SUV And An Open Manhole Combine With Surprisingly Dramatic Results [Video]

The latest example of random insanity from the Russian roads captured by dashcam shows, in rather direct fashion, how one worker's negligence can quickly translate into an SUV flying through the air. More »

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Jonas Brothers' Secret Boy-Band Weapon: Instruments

'It's a rare thing for a boy band. ... I don't know of a whole lot of boy bands that do that,' Nick Jonas tells MTV News.
By John Mitchell

Nick and Joe Jonas
Photo: Todd Williamson/ WireImage

The Jonas Brothers rode easily into the second round of our Battle of the Boy Bands, demolishing Menudo by taking 80 percent of the vote. But they are facing stiff competition from another group of three real-life brothers in round two: Hanson.

With the JoBros back in the studio working on a comeback album, and with each brother (Joe, Nick and Kevin) pursuing his own solo effort, they remain one of the most active bands in the competition. So why vote Jonas? Read on.

Strongest Chart Achievement
Well, it certainly doesn't get much better than having the #1 album in the country, and the Jo Bros have had two: 2008's A Little Bit Longer and 2009's Lines, Vines and Trying Times. Longer is the real jewel in the Brothers' crown, though, shifting an impressive 525,402 copies in its debut frame. On the strength of the hit single "Burnin' Up," the album held on to the #1 spot in its second week of release and continued to sell briskly on its way to going double platinum in the U.S.

A Little Bit Longer remains the band's best-selling album and even earned a spot on Rolling Stone's list of the best albums of 2008.

Standout Video
Since they didn't make much of an impression on mainstream audiences with their debut (see below), the brothers started anew when they joined Hollywood Records and amped up their pop sound for their self-titled sophomore album. The album's first single, "Year 3000," brought them plenty of mainstream attention, but its second single, "S.O.S.," kicked things up even further.

The song became the group's first top 20 hit, buoyed by its video, which was filmed on the RMS Queen Mary superliner in the summer of 2007. With well over 93 million views, the "S.O.S." video is easily the band's most-viewed clip.

Defining Tune
For its sheer crossover appeal, it's gotta be "Burnin' Up." The song is the JoBros biggest hit by far, debuting to strong enough digital sales to spur a #5 opening on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it their highest charting song to date. This single was a sales smash, moving more than 2 million digital downloads to become the band's second platinum-selling song after "S.O.S.," and it became a bona fide radio hit over the summer of 2008.

As much as we love our boy bands, they aren't often embraced by critics. However, this song, like its mothership album A Little Bit Longer, was. The acclaim Longer and "Burnin' Up" earned helped the JoBros along to their lone Grammy nomination (for Best New Artist) in 2009.

Debut Album
The Jonas Brothers' first album as a group — Nick released a solo album before he, Joe and Kevin united to create the band — was 2006's It's About Time. The record was pretty low-profile (to say the least), though it managed to make an impression in the Christian market and sell 62,000 copies in the U.S. The lack of interest the album generated for the band led to them being dropped from Columbia Records, though they were snapped up by Hollywood Records almost immediately.

While it didn't generate much heat for the boys in 2006, the album has become something of a collector's item for fans in the years since, and because it is currently out of print, copies are rare and expensive on online auction sites like eBay.

Biggest Competition
The Jonas Brothers are currently embroiled in a tough showdown with Hanson, another brotherly threesome with an affinity for playing guitars and penning their own tunes (both boy-band rarities). Hanson is decidedly '90s and the Bros are very of the aughts, meaning its unlikely they share a fanbase, but Hanson has one thing going for them that the JoBros don't: nostalgia. People have a way of romanticizing their fond recollections of the recent past, so the Jonases have a real battle here.

When we asked Nick Jonas why fans should vote for his group above all other boy bands in our bracket, he went straight for the very thing that sets the Jonas Brothers and their main competition, Hanson, apart. "I think that we are a good one to vote for because we play our own instruments," Nick said. "It's a rare thing for a boy band. ... I don't know of a whole lot of boy bands that do that."

Is that good enough to keep them in the competition? Only time will tell.

Voting in round two of MTV's Battle of the Boy Bands runs until noon ET on Monday, April 30. Winners are determined by fan votes, so if your favorite band made the cut, make sure you keep voting. Tune in to AMTV and MTV Hits for their boy-band video takeovers each day and make sure to spread the word on Twitter using the hashtag #BBB and like us on Facebook for updates!

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• Battle Of The Boy Bands

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• MTV Buzzworthy Blog: Battle Of The Boy Bands!

