Monday, July 19, 2010

Windows Phone 7 in depth: A fresh start

by Matt Buchanan
updated 7/19/2010 11:15:01 AM ET


PREVIEW
"What's this?" a girl at a party asked, as I handed her my phone. She touched a square, and everything flipped away. "It's Microsoft's brand new phone. Kind of like a fresh start," I explained. "Oh. It's... neat." 

That's the most apt way to describe Windows Phone 7, really. It's a fresh start, and it's neat. It's a clean slate that Microsoft can use as a foundation to build something entirely new, and it's not like any other phone you've used. It manages to do something that's sadly rare for Microsoft, which is to leverage all of these different Microsoft products and services — Bing, Xbox Live, Zune to name a few—and seamlessly bring them together in a single, polished product. Which is exactly what Windows Phone 7 needs to be. (Msnbc.com is an NBC Universal-Microsoft joint venture.)

                                                                                                               All images courtesy of Gizmodo
      Phone 7 manages to do something that's rare for Microsoft, which is to leverage different Microsoft products and services


Windows Phone 7 is coming out this year, in the next few months — October, possibly — and the basic rundown of "What is Windows Phone 7?" can be found here and here. The version that I've been using for the last few days on prototype hardware (a Samsung phone which will never be sold) has been variously described to me by Microsoft as "beta 2," a "close-to-release-candidate build" and a "technical preview." Developers will be getting phones loaded with it shortly in order to have apps ready for launch. It's representative of what the final Windows Phone 7 interface and experience will be like, though two critical parts were missing, because they're still under heavy construction: Xbox Live and the Apps Marketplace.

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U.S.-Born Radical Cleric Added to Terror Blacklist

Published July 16, 2010 | Associated Press
The Obama administration added a U.S.-born, al-Qaida-linked cleric to a terrorism blacklist Friday, targeting him with sanctions aimed at cutting off his financial support.

The Treasury Department placed Anwar al-Awlaki -- accused by officials of helping plan the failed Christmas Day airline bombing -- on its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. That means any bank accounts found in the United States belonging to him are frozen. Americans are forbidden from doing business with him. And, it bans him from traveling to the U.S.

The move comes about six months after the U.S. government put al-Awlaki on a secret list of targets to be captured or killed, according to U.S. officials.

Born in New Mexico, al-Awlaki, 39, is not perceived by American officials as a major tactical terror leader on par with al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden. But his role as an inspirational exhorter for al-Qaida's cause and his growing involvement in plots aimed at the U.S. has made him a prime target in the effort to counter the militant movement.


China reduces US Treasury debt holdings in May

China reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasury debt in May as total foreign holdings of government debt posted a slight increase.

China's holdings fell by $32.5 billion to $867.7 billion, the Treasury reported Friday.

The report said that total holdings of Treasury securities edged up $5.8 billion to $3.96 trillion in May, a slight increase of 0.1 percent compared to April.

The Treasury said that net purchases of long-term securities, a category that covers not only U.S. government debt but also debt of U.S. companies, increased by $35.4 billion in May. That followed bigger gains of $81.5 billion in April and $141.4 billion in March.

While the May figure was down from the previous two months, analysts said it still reflected significant interest on the part of foreigners in holding U.S. government and corporate debt.

U.S. Sends Help to Mexico After Series of Deadly Attacks

Published July 19, 2010 | FoxNews.com

The head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday said immigration officials are working closely with Mexican authorities to investigate a series of stunning attacks in Mexico including a car bomb in the border city of Juarez that has drawn comparisons to Middle Eastern terrorism. 

While the Obama administration rolls out its plan to deploy 1,200 National Guard and other assets to the southwestern border, the violence in northern Mexico has only escalated in recent weeks. 

Eighteen people were massacred at a party in the city of Torreon on Sunday -- more than a month after 19 people were killed at a drug-rehab center in Chihuahua. In the border city of Juarez, where more than 1,500 have been killed this year, a car bomb apparently designed to lure police to the scene killed three people on Thursday.

