Verizon iPhone 4 Media Event Scheduled For 1/11/11

Confirmed by The Wall Street Journal as Verizon’s official launch gathering for the iPhone 4, an ambiguous media event was announced today via a digital invitation sent out by the wireless carrier rather than Apple. The event will take place on January 11, 2011 at 11:00am in New York City, and will most likely feature an on-stage appearance by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, as well as the debut of a modestly redesigned version of the current-generation iPhone 4. Parts leaks have shown a new antenna system that seemingly will be less susceptible to the “death grip” signal issues experienced by AT&T iPhone 4 users, confirming earlier reports that Apple quickly sought to redesign the device’s central frame despite downplaying reports of signal strength problems before and during a July, 2010 “Antennagate” media event.

Rumors of an iPhone with support for one of Verizon’s networks have been gathering steam for literally years, following a reported rebuffing of Apple by the United States’ largest cellular provider prior to the original iPhone’s release.

On April 12th Pixar’s The Incredibles Blu-ray To Be Released, Cars Blu-ray To Be Reissued

On April 12, 2011, Walt Disney Home Entertainment will bring the Brad Bird animated Pixar film The Incredibles to Blu-ray Disc. The studio will release the title as a 4-disc set comprised of two Blu-ray discs, a DVD, and a Digital Copy with a suggested price of $45.99.

On the same day, Cars will be reissued in a 2-disc Blu-ray + DVD combo pack that includes a single admission to Cars 2.

Hearthware NuWave Oven Pro Review

I love gadgets, especially kitchen appliances.  For years I have seen the NuWave Oven advertised on television, and wondered if the claims that they made were actually true.  Would this product really cut cooking time in half?  Could I truly cook frozen meat without defrosting first, and achieve perfectly cooked, succulent and golden brown results? I was on a culinary quest to learn more.

My NuWave Oven Pro arrived earlier this week. I was so excited to use my new appliance immediately, so I searched my freezer for something to make a test meal with.  I discovered some frozen homemade chicken enchiladas.  In the past I would have heated them up in the microwave, and they would been soft but palatable.  Within 15 minutes of re-heating them in my NuWave Oven Pro, my frozen enchiladas were perfectly heated throughout and crispy on the outside.  I was hooked, so I searched for more things to cook.  The second test batch was sliced sweet potato French fries and veggie burgers.  Typically oven fries take 50 minutes in my conventional oven.  Truly, in 20 minutes, the fries were evenly cooked and crunchy on the outside, without oil. The veggie burgers came out equally as well. The final test was a frozen chicken.  I was skeptical, but pleasantly surprised when I cooked a 7 pound frozen chicken, without basting. It came out moist on the inside, and crisp and golden brown on the outside. To accommodate the size of the bird, I used the extender ring, which doubled the interior space of the oven. Throughout this week I have used my oven to make a multitude of different meals, and have been pleased with everything that I have made thus far.

If you are looking for an energy efficient and healthful way to broil, bake, fry, roast, steam, dehydrate, and barbeque your favorite foods, consider Hearthware’s NuWave Oven Pro with the additional Extender Ring Kit ($169.99) In my kitchen, countertop space is at a premium, yet this compact and convenient oven is small enough to fit under the counter, yet big enough to cook a 16 pound turkey. What makes this patented machine so special is that it uses three separate cooking methods simultaneously: Conduction, Convection, and Infrared heat. What are these three methods? Conduction heat is applied directly to the food like the heat found in your conventional oven. While Convection heat allows the circulation of air to speed up the cooking time while evenly heating your food inside and out. Finally, the Infrared heat source penetrates the inside of foods leaving them moist and full of flavor, while browning the outside.

