As Chinese Democracy Stiffs, Is Axl Looking For Slash?

After nearly 17 years of anticipation — and larger-than-life expectations — Guns N’ Roses comeback album has sold only 261,000 copies, landing it well behind releases by Kanye West and Taylor Swift on the charts. In comparison, AC/DC's Black Ice shifted a cool 784,000 copies in its first week out.

Of course, GN'R frontman Axl Rose didn’t help out his cause any by basically pulling a disappearing act during the album’s early promotion period, which had execs at Geffen Records crying bloody murder.

So why wasn’t Axl around to help promote the thing? UK’s The Sun is reporting that the reason Rose went missing two months before the album's release is because he's intent on getting the original lineup of the band back together.

It shouldn't be too hard, what with guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan once again free agents after Velvet Revolver parted ways with RCA, guitarist Izzy Stradlin seemingly eager to revisit the classic material and drummer Steven Adler basically insisting on a reunion.

From: Gibson News

Truphone turns iPod Touch into virtual phone

Truphone, a new freeware application for the iPod Touch, promises to use the media player's built in Wi-Fi to turn the device into a virtual mobile phone where owners can make phone calls using Skype.

Although you can currently only make calls to other iPod or iPhone users using the app, the developers say calls to landlines will be in place in the near future.

Geraldine Wilson, Truphone's CEO, added: "There are a slew of new features we're rolling out for the iPod Touch that will let users call landlines, Skype users or send instant messages. We're talking weeks, not months, before these go live."

"We've decided to focus on devices that are wi-fi enabled and have an apps-store. For the consumer, there has to be an easy way of downloading an application."

"Our focus on the consumer side - at least in the short term - is finding devices that fit that category," said Ms Wilson.

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Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong Offers Thoughts On Forthcoming CD

Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong has begun stoking expectations for the band’s forthcoming CD. Topping the success of 2004’s American Idiot will be a monumental task, but in a recent interview with Alternative Press, the Green Day frontman assured fans that the group’s new disc will not disappoint.

“I'm not saying I can go for it this hard every time -- there might be times when I want to have something that's a little bit more spontaneous and off the cuff -- but with this record, the feeling's been that you've got to just go for it,” Armstrong told the magazine.

The veteran rocker also praised producer Butch Vig, whose work behind the boards mixed well with the band’s approach.

“I think he's just got a lot of integrity and a lot of class,” Armstrong said, “and one of the things I really respect about Butch is that he doesn't just go for things that are going to be million-sellers, or something that's gonna be massive for the sake of being massive, or is gonna look flashy on his resume or something. He works with a lot of different kinds of bands, and it could be a platinum band, or it could be more of a garage band. And he's got a long history of that.”

Armstrong went on say he especially enjoys messing around with arrangements.

“I always try to look at the possibilities of how you write power-pop music, “he said. “You know, it's like, how do you take something--and it could be anything from the Creation and the Who to the Beatles to Cheap Trick to the Jam--and try to expand on the idea of what is supposed to be three-chord mayhem? And how do you do it in a way where the arrangements are just unpredictable? So I'm pushing myself to be progressive in songwriting and being a songwriter.

To read the entire interview, click here: http://altpress.com/features/273.htm

Xbox 360 outsells PS3 3-to-1 on Black Friday

Microsoft has announced the official numbers for Xbox 360 sales during the recent Black Friday weekend and says the sales were so high they broke previous records.

The console also outsold its rival 3-to-1, most likely thanks to cheap 360 bundles offered by many retailers that included, in some cases, up to 4 free games.

"We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism, knowing that dollar for dollar, Xbox 360 offers more social entertainment value than any other console on the market," noted Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft.

"Record Black Friday sales in the US, coupled with our existing global install base of 25 million and an online community of more than 14 million Xbox Live members, have laid the groundwork for continued global sales momentum in 2009."

From: Afterdawn News

Vista Service Pack 2 coming in April

According to a source over at TechARP, the much anticipated Windows Vista Service Pack 2 should be arriving by April 2009, bringing with it a handful of features that were missing in the disappointing Service Pack 1.

A beta release should be available by February with final release scheduled for April, says the source. The launch will be staggered by user language, with English receiving first, European languages second, Japanese third and Spanish and Chinese versions hitting last.

The update will bring native Blu-ray burning, Bluetooth 2.1, Windows Search 4.0, and a much improved Wi-Fi configuration utility. The pack will also incorporate all security updates that have been released since Service Pack 1.

From: Afterdawn News