First Lawsuit Heard Agains Arizona Immigration Law

A showdown over immigration

By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY
Ashley Cooper is not an illegal immigrant. She's not Hispanic.

Yet the 22-year-old who graduated recently from Northern Arizona University spends her weekends in heavily Hispanic neighborhoods in Flagstaff, Ariz., raising money to battle the state's new immigration law. She and other volunteers pass collection cups around soccer matches, neighborhood festivals and quinceaƱeras— traditional Hispanic coming-of-age parties for girls turning 15.

"I've never been more of a churchgoer in my life than now," Cooper, a volunteer with the Repeal Coalition, a group trying to repeal the state's immigration law, says of her fundraising efforts.

Cooper and others who feel strongly about Arizona's immigration enforcement law are preparing for what could be an onslaught of litigation starting July 29, when the law is scheduled to go into effect. It would require police officers to question the immigration status of suspects stopped for another offense if there's a "reasonable suspicion" they are in the country illegally.

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Thursday, July 15, 2010

Russia Ready to Deliver Fuel to Iran Despite Sanctions


Russian companies were ready to supply fuel to Iran, despite unilateral U.S. and European Union sanctions targeting Tehran's oil and gas sectors, the Russian energy minister said Wednesday.
"Russian companies are prepared to deliver oil products to Iran. The possibility of delivering oil products to Iran exists, if there is a commercial interest," said Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko.
Russia already expressed its dissatisfaction with sanction measures, agreed last month by the U.S. and the EU, to punish Iran for its defiance in the nuclear standoff with Western countries.

Under Fire, Apple to Discuss iPhone


Published July 14, 2010
 | The Wall Street Journal
Fox News has confirmed that Apple will hold a news conference Friday concerning its iPhone 4, which is facing mounting criticism over reception problems tied to antenna design.
An Apple spokesman declined to give further details, including whether the conference will address reported reception problems or Apple's response to those problems. Apple plans to hold the conference at its headquarters, the spokesman said.
Apple watchers speculated that the company will offer a solution. "Given the intense pressure and scrutiny Apple has come under on the problem with the iPhone 4, it's going to be about some kind of fix or compensation for the owners of the phone," speculated Ed Snyder, an analyst with Charter Equity Research.
The Cupertino, Calif., company launched the phone last month to great fanfare as it boasted of a design that put the antenna in a stainless steel band around the phone's frame.
But even as the phone has continued to sell well at stores, it has been plagued with user complaints about dropped calls when the phone is held in a way that covers part of the antenna.

U.S. General: Iran's Threat in Iraq on the Rise

BAGHDAD — The threat to U.S. troops in Iraq from Iranian-backed militants has increased although it will not disrupt the ongoing withdrawal, a top U.S. commander said on Tuesday.

While the overall number of attacks on U.S. military convoys leaving Iraq has been "fairly low," top U.S. commander in the country Gen. Ray Odierno said "a very consistent threat" from Iran-backed groups has increased in the last two weeks.

Tehran is stepping up its efforts to increase its political and economic influence in Iraq as U.S. military capability diminishes, he added.

"There's a very consistent threat from Iranian surrogates operating in Iraq," Odierno told reporters in Baghdad. As a result, security has been beefed up at some U.S. bases in Iraq and joint operations with Iraqi forces against suspected Iranian-sponsored insurgents have been increased.

While the connections between certain groups of Shiite militants and the government in Tehran was "always very convoluted," Odierno was fairly certain of their ties to the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a heavily armed paramilitary force tasked with protecting the clerical regime.

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Leak Foils BP Effort to Choke Gusher With Cap

NEW ORLEANS -- BP engineers working to choke the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico found a leak on a line attached to the side of the new well cap and were trying to fix it Thursday before attempting to stop the flow of crude.

BP said Wednesday evening it had isolated the leak and was repairing it before moving forward. It wasn't clear how it would affect the timing of the operation, or whether oil continued to be slowly closed off into the cap.

