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The Best Laptops In 2012

10 things to consider

A number of almost concurrent events in technology means that looking for a laptop by the end of 2012 is likely to be more difficult than ever before.

The impending arrival of Windows 8 (both x86 and RT) coupled with Intel's commitment to ultrabooks, the launch of the new Ivy Bridge processor family and AMD incoming "Trinity", the democratisation of cloud computing and the drop in price of SSD storage could hasten the demise of desktops.

The operating system is going to define your hardware platform. By the end of the year, we expect Windows 8, Windows RT and Mac OS X to be the prevalent mobile platforms with Chrome OS, Tizen and Ubuntu being outsiders. Either of the three main OSes has its own pros and cons but we'd probably stick with Windows RT because of its intrinsic features and the fact that it comes with Office as default.

Windows RT is tied to the ARM-based architecture which means that ARM-based laptops are likely to be similar to tablets with a keyboard (think Asus Transformer Prime with the keyboard attachment). Indeed we expect a number of hybrid solutions to evolve, either with fixed, detachable or revolving keyboards.

We'd expect quad core processors or high powered dual core ones all the way (even the Tegra 3 - a quad core Cortex-A9 model clocked at 1.5GHz), 2GB RAM or more, 64GB SSD (rather than flash), a 15-inch screen possibly with a 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (with optional touchscreen capabilities).

A card reader, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI, USB 3.0 and 802.11ac are all desirable rather than compulsory features. ARM-based laptops are likely to be extremely thin (although the MacBook Air is a concrete example of what Intel can achieve), boosts an impressive battery life (double digit hours) and have smartphone-like capabilities (always on, built in 3G capabilities etc).

Zohra Sehgal turns 100

It is legendary actor Zohra Sehgal's 100th birthday today! The actor was born on Apr 27, 1912 in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

She started her career as a dancer with the legendary Uday Shankar's troupe that toured the world then.

CHEENI KUM, SAAWARIYA, KAL HO NAA HO, KABHI KHUSHI KABHIE GHAM, DIL SE, HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM, VEER ZAARA are some of the Hindi movies where she acted.

The actress also worked as a theatre artist and was involved with Prithviraj Kapoor's Prithvi Theatre.

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King of comedy Johny Lever on laughter tour

Johny began his career back in 1984 he spent his early age in Yakutpura an old city of Hyderabad (India) from where he learnt the unique style of comedy/acting.

He developed a passion for mimicry and stand-up comedy, inspired by watching comedians like the unforgettable Mr. Johnny Walker, the remarkable Kishore Kumar and the legendary Mehmood saab in films and through mimicry artists like, Dinesh Hingoo and Nerella Venumadhav on stage, it was from here he decided to become a Mimicry Artist.

His success and talent grew gradually Johny was then offered films instantly. Starring in more than 400 Bollywood movies with let's say, every star under the horizon ever since! His fans took him instantly on screen which led him to achieve success upon success winning 13 Filmfare Awards nominated in The Best Comedian Category bringing it home twice.

Johny is considered an influential Indian comedian who has been cited as inspiration by many other comics in the industry today.

Motorola to launch the RAZR MAXX in UK

Motorola recently announced that the GSM version of the RAZR MAXX will be launched in Germany this May. Now in their latest announcement, Motorola said that it will also be bringing the phone to the UK by mid-May.

The phone is identical to the one sold in the US on Verizon's network, except instead of CDMA it will be running on the GSM network. Curiously, it is known by the same model name, XT910, as the standard GSM Motorola RAZR.

Sachin Tendulkar, actor Rekha recommended for Rajya Sabha

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and actress of yesteryear Rekha are among four eminent people who have been recommended for nomination to the Rajya Sabha.

39-year-old Tendulkar, who has brought many a laurel to the country through his exploits in the game, and Rekha, known for her brilliant and emotional portrayals in Hindi cinema in the 80s, will become members of Parliament under a provision of the Constitution that allows the President to nominate 12 members to the Upper House.

There is no word from the government on who the other two are who have been nominated.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent a communication to the Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday which has been sent to President Pratibha Patil for notification, sources said.

Article 80 of the Constitution provides for nomination of persons having special knowledge or practical experience in matters such as literature, science, art and social service.

57-year-old Rekha was one of the top heroines of the 80s in Hindi films and and had won several national awards in her acting career.

Tendulkar\'s nomination to Rajya Sabha has come as a surprise against the backdrop of a long-standing demand for conferring the Bharat Ratna on him for his contribution to the cricket. He completed the historic achievement of scoring 100 international centuries in March this year.

Earlier in the day, Tendulkar, accompanied by his wife Anjali, met Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her residence.

Tendulkar would be the first active sportsman and a cricketer to be nominated to Rajya Sabha.

The House already has a member from the film world in Javed Akhtar, eminent lyricist and script writer.

On Tendulkar\'s likely nomination, Congress spokesperson Renuka Choudhary said "it will look nice if he comes to parliament and will encourage sports."

In a lighter vein, she said "we will throw googly and he would bat."