The oven comes complete with a liner pan, a reversible 1” and 4” cooking rack, a laminated easy reference chart with estimated cook times, and a thick recipe book / manual with a wealth of recipes and cooking tips. The Extender Ring Kit comes with a 10” non-stick baking pan, which allows you to bake cookies, pies, and desserts or cook any meats, poultry, or fish in their own juices or sauces. It also comes with an additional 2” rack that allows for multi-layer cooking. I really love the fact that the NuWave Oven Pro is energy efficient and does not heat up the kitchen like traditional ovens do. I especially love the fact that it is smoke-less, so I do not need to use my noisy exhaust fan. Best of all, the kids love the fact that they can actually watch the food cook through the clear lightweight dome.

The NuWave Oven Pro is perfect for home use and portable enough to take to the office, bring to a pot luck meal or use in an RV. I am looking forward to many years of use with my NuWave Oven Pro. (Reviewed by Meredith Fire-Hess)

Mac App Store Downloads Top One Million in First Day

Apple today announced that over one million apps have been downloaded from the Mac App Store in the first day. With more than 1,000 free and paid apps, the Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to the Mac, so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes account, download and install them in just one step.

“We’re amazed at the incredible response the Mac App Store is getting,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Developers have done a great job bringing apps to the store and users are loving how easy and fun the Mac App Store is.”

The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard users through Software Update as part of Mac OS X v10.6.6.

DVD & Blu-ray/DVD Combo of Due Date To Be Released On February 22nd

Warner Home Video has announced DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo releases of Due Date which stars Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifianakis. Each will be available to own from February 22nd. The only extra material on the DVD release will be a gag reel. The Blu-ray/DVD Combo release will include that, along with additional scenes, a complete Two and a Half Men Scene featuring Ethan Tremblay, a Due Date Action Mash-Up, and a Due Date Too Many Questions Mash-Up.

Starbucks Logo Redesign

Celebrating their 40th anniversary, Starbucks is making the first tweak to its iconic logo in almost 20 years, eliminating the text and accentuating the mermaid character.

The company’s SVP of marketing, Terry Davenport, explains the thinking to Adweek: “Obviously with a brand with such a huge profile as Starbucks, we approach this change very sensitively. We actually explored a very wide range of options, and when we stood back and looked from afar as well as looked close, we all unanimously gravitated toward the images that freed the siren from the word mark. We really took inspiration from companies like Nike where at one point they separated the word ‘Nike’ from the swoosh in their logo. This allows us to bring our identity to life anytime and anywhere.”

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air

This gorgeous modern speaker system is one of the first with built-in AirPlay technology, which lets you stream music directly from iTunes or your iPhone.

The Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air ($TBA), which also has a dock for direct connection, sports an audiophile-quality Digital to Analog Converter (DAC), special sound dispersion features, and is said to produce pretty amazing room-filling sound that is more natural than other iSpeakers.

THQ’s uDraw GameTablet Bundle Review

Introducing a creative and fun new way for you and your family to interact with your Wii gaming system: THQ’s uDraw GameTablet Bundle ($129.97) The tablet comes automatically bundled with uDraw Studio.  Two additional games are included in this package: Dood’s Big Adventure and Pictionary. This amazing new wireless tablet enables you to draw using the interactive stylus, allowing you to see your creations directly on the TV screen in front of you. The uDraw GameTablet is powered by your Wii remote control (sold separately), which is cleverly housed within the left portion of the unit. The pad offers a generous 4×6 inch drawing space.  The stylus is pressure sensitive and features two easily accessible controller buttons. The GameTablet also utilizes Wii’s motion control sensors, offering the user the ability to tilt and control the game via the tablet.

uDraw Studio offers a virtual digital canvas combined with helpful tutorials and a wealth of artistic tools to allow you to express your inner artist in any way that you choose. Users can customize every aspect of their creations ranging from 11 different canvas types to sidewalk and concrete locations to decorate.  In addition, you can select from 8 unique artistic environments.  I especially enjoyed the beach house studio, where you can literally hear the ocean surf and seagulls as you paint, draw, or color. The artistic tools span from creating simple lines with a pen tool, to using chalk or watercolor paints.  There are over 9 different drawing and painting tools to utilize.  In addition, you can change the opacity or zoom in up to 400% for extreme detail work. The power of this program is that you can create the most simplistic designs to the most complex works of art, so everyone will be able to express themselves in their own unique way. One of the most exciting features is the ability to integrate SD-Card support, allowing the user to save, print, and share their works of art with friends and family.