Work started earlier Wednesday after a day-long hiatus to allay government fears that the disaster could be made worse by going forward with the tests to determine whether the temporary cap can withstand the pressure and contain the oil. It was the best hope yet of stopping the crude from streaming into the water for the first time since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 people.

The process began with BP shutting off pipes that were funneling some of the oil to ships on the surface so the full force of the gusher went up into the cap. Then deep-sea robots began slowly closing, one at a time, three openings in the cap that let oil pass through. Ultimately, the flow of crude will be blocked entirely.

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Texas Mayor Left Ominous Suicide Note, Keys at Front Door


COPPELL, Texas -- When police arrived at a suburban Dallas mayor's sprawling upscale home, they quickly realized something was very wrong. Rather than attend a City Council meeting, Mayor Jayne Peters had apparently taped an envelope to the door with a key and an ominous note inside.
Something unpleasant awaited them, warned the typed missive.
Inside the two-story brick house, Coppell police found a horrific scene Tuesday night. Peters and her 19-year-old college-bound daughter were both dead of gunshot wounds to the head, an apparent murder-suicide committed by the mayor, investigators say.
Three other notes were found at the house. But they did not offer an explanation for the deaths, only instructions for managing family affairs, such as care for the dogs, Coppell Deputy Police Chief Steve Thomas said Wednesday.


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Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston to Tie the Knot

(July 14) -- Levi Johnston has taken his reconciliation with the Palin family one big step further: He popped the question to Bristol, but they didn't tell her parents she said yes because she was too scared.

Her parents seem less than thrilled.



The cover of Us Weekly shows Bristol Palin, 19, wearing an engagement ring. Johnston, 20, has his arm around her, and both are holding their 18-month-old out-of-wedlock son, Tripp. The cover -- with the headline blaring "We're Getting Married!" -- was shown this morning on NBC's "Today." A video of the magazine's photo shoot in Alaska also was shown.

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Illegal immigrants seeking in-state tuition rates hold 'teach-ins' at Capitol, White House


WASHINGTON
the Capitol and White House steps, that is.

A coalition of student immigrant advocacy groups in Massachusetts, Colorado and California on Wednesday launched a makeshift school in the nation's capital, reminiscent of the "teach-ins" of the 1960s, to encourage a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants through college enrollment.

The first class at "Dream University" — a school with informal classes and volunteer professors and instructors from around the country — was held Wednesday outside the White House, with more planned in the weeks ahead. Students don't get credit for the classes, but they're free.

The first class of about 27 students, several wearing white DREAM University T-shirts, gathered at Lafayette Park, across from the White House.

Cady Landa, a former Boston public schoolteacher, led the students in a discussion of a report recently released by the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington think tank.

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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Cleveland Fumes Over LeBron's Process, Not His Decision

Pat McManamon
Senior NBA Writer
Getty Images
CLEVELAND -- It's time to put to rest some fallacies that have followed LeBron James' decision to go to Miami.

First, Clevelanders understood better than anyone that James had the right to change teams. They know it's a free country and he was a free agent. They really and truly know what "free" means -- probably better than anyone. Because every day of the last three years they've lived with the notion.

Heck, Cleveland has seen enough people leave, period, to understand that folks don't always stay in town. They get it.

So to quantify their anger the past few days at James' decision to go to Miami is to misplace it. Cleveland was disappointed James left; they were furious with the way he did it. Had he stayed, they'd have taken him back -- he's a rare basketball player, a once-in-a-lifetime talent -- but his stature still would have taken a hit because they wouldn't have appreciated how he went about his "business."

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Monday, July 12, 2010

Kings Season 1 Episode 4 - Insurrection

David's loyalties are torn when his brother joins the resistance after King Silas offers Gath the territory where David's family lives.

Kings Season 1 Episode 3 - First Night

King Silas makes a sacrifice to save the life of his illegitimate child, while Jack, who has ulterior motives, takes David on a wild night out.