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Test Driving GAIN Fitness, The App That Turns Your iPhone Into A Personal Trainer [TCTV]

Summer is on its way, and self-improvement is on everyone's minds -- so it seems like each day I hear about a new must-have app focused on fitness, health, nutrition, or the "quantified self" in general. And now that the tech startup scene is hotter than ever, many of these apps are backed by serious investors and have big plans for the future. Take GAIN Fitness. The San Francisco-based company, headed up by former college athlete and ex-Googler Nick Gammell, makes web and mobile apps that provide personalized workout routines and track users' progress as they go through them. It sounds solid on paper, but with all the options out there we wanted to look a bit closer at the company and its product. So we met up with Gammell at a gym in downtown San Francisco to talk to him about GAIN Fitness and test drive the app ourselves.

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Tumblr President John Maloney Steps Down, Promises ?Awesome New Stuff?

Tumblr President John Maloney just posted (on his Tumblr, natch) that he's stepping down from a day-to-day operational role at the company. "It?s the right time for me and a good time for Tumblr," Maloney writes. "We?re in great hands with David and the excellent leadership team we?ve built."

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PSA: Space Shuttle Enterprise flying over NYC this morning

JFK may be a place that many, many people have gone to before, but it's safe to say that the Space Shuttle Enterprise will be going there boldly. Much like the Space Shuttle Discovery turned heads in DC last week, Space Shuttle Enterprise will be stopping traffic in New York City today. NASA has confirmed that today's 747-100 ferry flight across Manhattan is a "Go" and that the duo will "fly at a relatively low altitude over various parts of the New York City metropolitan area on Friday" before landing at JFK. The Shuttle will then, in the coming weeks, be put on a ferry of a floating variety and brought to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Today's flying tour is scheduled to take place between 9:30 and 11:30 am and... oh look, at the time, we must be going.

Update: NASA has confirmed takeoff from Dulles! The flight plan is not known, but as before your best bet is to follow the #spottheshuttle hashtag on Twitter.

PSA: Space Shuttle Enterprise flying over NYC this morning originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom's new sat nav: perfect for your van down by the river

If you're prone to hitting the road in a trailer or camper, you probably know that the road isn't exactly made to accommodate to your less-than-dainty vehicle. In a bid to express its deepest sympathies (and, you know, make money), TomTom is unveiling a device made specifically for caravan owners. In addition to offering the standard TomTom Live features for keeping up to date with traffic and weather reports, the Go Live Camper and Caravan includes warnings for narrow roads, low bridges and the like, and it also highlights the nearest rest stops and other points of interest for road trippers. And because you probably trade in that motorhome for a smaller set of wheels on occasion, TomTom lets you switch to a different profile, complete with customizable specifications for size, weight and speed. The Go Live Camper and Caravan will set you back £349.99, and as the price indicates, it's currently only set up to handle roads across the pond.

Continue reading TomTom's new sat nav: perfect for your van down by the river

TomTom's new sat nav: perfect for your van down by the river originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This Two-Acre Telescope Powers Science's Search for Dark Energy [Monster Machines]

For lack of a better word, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) is ginorgantic. (That's the evolved form of ginormous). At 17 million pounds, it is both the world's largest, most technologically-advanced single-dish radio telescope—and the single biggest land-based movable structure on the planet. More »

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College Student's Awesome Photo With President Obama Goes Viral

University of Colorado student Madalyn Starkey posed for a photo with the President of the United States the other day ... possibly after a few too many drinks.

Traveling through Colorado Tuesday, Obama stopped in at a local pub known as The Sink, where the POTUS met many college students, including Starkey.

In the pic, Obama is grinning with his arm around her as the self-described "Professional Student" points her finger at the president in seeming disbelief:

Amid hundreds of shares and re-tweets, Starkey has been having fun with all the attention, saying "Woo, never knew a tweet could blow up like that. Neat!"

"Bet you wish you had taken me to prom now, huh?" she Tweeted at one follower.

The pic has taken off on social media sites like Instagram and Twitter ... almost as much as Obama slow jamming the news with Jimmy Fallon on Late Night.

Political views aside, needless to say, the Prez is the king of cool. Who wouldn't want to pose for a drunk photo with the guy and post it on Twitter?

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Samsung patent application explores the possibility of phasing out human crossing guards

We have definitely seen our share of robots and crossing guards, but we almost never really see a combination of the two. An application filed by Samsung today at the US Patent & Trademark office seems to suggest that at least some people have been thinking long and hard about bots helping humans conquer the mean streets of our cities using a multitude of on-board tech -- from infrared and proximity sensors -- to devices enabling wireless communication between traffic lights and other robots. According to the application, the machines could inherit the traditional reflective properties often associated with crossing guard attire -- you know, the perfect guise for keeping their true intentions concealed.

Samsung patent application explores the possibility of phasing out human crossing guards originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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