Dood’s Big Adventure is a really creative and fun game that people of all ages will enjoy. The tablet is used to draw, tilt,  and maneuver a character named Dood through 60 different levels of fun and challenging activities. Dood, as well as his enemies (baddies) are black and white drawings like those found in a coloring book, that can be customized and colored in using the stylus. You can also color in Magic Canvases, Balloonimals and Obstacles and Doodads which will show up in the background while playing. You control Dood’s movements such as rolling, floating, and bouncing through challenges by solving drawing related puzzles, collecting coins and defeating enemies, while using the tilt control of your GameTablet, the stylus, and your Wii remote. The game features 4 different game modes to play: Pen Panic, Roly Poly, Bubble Trouble, and Fan Frenzy. Pen Panic involves players using their stylus to draw directly in the world to assist Dood in several ways such as drawing bridges, trampolines and much more. Fan Frenzy allows you to use your stylus as a fan to blow around Dood through obstacles. Roly Poly uses the motion controls of your Wii remote to tilt Dood around in a ball. Finally, Bubble Trouble has the player using their stylus to carefully guide Dood in a bubble through various stages, trying not to burst his bubble as he avoids hitting sharp objects.  Dood’s Big Adventure is such a great game because it combines drawing and game play in a multitude of fun activities.  This is a game that is sure to entertain everyone of all ages for hours.

The popular board game Pictionary has been updated and re-designed for the GameTablet. The game features over 3,000 clues which can be customized for both adults and children, simpler clues for children and more advanced ones for the adults to draw. Pictionary is played on a 3D game board with 3 different modes of play: Pictionary, Pictionary Mania, and Free Draw. Pictionary is the traditional game show style in which you use a variety of drawing tools, brushes, and colors quickly sketch out your clues. Pictionary Mania turns the traditional game upside down, literally.  This game has 7 new drawing modes that will add a new flavor to the game. The game modes are: Get It Straight, Shape It Up, Rotation Frustration, One Line, Ink Limit, No Peeking and Off Hand.  These additional modes challenge the user, as the difficulty level of drawing becomes increasingly more challenging as these modes cause the screen to rotate randomly or challenge you to draw only with straight lines, etc.  The Free Draw option allows the user to have fun and create artistic masterpieces in a free style manner using the drawing tools.

The uDraw GameTablet, uDraw Studio, Dood’s Big Adventure and Pictionary are family friendly, easy to learn, and so much fun to play, and they will surely add a whole new creative dimension to your Wii play. (Reviewed by Meredith Fire-Hess)

Apple’s Mac App Store Open Today

The Apple Mac App Store opened for business today (Thursday, January 6th). By bringing the revolutionary App Store experience to Mac OS X, the Mac App Store makes discovering, installing and updating Mac apps easier than ever. The Mac App Store will be available in 90 countries at launch and will feature paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities.

“The App Store revolutionized mobile apps,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can’t wait to get started on January 6.”

The Mac App Store lets you browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, view staff favorites, search categories and read customer ratings and reviews. Like on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, you can purchase, download and install apps in just one click and start using them immediately. Purchased apps can run on all of your personal Macs and updates are delivered directly through the Mac App Store so it’s easy to keep all of your apps up to date. The Mac App Store is available to Mac OS X Snow Leopard users as a free download through Software Update.

Pacsafe SlingSafe 300 Review

Pacsafe’s SlingSafe 300 ($99.99) Travel Daypack is an attractive, lightweight, and secure option for sightseeing, short day trips, or everyday use. The backpack is made of nylon twill that is available in 3 colors: black, deep chocolate, and sage green. I found the pack to be very comfortable to wear, and the adjustable shoulder straps allowed me to customize the length for the perfect fit. The SlingSafe is comprised of 2 exterior open compartments, with one on each side of the bag.  These are the perfect size for storing maps or bottles of water.  The front zippered compartment has enough space for a wallet, as well as a phone compartment, spare pocket, key ring, and clip. The main top zippered compartment is roomy enough to hold an iPad, DSLR camera, rain poncho and passports. Within the main bag, there is an additional zippered compartment for housing several electronic gadgets, as well as a built-in headphone pass-through port. The overall dimensions of the bag are 11 x 15.5 x 6 inches, and weighs only 1 lb 4 oz. This pack offers a host of features that make it one of the most anti-theft deterrent packs on the market today. High-tensile stainless steel wire called eXomesh is housed within the front panel and should straps making these areas slash-proof.  Another unique safety feature is that both external zippered compartments each have cleverly placed safety hooks that allowed me to clip and secure the zippers so that they were tamper-proof.  In addition, there is a locking clip that is located at the bottom of the left shoulder strap which enabled me to anchor the bag to a secure fixture, such as the back of a chair or bus seat. Whether you are planning a trip abroad or heading to the city, the SlingSafe 300 is the perfect bag to allow you to travel with complete confidence. (Reviewed by Meredith Fire-Hess)

Louis C.K: Hilarious DVD Will Be Available On January 11th

An official selection of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Louis C.K: Hilarious ($14) is an hour-and-a-half romp through Louis’ 2009 material, which explores life after 40 as only he could share — listing the differences between Ray Charles and Hitler, for instance. The DVD was recorded at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee and will be available on January 11th.

Griffin Crayola ColorStudio HD Turns Your iPad Into a Coloring Book

Griffin’s Crayola ColorStudio HD couples a multi-activity drawing application for iPad (Crayola ColorStudio HD App) with a custom-built digital stylus, called Crayola iMarker. Together with iMarker, the ColorStudio HD App allows young artists to color and interact with special “live” animated coloring book pages that move and react as they color, combining custom-produced pictures, animations, music, sound effects, and high quality special effects. Like a marker, crayon, pen, and paintbrush in one, iMarker creates favorite Crayola colors within the ColorStudio HD App. iMarker safely interacts with iPad’s Multi-Touch display, allowing the ColorStudio HD app to differentiate between the child’s input (fingers, swipes, etc.) and the iMarker automatically. This allows intuitive, creative play that brings the accuracy and ease of a stylus but, for the first time, allows the user to both manipulate the creative space and color, without having to toggle the app between modes. The ColorStudio HD App features a large, built-in library of art that provides hundreds of hours of play in themed environments like undersea, jungle and playtime activities.

The App even lets the user design an unlimited number of their own animated coloring book pages. Kids can color them in the app, or print them out from iPad (iOS 4.2 or later) to color with Crayola Crayons and Markers. ColorStudio HD also contains more than 50 immersive game and activity pages, like Musical Dot 2 Dot and Color by Numbers, that combine special effects, music, motion, and more. Parents can share their favorite art pieces via a share feature by printing, emailing, or posting the art to Facebook. ColorStudio HD will include free content updates at regular intervals after launch, continually providing kids with fresh and exciting activities.

The ColorStudio HD kit is coming in Spring 2011 for US$29.95.

THE FIRE WIRE Comic Book Pick of The Week: Batman Beyond # 1

The future of the DC Universe continues, as Batman Beyond ($2.99) becomes an ongoing series! Terry McGinnis and Bruce Wayne are stronger than ever after the battle with “Hush” brought their alliance close to the breaking point. But now a super-powered criminal has gotten in way over his head – and the whole Justice League has come to Neo-Gotham to hunt him down! To top it all off, the crook’s taken hostages… including Terry’s mom! It’s the start of a story that will change Terry’s life — and the Beyond universe — forever… so don’t miss out! The issue will be on comic book store shelved today.