Published July 12, 2010 | Associated Press

A gunman opened fire at an Albuquerque fiber optics manufacturer on Monday, killing five people and wounding four others before turning the gun on himself in what police said was a domestic violence dispute.

The shooting at Emcore Corp. appeared to involve the 37-year-old gunman's ex-wife or girlfriend, police Chief Ray Schultz said. It was not immediately clear whether she was among the dead, or what caliber weapon he used.

Schultz said the gunman was a former employee, but did not release his name.

U.S., Mexican Officials Say They Can't Confirm Arrest of Hezbollah Operative on Border

By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published July 09, 2010
FoxNews.com


Officials in the U.S. and Mexico say they cannot confirm a widely-circulating report out of Kuwait that a Hezbollah leader has been arrested in Mexico. 

The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah reported last week that Hezbollah operatives had employed Mexican nationals with ties to Lebanon to set up a network in South America designed to target Israel and the West, and that the group's alleged leader, Jameel Nasr, had been arrested in Tijuana.

According to the report, authorities in Mexico conducted a surveillance operation on Nasr, who traveled frequently to Lebanon to receive instructions from Hezbollah militants.

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Saturday, June 26, 2010

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Kings Season 1 Episode 2 - Prosperity

When David is blamed for the failed peace talks with Gath, he takes extreme action to get the two sides back to the negotiating table.


Friday, June 18, 2010

Kings Season 1 Episode 1 - Goliath Part I & II

When an unknown soldier saves the life of the King's son in battle, he's thrust into the limelight and politics of the kingdom.


Friday, June 11, 2010

FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration Concert

Click the link below to watch the World Cup Kick-Off Concert in South Africa

Watch it Now

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Featured Movie : The Future of Food

The Future Of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.



Sunday, May 30, 2010

Featured Movie: One Night With The King

A sweeping epic about Hadassah, the young Jewish orphan who becomes the biblical Esther, Queen of Persia.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Face of Fear at the Border

Friend of murdered rancher discusses Ariz. immigration law and border security


On Doomed Rig, There Was 'Nobody in Charge'


Published May 28, 2010 | The Wall Street Journal

In the minutes after a cascade of gas explosions crippled the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, confusion reigned on the drilling platform. Flames were spreading rapidly, power was out, and terrified workers were leaping into the dark, oil-coated sea. Capt. Curt Kuchta, the vessel's commander, huddled on the bridge with about 10 other managers and crew members.

Andrea Fleytas, a 23-year-old worker who helped operate the rig's sophisticated navigation machinery, suddenly noticed a glaring oversight: No one had issued a distress signal to the outside world, she recalls in an interview. Ms. Fleytas grabbed the radio and began calling over a signal monitored by the Coast Guard and other vessels.

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Microsoft Running Out of Excuses

I’m wondering what excuses Microsoft will invent to explain away the fact that Apple has now surpassed Microsoft in terms of market value. The unofficial version from Microsoft, delivered over the past few years in off-the-record conversations, has basically boiled down to the notion that investors are fickle creatures who are so swept up in Apple’s hype and hysteria that they fail to see how great Microsoft still is. [NEWSWEEK has a content-sharing partnership with msnbc.com, a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.]

But honestly, when you look at charts like this one from The New York Times you do start to wonder how this once powerful company could have fallen so far so fast.

And it is getting harder and harder for Microsoft to keep insisting that its CEO, Steve Ballmer, is doing a great job.

Last year I wrote a column for NEWSWEEK explaining how poorly Microsoft has performed in the 10 years since Ballmer took over.

I followed up soon after that with an essay for NEWSWEEK predicting that Ballmer would be pushed out of the company in 2010.

All I did was point out the obvious. Microsoft stock has been a dud under Ballmer. The Vista operating system was a disaster. Microsoft missed pretty much every big, new important market for the past decade: Internet search (Google), digital music (Apple), social networking (Facebook). Microsoft once had a lead in mobile-phone software, and now has become an also-ran.

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Artest beats buzzer, lifts Lakers past Suns

L.A. takes 3-2 lead in Western Conference finals with 103-101 win

Image: Suns vs Lakers

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
Lakers forward Ron Artest jumps into the arms of teammate Kobe Bryant after scoring the winning basket against the Phoenix Suns in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Thursday night.
 
BREAKING NEWS
updated 49 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - A path through the lane suddenly opened up before Ron Artest. Kobe Bryant’s missed 3-pointer dropped right into his hands, and Artest’s awkward layup banked neatly through the net as the buzzer sounded on Game 5 of the Western Conference finals

What a pretty finish to an ugly game for the Lakers’ veteran troublemaker, who has struggled to find his role throughout his first season with the defending champions — and what a strange, thrilling way for Artest to carve out his own spot in the Lakers’ playoff lore. 

Artest banked home the winning shot after grabbing the biggest offensive rebound of his career, nudging the Lakers past the Phoenix Suns 103-101 on Thursday night to take a 3-2 series lead. 

 

 

 

Train 'sabotage' in India kills scores


Maoists blamed for 'tinkering done to the tracks,' blast as at least 65 die

 

By Bappa Majumdar

updated 7 minutes ago
NEW DELHI - Maoist rebels were suspected of sabotaging a high-speed train in eastern India on Friday, killing at least 65 people after it smashed into the path of a goods train, officials said.

Local television showed the mangled wreckage of capsized carriages across the tracks and the death toll was expected to rise as many passengers were still trapped. At least 200 people were injured.

"So far we have recovered 40 bodies but the toll will rise further," N.S. Nigam, a senior local government official, told Reuters. Media reports quoting government officials said at least 65 people were killed.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said a bomb had hit the train, but police said they were also looking at other sabotage methods such as the removal of the tracks' "fish plates".

"From whatever I have been told the apprehension is the Maoists were involved," Banerjee said.

The crash occurred in West Bengal state in an area known to be a stronghold of Maoist rebels. Maoists, who say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless, have attacked trains in the past and have stepped up attacks in recent months.




 

Fence alone can't plug porous border

Oft-breached barrier doesn't stop politicians from citing it

Image: U.S.-Mexico border fence
A new border fence designed to stop vehicle traffic at the U.S.-Mexico border runs for several miles in San Miguel, Ariz.
Ross D. Franklin / AP

By JACQUES BILLEAUD
 
updated 7:10 p.m. CT, Thurs., May 27, 2010
NOGALES, Ariz. - The fence rises from the rock and hardscrabble of the desert floor, a formidable 15-foot-high curtain of corrugated metal that stretches into the mirage of heat and distance. Newer sections feature 20-foot high steel columns, deeply planted, narrowly spaced, so no human slips between.

The start-and-stop span — 646 miles long — has become a fierce polemic, a bumper sticker, a popular backdrop for campaign commercials during an election year with another sulfurous immigration debate.

The best known TV spot features Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain kicking along a dusty road in this hilly border city, fuming to his companion, the Pinal County sheriff, about drugs and immigrant smugglers and kidnappings. Wearing his Navy baseball cap and squinting into the sun, McCain could be rounding the corner to the gunfight at the OK Corral.


 

Game 5: Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers Live Stream | NBA Conference Finals 2010

Starting live by 9:00 PM ET, it’s Game 5of Phoenix Suns vs  LA Lakers for the NBA Western Conference Finals 2010 at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, California.The series is tied at 2-2 in the Western Conference Finals. Game 5 is pivotal for both the Lakers and the Suns.

The Lakers are reeling and didn't know what hit them in Phoenix while the Suns are scorching hot. Will the Suns continue their hot streak in LA?

Watch Phoenix Suns vs LA Lakers live stream through various sports channels, both local and national as well as online live streaming websites such as SOPCast, uStream and JustinTV. More details below.


Those who would like to watch Suns vs Lakers live stream can check out the national broadcast at TNT. There are unofficial live streams available HERE but we cannot guarantee a good quality HD.

For live scores and commentaries of the Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers basketball match, you can head over to ESPN here to read how the game unfolds in real time.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE GAME

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Birthright Citizenship Law Proposed in Arizona

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Expensive Aliens: How Much Do Illegal Immigrants Really Cost?

That's what it seems to come down to in the most recent flare-up of the immigration debate. Policy makers and pundits who want tougher policies against illegal immigrants argue that they cost American taxpayers billions of dollars. Those on the other side of the debate counter that illegal immigrants create demand and jobs that promote economic growth.

So which one is it?

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a conservative advocacy group that favors tighter immigration laws, argues that the answer is clear: illegal aliens cost U.S. taxpayers more than $100 billion each year.




Jack Martin, director of special projects for FAIR, says the group is still working on its estimate, but believes undocumented workers leave taxpayers with a fat bill, considering that the government spends money on the workers, and they almost never pay income taxes.

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Obama orders 1,200 Guard troops to border

$500 million also sought to improve protection, law enforcement

Image: National Guard patrols border

Ross D. Franklin / AP file
A United States National Guard unit patrols the Arizona-Mexico border in Sasabe, Ariz., in this Jan. 19, 2007, file photo. President Obama on Tuesday pledged 1,200 National Guardsman but Arizona's two senators say that's not enough.


msnbc.com news services
updated 2 hours, 29 minutes ago
TUCSON, Ariz. - President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered 1,200 National Guard troops to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border, pre-empting Republican plans to try to force votes on such a deployment. 

Obama will also request $500 million for border protection and law enforcement activities, according to lawmakers and administration officials.





The president announced the deployment shortly after he returned from lunch with the 41-member Senate Republican Caucus, who told him that U.S. borders first need to be secured before work could start on a sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration laws.  Arizona's two Republican senators said the deployment wasn't enough.

 

 

Game 4: Los Angeles Lakers vs Phoenix Suns Live Stream | NBA Conference Finals 2010

Starting live by 9:00 PM ET, it’s Game 4 of LA Lakers vs Phoenix Suns for the NBA Western Conference Finals 2010 at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, California. The LA Lakers are looking to get a 3-1 series lead over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Western Conference Finals 2010. The Phoenix Suns are looking to tie the series to 2-2 apiece.

Watch Phoenix Suns vs LA Lakers live stream through various sports channels, both local and national as well as online live streaming websites such as SOPCast, uStream and JustinTV. More details below.



“It’s all part of the game, every part of it,” Bryant said. “I love a long layoff. Everybody on our team is pretty much banged up, so it’s good to get rest and get ready for what’s in front of you.”

Those who would like to watch Suns vs Lakers live stream can check out the national broadcast at TNT. There are unofficial live streams available HERE but we cannot guarantee a good quality HD.

For live scores and commentaries of the Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers basketball match, you can head over to ESPN here to read how the game unfolds in real time.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE GAME

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Game 3: Los Angeles Lakers vs Phoenix Suns Live Stream | NBA Conference Finals 2010

Starting live by 8:30 PM ET, it’s Game 3 of LA Lakers vs Phoenix Suns for the NBA Western Conference Finals 2010 at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, California. The LA Lakers are looking to get a 3-0 series lead over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Western Conference Finals 2010.

Watch Phoenix Suns vs LA Lakers live stream through various sports channels, both local and national as well as online live streaming websites such as SOPCast, uStream and JustinTV. More details below.




After both teams got a week off to rest and recalibrate, the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers will attempt to reach their third straight NBA finals when they take on the Phoenix Suns, starting in Game 2 on Monday night.

“It’s all part of the game, every part of it,” Bryant said. “I love a long layoff. Everybody on our team is pretty much banged up, so it’s good to get rest and get ready for what’s in front of you.”
Those who would like to watch Suns vs Lakers live stream can check out the national broadcast at TNT. There are unofficial live streams available HERE but we cannot guarantee a good quality HD.

For live scores and commentaries of the Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Lakers basketball match, you can head over to ESPN here to read how the game unfolds in real time.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE GAME