International Sony Xperia ion (LT28i) announced in Taiwan

Sony had announced earlier this year that we can expect an international version of the Sony Xperia ion to come out in the summer. In a press conference in Taiwan, the company unveiled just that - the Sony Xperia ion LT28i (the AT&T version, which was exclusive until recently, is dubbed LT28at).

The phone is almost identical to the US carrier option - 4.6" 720p LCD screen backed by Mobile BRAVIA technology, 12MP camera with 1080p video capture, Snapdragon chipset with 1.5GHz dual-core processor, NFC and 16GB built-in memory (expandable with microSD cards). In other words, it's like a bigger Sony Xperia S, unfortunately including the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS at launch (with an ICS upgrade coming).

The only feature not on the list seems to be LTE - as 4G networks are still hard to come by outside the US, the Xperia ion relies on HSDPA.

So far the Sony Xperia ion LT28i is announced for Taiwan only (and only in black), but there's no official launch date or pricing info yet (rumors have it availability will come next month, though). Sony should make it available in other countries too, but we're yet to get more info on that.

Contempt case: Supreme Court convicts PM Gilani

ISLAMABAD: A seven-member bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday convicted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in contempt of court proceedings against him for refusing in complying with an order to write a letter to the authorities in Switzerland to ask them to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

The ruling said that Gilani was guilty of contempt, but would serve a sentence only "until the rising of the court," or by the time the judges left the chamber. That happened about three minutes after the verdict was handed down.

"For reasons to be recorded later Prime Minister and chief executive Yousuf Raza Gilani is found guilty and convicted for contempt of court," Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, the head of the seven-judge Supreme Court bench, said.

Counsel for Premier Aitzaz Ahsan said he would appeal the verdict, further delaying any action that could see Gilani lose his job.

According to the order issued by the Supreme Court, Prime Minister Gilani was found guilty and convicted for contempt of court under Article 204(2) of the constitution read with section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance for willful flouting, disregard and disobedience of this Court’s direction.

The court’s order further stated that as regards to the sentence to be passed against the convict we note that the findings and the conviction for contempt of court recorded above are likely to entail some serious consequences in terms of Article 63(1)(G) of the constitution which may be treated as mitigating factors towards the sentence passed against him. He is, therefore punished under section 5 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance with imprisonment till the rising of the Court today.

Prime Minister Gilani stood before the SC to hear the verdict in contempt case for not implementing the apex court’s ruling on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and smiled when the verdict was read out in a packed court house.

Under Pakistan's constitution anyone convicted of defaming or ridiculing the judiciary is barred from being an MP, but legal experts say the process to disqualify Gilani could be a lengthy one, involving the parliamentary speaker and the Election Commission.

Gilani is the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Pakistan, where civilian governments have repeatedly been toppled by the country’s powerful military, often with the support of the Supreme Court, which critics allege is heavily politicized. Corruption charges have routinely been used to target those in power, or seeking to return.

It is pertinent to note here that the court issued contempt notice to the premier in February for refusing to write to the Swiss authorities to re-open graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari The prime minister has appeared twice before in court and has maintained his innocence throughout, saying he had done nothing against the rules of business. Aitzaz, meanwhile, had argued that the bench was not eligible to hear the case as it had taken the notice itself.

It should be mentioned here that it was the first time in the history of Pakistan that a prime minister appeared before the court and was convicted of contempt.

Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley Adopt Second Child

Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley have welcomed a new baby.

The couple, already parents to a three-year-old daughter, Naleigh, whom they adopted from South Korea, have welcomed a second child, who is also adopted!

“Yes they have adopted a baby,” Jill Fritzo, who represents the former Grey's Anatomy actress, confirmed. “No further details [are available] at this time.”

Katherine Heigl, whose sister Meg was adopted, says that adoption was always the plan for a family with her singer-songwriter husband, whom she wed in 2007.

“Josh and I started talking about it before we were even engaged,” the actress, 33, said back in January. “We have talked about having biological children as well, but we both decided to adopt first, and I’d like to adopt again.”

And they have! Congratulations to the happy, growing family!

Lauren Conrad's Pink Hair

Lauren Conrad showed up to a signing of her latest young adult novel, The Fame Game, last night at The Grove in Los Angeles, sporting a surprising new hairstyle.

Or hair color, to be more specific.

Gone are LC's trademark long, blonde locks ... at least the bottom third of them. The back of her head was hot pink! This has become quite the hairstyle trend of late.

From Katy Perry to Diana Agron, Willow Smith to Britney Spears and even Amanda Bynes' mug shot, everybody's thinking pink.

Jennifer Hudson Exits Courtroom in Wake of Disturbing Photos

A day after taking the stand in the murder case against William Balfour - and breaking down when a photo of her mom was presented - Jennifer Hudson couldn't handle being in the same room with the man accused of killing her relatives.

Witnesses tell TMZ Hudson excused herself from the legal proceedings when prosecutors pulled out crime scene photos of Jennifer's seven-year old nephew Julian, who was allegedly shot by Balfour in a fit of rage.

He is also on trial for murdering Hudson's mother and brother.

David Otunga, Jennifer's fiance and the father of her son, remained inside the courtroom after Hudson departed and, insiders say, jotted down notes about the crime scene. Our hearts and thoughts go out to Jennifer and her family.