What Changes Are Planned For American Idol’s 10th Season?

From the new judges to the new set, the new bandleader to the music itself, American Idol is getting some serious work done for its tenth season. “We’re going ahead with a whole fresh change,” Idol exec producer Ken Warwick said to Entertainment Weekly, “simply because we never thought in our wildest dreams that any show would last ten years on American television.”

Contrary to recent web reports, however, the show will definitely not be introducing a new music video challenge.

A source close to the show shared that contestants will be limited to cover songs when singing for votes, and it is unlikely that voting will move online this season. And the source is quite firm that there was never a plan to bring Idol all stars back on the show in anything other than a performance capacity.

So what big changes are afoot this season on Idol?

One sudden death Top 20 round. Instead of a three-week top 24 round in which America votes, 60 contestants were flown to Las Vegas to sing Beatles songs on the same stage at the Las Vegas Mirage that Cirque du Soleil performs LOVE. “I think a few [contestants] knew ‘Hello Goodbye’ because it was used on a Target commercial,” chuckles exec producer Nigel Lythgoe, “which is frightening.” But that round only knocked the talent pool down to 40 wannabes. Yet another round in Hollywood will narrow the contestants down to 20 singers, and only then will America vote in a single sudden death round that will select the Idol finalists from among two groups of ten.

A Top 12…or a top 10. While some reports speculate the final group could be as high as 15 contestants, the Idol producers told EW the finalists will either be a top 12 or a top 10. “It’s one of those situations where we’ll see what the talent’s like,” says Warwick. “We’ll see what cross-section of kids we end up with in that final elimination round. It will be up to the talent that’s there as to whether we go with 10 or 12.”

No gender parity. Say goodbye to Idol‘s often rigid practice of maintaining the same number of female and male contestants in their final group. Explains Warwick: “If I’ve got six fantastic boys and four average girls, I’m certainly not going to throw out a fantastic boy to put in another average girl, or vise versa.”

Gwyneth Paltrow & Cee Lo To Host Saturday Night Live On January 15th

Gwyneth Paltrow is getting ready to show off her comedy — and hopefully, singing — chops on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” for a third time, NBC has announced. The Oscar-winning actress will host “SNL” on Jan. 15, just over a week after her film “Country Strong” opens in theaters, with Cee Lo Green joining the episode as a musical guest.

The booking could also mean an on-air collaboration between Green and Paltrow, who demonstrated her triple-threat talents on a November episode of “Glee” with a show-stopping cover of Green’s hit single, “F**k You.” The Oscar-winning actress has been exchanging emails with Green ever since, and she hinted that there may be an “SNL” duet during an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday, saying, “We don’t know where that’s gonna go…but I am such a big fan of Cee Lo. He is so gorgeous and talented and amazing. We’ll see.”

DC Comics Will Publish Reader’s Letters Again In March 2011

Posting comments via Facebook or Twitter seems faster than a speeding bullet, but DC Comics is going back to its Silver and Bronze Age ways, returning readers’ letters to the pages of its comic books.

The New York-based publisher — its imprints also include Vertigo and Mad Magazine — used to devote a single page, typically toward the back, to letters from readers commenting on the latest adventures of the Justice League, Batman, Superman and scores of other characters.

Letters pages were once common in comic books and gave far-flung readers the chance to weigh in on stories, heroes, villains and make requests about what should happen next. Those pages gradually disappeared not only in DC’s comics, but those of other companies, too, as the Internet, e-mail and the rise of Facebook and Twitter all but rendered them obsolete.

David Hyde, DC Comics’ vice president of publicity, quietly announced the change on Monday, in DC’s own blog, The Source. Reaction was positive with one reader remarking that “as a fan of DC Comics since boyhood (more years than I care to remember), one of the things I looked most forward to was the letter page, so very excited.” DC’s last letters page was in 2002 but ever since, Hyde told The Associated Press in an e-mail, readers had clamored for a return.

So, starting with the March issues of the company’s ongoing series, letters will be printed — though they will be edited for space and clarity, as needed. Readers can mail them in or fill out a form on DC’s website. For readers who prefer 140-character tweets or a quick “like” on Facebook, nothing is stopping them from posting on DC’s own site or its Facebook landing page, either.

The announcement came even as DC reiterated that it would keep prices of its ongoing comic titles, including those from Vertigo, priced at $2.99 in 2011, a move aimed at stemming the loss of readers who can only spend so much per month to feed their comic-book habit. The prices of comics have risen in recent years, with some single-issue titles now costing as much as $3.99 or, in some cases, more.

“As we begin the New Year, the pricing changes are going into effect and the timing couldn’t be better,” DC Comics co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee said. “We have a number of exciting story lines beginning in January, February and March that we believe will connect with the readers who have already been following the titles — and will most definitely be of interest to fans who aren’t yet buying the titles each and every month.”

Ted Williams: Human Interest Story of The Day

The homeless man that was interviewed by a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch—Brooklyn Native Ted Williams, the man with the golden voice—now has a slew of job opportunities, and will be in New York later today to make at least one big television appearance.

Williams says he has the “God-given gift of a great voice” and that his life took a bad turn when he got into drugs and alcohol—but now that he’s over two years clean, he’s been advertising his talent on the side of a highway in Ohio. After becoming a viral sensation on the internet yesterday, he appeared on The Early Show this morning.

On this morning’s Today show Matt Lauer noted they were flying Williams to New York for an in-studio appearance tomorrow morning. While he’s here he says he’ll also see his 92-year-old mom, who is still living in Brooklyn. He told The Early Show, “I’m gonna be going to New York, hopefully this afternoon… I apologize. I’m getting a little emotional. I haven’t seen my mom in a great deal of time. She lives in Brooklyn. I was born and raised in Brooklyn. One of my biggest prayers that I sent out was that she would live long enough for me to see me rebound.”

As of now, he’s already landed a job with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and a house. He told a local radio show in Ohio, “The Cleveland Cavaliers just offered me a full-time job and a house! A house! A house!” The NFL is also trying to hire him for voiceover work, and there is no doubt that someone in Hollywood is preparing a reality television show/movie/documentary on this internet sensation.

Howard Stern Is Going Mobile In January

Now that Howard Stern has returned to SiriusXM’s sat-waves after the holidays, you will be able to listen to him on an appropriately equipped smart phone, but you need to do a couple of things first in order to make it work.

First, you need to get your app, then you need the Premium Online Service. The SiriusXM Online App is available for iPhone/iPod Touch, Android and select Blackberry phones.

Click HERE for more info.

True Blood Comic Book Collection – A Compilation Of The First 6 Issues To Debut On February 15th

IDW Publishing and HBO are pleased to announce the hardcover collection of its first True Blood story arc, All Together Now. This compilation of all six issues from the first series of the comics will also feature bonus content, including original sketches and a cover gallery.

The series will be offered in deluxe, hardcover form and available in bookstores nationwide. Featuring the same erotically-charged romance, wry humor, intriguing mystery and suspense the show has become known for, the story treats readers to new insights of their favorite characters. Developed with show creator Alan Ball, along with series writers Elisabeth Finch and Kate Barnow, All Together Now was co-written by David Tischman and Mariah Huehner. The series was beautifully illustrated by top tier artist David Messina, with additional art by renowned artists J. Scott Campbell, Joe Corroney, and Andrew Currie.

In addition to the print editions, the comic collection will be available digitally through Sony’s Digital Comics Store and Apple’s iTunes Store on February 15, 2011 .

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland: A Book by Patton Oswalt Is Available Today!

Patton Oswalt has released three TV specials and three critically acclaimed comedy albums, including the Grammy-nominated My Weakness Is Strong. He put together the Comedians of Comedy tour and television series. Oswalt has also appeared on many television shows as a recurring character and in more than twenty films.

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland is Oswalt’s first book. It’s an autobiography of sorts told through hilarious essays from the brilliant comedian on everything from Edgar Allen Poe to Dungeons & Dragons.

The 208 page hardcover is available today! I urge you to pick up a copy and soak in the humor from one of my favorite comedians. Check out his book signing schedule HERE.

The Santa Claw

Would you like to win a leftover Christmas gift? Head on over to “The Santa Claw“! It’s free to play and you can customize your character while you wait in line and win one real prize per household!

The world’s largest claw machine is made of approximately 2,000 pounds of steel, 700 feet of wire and 1.5 wheelchairs. This all equals up to the biggest claw ever. Check it out HERE.

If you win, The Santa Claw will send the goody straight to your door.

iGrill

Keep an eye on your grill without, you know, actually looking at it with the iGrill ($100). This typically white cooking thermometer features a large temperature read out, a built-in stand, and support for multiple temperature probes. But its real trick is its long-range Bluetooth functionality, which allows you to keep an eye on cooking temperatures using the free iGrill app on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

Monsters, Inc. 2 To Be Prequel To Original Disney/Pixar Film

Citing a Disney film catalog distributed to film owners, Disney Central Plaza has reported on the apparent official synopsis for the highly anticipated second installment of the Monsters, Inc. franchise. The official synopsis was seemingly not published, so it is summarized below.

Slated to be released on November 2, 2012, the second film will take us back to before a time when Mike Wazowski was top comedian, before James P. Sullivan was top scarer, even before the buddies joined the MI workforce. In fact it takes us all the way back to school — the University of Fear to be precise.

Although the two start out as frenemies, Monsters, Inc. 2 will weave the tale of how the dynamic duo transition from rivals to Best Friends Forever.

Tim Liddy Recreates Nostalgic Gaming Memories in Paintings

At first glance, these vintage board games look like they’ve been dusted off from the deepest corners of a basement, but a closer look reveals that they are hyperrealistic photo paintings created by Tim Liddy.

The all-too-real art pieces really resemble what these classic board games would look like with their very retro looks. Complete with frayed corners and masking tape holding them together, Tim Liddy’s works really bring back the nostalgic memories of family game nights. (From TrendHunter).

Megamind Hits Blu-ray & DVD On February 25

He’s bad, brilliant… and blue. DreamWorks Animation “mega, mega, mega funny” Magamind flies onto Blu-ray and DVD on Friday, February 25, 2011, giving audiences of all ages even more diabolical fun and surprises they didn’t see in theaters. Packed with laughs, epic comic book action and non-stop adventure, the thoroughly entertaining and refreshingly original story has been hailed by critics as “mind-boggling fun” (Boston Herald) and features the voice talent of mega-stars Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, David Cross and Jonah Hill. The “beautifully animated” and “utterly delightful film” (Washington Post) kicks off a Mega-weekend with the debut of an all-new action-comedy starring fan-favorite characters Megamind and Minion. Featuring members of the original voice cast, Megamind: The Button of Doom follows our daring duo on their first day on the job as the new protectors of Metro City.

Megamind: The Button of Doom will be available for a limited time only in a Double DVD Pack and in a Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack. The Double DVD Pack also includes a behind-the-scenes look at the cast, a peek into Megamind’s lair, filmmaker commentary, a tutorial on drawing Megamind, a video comic book and much more. The Blu-ray/DVD Combo includes exclusive features such as The Animators’ Corner featuring picture-in-picture storyboards, behind-the-scenes footage and insightful interviews, as well as pop-up trivia, a comic creator and more. Offering tremendous value and hours of entertainment for the whole family, the Double DVD Pack and Blu-ray/DVD Combo will be available as low as $19.99 and $24.99 respectively.