2Share
•         PS3 Media Server
•         Rhapsody
•         SimpleCenter
•         TVersity
•         TwonkyMedia
•         Winamp Remote
•         Windows Media Connect

Mac OSX

•         Allegro Media Server
•         Cidero Internet Radio Station Server
•         Cyber Media Gate
•         Elgato Eyeconnect
•         Nullriver MediaLink
•         PS3 Media Server
•         Rhapsody
•         TwonkyMedia

Linux

•         Cidero Internet Radio Station Server
•         Cyber Media Gate
•         Fuppes
•         Geexbox
•         GMediaServer
•         MediaTomb
•         MiniDLNA
•         MythTV
•         PS3 Media Server
•         TwonkyMedia
•         uShare

Emma Stone Cast As Gwen Stacy In Upcoming Spider-Man Movie

Emma Stone has been cast as the female lead in the upcoming Spider-Man film from Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios, according to a recent announcement by Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Matt Tolmach, president of Columbia Pictures. Stone has been tapped for the role of Gwen Stacy opposite Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. The film, to be directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt and produced by Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, will begin production in December and will be released in theaters nationwide in 3D on July 3, 2012.

The casting continues an association between Sony Pictures Entertainment and the actress, who previously starred in Superbad, The House Bunny, and Zombieland, all for Columbia Pictures; she may currently be seen in Screen Gems’ hit comedy Easy A, and takes a cameo role in Screen Gems’ upcoming Friends with Benefits.

Commenting on the announcement, Tolmach said, “It’s been an incredible journey for us to watch Emma’s star rise as an actress. She is extraordinarily talented and has a very special on-screen spark that is perfect for this role. Given her history with the studio, casting her in one of our most important franchises is a real thrill.”

Webb added, “The chemistry between Andrew and Emma was stunning and made Emma the clear choice. At the heart of the story of Peter Parker is not only the amazing Spider-Man, but also an ordinary teenager who is wondering what he has to do to get the girl. Andrew and Emma will bring everything audiences expect to these roles, but also make them their own. Much to my surprise, it was fun to find out that our choice for Gwen (Emma) is also a natural blonde.”

Sizes And Pricing for Sony Google TV Family Leaked

Note from Editor: Our pricing information was wrong. We explain it further here.

Many of our readers out there are pretty excited about the Sony Google TV. We’ve written about it nearly a dozen times and it’s basically a television with an Intel processor and the ability to fully surf the web (including flash sites). There is other compelling features in the service, including access and search video services and direct integration with select service providers. Some of you may secretly cross off days on the calendar till its debut on October 12th. However, your bank account also wonders what the hit will be when you fold on the impulsive desire to get that Internet TV in your bedroom or your den.

Did you notice our title said Sony Google TV family? Yes, that’s because there will be a few models initally available to choose from. It looks like Sony will be offering 4 different Internet TV’s – 24′, 32′, 40′, and 46′ models:

• NSX-24GT1
• NSX-32GT1
• NSX-40GT1
• NSX-46GT1

As far as pricing of these Sony Google TV, get ready to shell out $1299.99 for the 32′ (NSX-32GT1), $1499.99 for 40′ (NSX-40GT1) and $1899.99 for 46′ (NSX-46GT1). Unfortunately, pricing info was unavailable for 24GT1 model, however we assume it should be under one grand.

In related news, the widely discussed Sony Internet TV Box, NSZ-GT1, was listed on an internal website and mentions an eject button, WLAN module, and an included HDMI cable. Considering this information, its logical to assume that the eject button is an appropriate mechanism for what we believe is an included Blu-ray player in the device.

Sony Insider Forum Improved

We’ve been working hard over the last few days to upgrade the software and craft a new default skin for the Sony Insider forum. The forum is based on the IP.Board discussion software by Invision Power Services. If you have never used the Sony Insider forum, please spend just a few moments to give it a look over. Please register and feel free to discuss Sony (and everything else) with us today. We would love your company.

The origins of the Sony Insider forum is a story that’s nearly a decade old.

When I joined the Minidisc.org team around 2001, Sony had a lackluster Internet presence and the iPod was barely a household name. Initially, I joined their forum as a fan of the product I had received for Christmas – a MZR-700 Minidisc recorder. I used it to record myself playing bass guitar and I loved the quality. There wasn’t much of a community for me to share it with, however. So, I took the initiative and built the forum up into a community that could support each other and share their works because Sony wasn’t doing it and it had that potential. Things quickly accelerated with the site and suddenly we were the top resource for Minidisc information, support, and product announcements.

More importantly, I started to notice that consumers were using the forums when they had problems with Sonicstage (the music management software for Minidisc and other Sony audio products) and out of those discussions we built comprehensive FAQ’s. We were all helping each other to ensure that we had the most optimal product experience by making it successful for everyone. Sony was quietly watching in the background, and we all knew it, as our recommendations for future Minidisc products and Sonicstage fixes were being implemented – Sony realized we were a voice for the product, and catered to us. It was truly impressive.

As Minidisc faded out, so did my interest and I went on to make a new website called ATRACLife. ATRACLife was similar to Minidisc – it had the latest news as well as hardware and software support. As ATRACLife grew and became a trusted resource for Sony audio players and other ATRAC devices, so did its influence and that’s when I started to receive direct contact from people within Sony who wanted to help. Without realizing it, the site had transformed itself from a collective of consumers to a leader. We worked closely with Sony audio engineers in California, manifested a rich 3rd-party software environment, and also ran a contest with Sony Europe giving away a couple of Video Walkmans. I visited the Consumer Electronics Show in 2006 and met with many people in Sony, all of whom were very supportive and helpful to what I was doing.

Months before the end of ATRACLife I purchased the domain name Sony Insider. The rest is history.

In late 2009, I worked with Invision to merge the forum databases of Minidisc Community Forums, ATRACLife and Sony Insider together. This new discussion forum is one of the largest third party forums for Sony content, with 173,000+ posts and 112,000+ members at the time of this writing.

Closer Look at the Sony Google TV Interface

As the grand opening of a new Internet era floods your living room, even with more content is about to be unleashed into the masses. Google teases us more and shows off some more deets you can expect to see in the upcoming Sony Google TV (which will be available in several sizes as in 24, 32, 40 and 46 inch measured diagonally).

Check out this Google painted site and see how convenient and ubiquitous searching for content, interfacing with your Twitter and any other social media has become. What even more is as you are used to those apps on your phone, developers are now invited to create those for your new Google TV.

Judging just by preliminary demos Sony Internet TV and its grandfather Bravia Internet Link will most likely go away and will be replaced by Google TV interface and pretty much be implemented into every Bravia set. The NSX-40GT1 is just the beginning and a jump start in a new TV online experience extravaganza.

Check out the ABC report aired today that shares some glimpses of the upcoming Sony Google TV as well as the remote with full QWERTY keyboard. We did not notice the usual Sony’s award winning XMB interface on that TV either…October 12 is not too far away and currently Sony Electronics is running a contest giving you a chance to win Sony Google TV, check out the rules and give it a try!

YouTube link to Diane Sawyer Report on Google TV.

Engadget post and video about the new Sony remote: