Author: Serkadis

Crytek has announced that they will reveal tonight the first showing of one of the hotly anticipated titles of the year, Crysis 2.
 
*UPDATE*
Raw footage of the trailer is now up, check it out after the jump.

RingCentral is your own personal communications secretary. Using this service is essentially like telling your personal assistant to set up the phone systems in your new office and having it done the same day with all the customizations you want. Granted, it can’t pick up your dry cleaning or bring you a morning latte, but as more then just a VoIP service, RingCentral has gained stunning accolades across the board, even being hailed as “a virtual phone system for a 21st century workforce” by ZDnet. In the modern workforce, many of us are moving, constantly. Try getting hold of my boss and it will take you about 10 different phone numbers, maybe even a private detective, or two. However, businesses still like to give customers the image of their employees being suited up, hard at work in a buzzing office just waiting to help the customer at this very moment. RingCentral presents and maintains that image through a seamless transition of a virtual phone tree. Think of it as Skype meets Google Voice meets a switchboard operator.

Configuration & Set Up
To start off you can pick a toll free number and add local numbers as well. An 800 number makes you look like a big time business, while a local number makes you seem personally available.  Vanity numbers are also available for an extra $5 a month and are pro-rated.
Next comes the automated receptionist.  In an easy download and install you can start within minutes. It is PC and Mac friendly so it really is no trouble at all. You can begin to configure the settings through an online menu that looks like this:

After you configure the Interactive Voice Response menu and greetings you will have something that resembles any other 800 number out there… “Press one for…. Two for….” And with 100 extensions available, covering all your bases will be no problem. Studio produced hold messages will retain your waiting customers.  The auto-receptionist can be configured to send calls out based on business hours, extensions dialed, and other date and time parameters.

You can even format it to give priority to your top clients by sending them past the call system and straight to you.  How much would it impress a client to be told that they are important enough to get connected directly to you! Dial by directory is another feature of this system that is sure to impress.
Most companies know that your receptionist is your front line and a most valuable resource. A dropped call can mean a dropped client. Since all this is automated, there is no room for mistakes of that kind. Your receptionist won’t hit the wrong button and disconnect, or misconnect a client. It is all run by your preset criteria. You can even enable an option that instructs you to “ push 1 to receive this business call” so you can differentiate between business calls and personal calls, and more importantly so your children can also.

FindMe is a feature that can send calls to a series of specified numbers simultaneously or sequentially. That way it is sure to get picked up by someone. This is nice so that clients don’t have to dial 5 numbers (office, cell, home, skype, etc…) to get in touch with an employee. They make one call and all the lines can be activated or just a few, depending on your preferences.

The feature FollowMe overides FindMe to set up for priority routing. The example the company gives of using this, is if you lose cell phone service in an area and need to temporarily reroute your calls to a landline.

The caller ID is exceptionally helpful for the screening process. You can program it to screen your calls by prompting the person to say their name. It is also discreet in sending screened calls to voicemail within an allotted time and not immediately. After all, if a client is asked to say their name and immediately dropped into voicemail thereafter, it is a not too subtle hint that you don’t want to talk to them. So a brief delay in doing that is optimal. It is also possible to arrange for only a specified set of numbers to ring to your phone, and have the rest automatically go to voicemail.

Calling out
Most of your dialing out activity will be done through this module called the call controller:

Once this is open, it allows you to go into your email or web page and just highlight a number and dial it directly from that point, bypassing the copy and paste part. This is also available for the customers through a RingMe button or text code that can be imbedded on web sites, email signatures, and online ads to give clients the ability to connect to you instantly by phone.

Detailed reports can be gathered on your call logs. You can use these for any number of purposes, tracking client numbers, evaluating productivity, and seeing which employee is getting the most calls and thus business. The call controller also enables you to screen and route calls as they come in, even interrupting a voicemail to pick up the call, or create text to voice messages to send back. Faxes can also be sent directly from Microsoft Office applications including Office and Explorer. Voicemails can be sent to your email as attachments. The interface can take some getting used to and may even be a little clunky at first, but the company is working on improving this aspect shortly. A new iPhone application is available for download now. It runs pretty similarly to the desktop version. Another thing on the horizon is conference calling and call recording.

An additional service called Digital Lines are needed to call out. Our trial account did not come with this so we are not really able to comment on this feature beyond what is on the site. Generally speaking it has gotten pretty good reviews as far as voice clarity and the rarity of dropped calls.
For the Office packages, each IP phone costs $90 and comes fully ready to use. These might be handy to have in the office, so you aren’t constantly on your cell.

Here is a more detailed explanation of the pricing structure:

After viewing this you may be wondering how this compares to other services like Google Voice, or PhoneBooth. Put simply, RingCentral is an all encompassing business phone management system. It connects various people in an organized structured manner over a secure line as well as fax capabilities. Google Voice manages an individual person’s phone numbers and retains the property of all information transmitted, thus making it not an ideal choice for business.  PhoneBooth offers the most similar features to RingCentral, making it the main competition. The pricing is fairly similar however they do not seem to offer faxing. PhoneBooth and Google Voice offer transcripted voicemails that RingCentral does not. But that feature has widely been regarded as a joke because the  very imperfect voice transcription technology results in some pretty hilarious messages.

Conclusion:

Overall, RingCentral is a solid company that has been around since 1999. It isn’t a baby fresh start up. They are pros. They are constantly improving the programs and on top of market changes. For small businesses, this is the way to go. The detailed personalized configurations are without parallel and the convenience is sure to save time and money. The complete professional presentation to the public is something companies pay a lot for that now can be done with just a few clicks and maintained easily for years to come.

(ScienceDaily, April 5, 2010) — A new technique for revealing images of hidden objects may one day allow pilots to peer through fog and doctors to see more precisely into the human body without surgery.  Developed by Princeton engineers, the method relies on the surprising ability to clarify an image using rays of light that would typically make the image unrecognizable, such as those scattered by clouds, human tissue or murky water.  In their experiments, the researchers restored an obscured image into a clear pattern of numbers and lines. The process was akin to improving poor TV reception using the distorted, or “noisy,” part of the broadcast signal.  “Normally, noise is considered a bad thing,” said Jason Fleischer, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Princeton. “But sometimes noise and signal can interact, and the energy from the noise can be used to amplify the signal. For weak signals, such as distant or dark images, actually adding noise can improve their quality.” Click here to read more…

(EPA, April 5, 2010) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $2.38 million to 34 small businesses to develop innovative, sustainable technologies to protect human health and the environment. These efforts will help improve air quality, protect our water, work to decrease the effects of climate change, and support green jobs.   “Innovation is the lifeline of progress — and scientific and technological innovation are essential to the progress we seek to make in protecting people and the planet,” said Dr. Paul T. Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “These small businesses are key to helping us reach that goal.”  Today’s awards to businesses in 16 states focus on ten key environmental research areas: increasing the efficiency of green building materials and systems; manufacturing innovation; prevention, monitoring, and control using nanotechnology; reducing greenhouse gases; new treatment technologies for drinking water; improving water infrastructure; reducing emissions from small air pollution sources and vehicles and biofuels production facilities; new approaches for cleaning up and monitoring hazardous waste sites; and new tools for homeland security systems.  Click here to read more…

(EPA, April 1, 2010) Responding to one of the first major directives of the Obama Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today jointly established historic new federal rules that set the first-ever national greenhouse gas emissions standards and will significantly increase the fuel economy of all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States. The rules could potentially save the average buyer of a 2016 model year car $3,000 over the life of the vehicle and, nationally, will conserve about 1.8 billion barrels of oil and reduce nearly a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the lives of the vehicles covered.  This action is one important step in fulfilling the Obama Administration’s commitment to moving towards a clean energy, climate friendly economy.  “These historic new standards set ambitious, but achievable, fuel economy requirements for the automotive industry that will also encourage new and emerging technologies,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We will be helping American motorists save money at the pump, while putting less pollution in the air.” Click here to read more…

NSCOR and VNSCOR for Space Radiation Solid Cancer Risks – Closing Date: May 28, 2010 – This National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center will release a NASA Research Announcement (NRA) for NASA Specialized Centers of Research (NSCOR) in support of the Space Radiation Program Element within the Human Research Program. An NSCOR consists of a team of investigators who have complementary skills and who work together to solve a closely focused set of research questions and which includes strong undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate training components. In addition to soliciting for NSCORs, NASA is seeking to form a virtual NSCOR (denoted as VNSCOR) where NASA aligns a set of individual awards into an NSCOR-like team project.  The research will be conducted using ground-based irradiation facilities developed for NASA at Brookhaven National Laboratory, in Upton, NY.  RFP will be available April 21, 2010 at www.http://nspires.nasaprs.com/.  Response Date: May 28, 2010.

Posted Date: April 5, 2010

Solicitation Number: NNJ10ZSA002N

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Science Technology and Research Support Services II – The NASA, Langley Research Center (LaRC) is preparing to issue a Draft RFP for a single award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ), Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF) contract. The general scope of the support services is for the Contractor to furnish all personnel, facilities, equipment, supplies, and materials, not provided by the Government, necessary to support the NASA Langley Research Center science programs and related engineering activities.  Work requirements encompass the broad scope of the missions and responsibilities of the Langley Research Center’s science, technology, research and related applications programs. Award Ceiling: $425M.  Eligibility: Small Business (under 1000 employees).  The anticipated release date of the draft RFP is on or before April 30, 2010 with the Final RFP issued on or before June 10, 2010 with proposals due on or before July 12,2010.

Posted Date: April 5, 2010

Solicitation Number: NNL10310923J

Published April 5, 2010
By Hillary Whittier, KNDU TV

Some supporters are calling it the most significant change to college lending in a generation., after congress approved some major changes to the student loan program.

Starting in July the new law will force commercial banks out of the federal student loan market by ending federal subsidies to banks and private lenders.

Other changes expected down the road include expanding Pell Grants to keep up with inflation. In 2014, there will be limits on annual payments on a student loan to 10 percent of the borrowers yearly income.

Also with the education centerpiece comes more help to lower-income graduates to get out from student debt. Overall the Congressional Budget Office says the new lending approach will save taxpayers about 61-billion dollars over 10 years.

Published April 4, 2010
Letter to the Editor – Tri-City Herald

The purpose of this letter is to recommend to your readers a movie that will soon be shown at Columbia Basin College, titled Inside Islam. The movie was shown a month or so ago in Kennewick to a standing room only audience. And due to the amount of interest in the movie, it will be shown again.

Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think will be presented at at 7 p.m. April 27 at the Gjerde Center at CBC. The movie is about an hour long and will be followed by a discussion by a panel of local Muslims who will discuss their thoughts on the movie and then answer questions from the audience.

If you follow the news and wonder about all of the things you read, hear and see on TV about Islam, you should attend this important event. I attended the Kennewick showing and it was very informative, so much so that I plan to attend the second showing as well.

For questions, call Daniel Vickoren at 547-0511, ext. 2227.

TOM ROACH, Pasco

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

Published April 1, 2010
By the Tri-City Herald staff

Learn how to start a business or grow an existing one at a series of free small-business seminars offered from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays in Room X124 at the Columbia Basin College Access Center, 1620 N. 20th Ave., Pasco.

All six seminars will be taught in Spanish and English.

The dates and classes are: April 15, Customer & Competitor Analysis; April 22, Screening Your Business Ideas; April 29, Starting a New Business, legal issues; May 6, Basic Accounting Principles; May 13, Basic Marketing Principles; May 20, How to Get Started, review and business financing overview.

The seminars are presented by Numerica Credit Union and the Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.

Twitter is very useful for figuring out “what is happening right now.” For example, Twitter has been used to figure out where an earthquake is happening. But instead of what’s happening now, can it also be useful for telling what will happen in the future? Two researchers at HP Labs, Sitaram Asur and Bernardo A. Huberman, postulate that Twitter can actually be used to predict future box office results for movies. By building a computer model around the tweets for 24 movies, they claimed were able to predict the opening weekend box office results with 97.3% accuracy. An accuracy of around 97% seems unnaturally high, so I dug a little further into the actual report and found that both of these numbers were a result of combining each approach with the number of theaters associated with each release. Without taking into account the number of theaters in the release, tweets alone were able to predict at 93%. According to Asur, the correlation between theater counts alone and box office results is a paltry 39%. Considering that theater counts are probably a good indication of how well a studio thinks a film is going to perform, it seems that Hollywood should take notice of these forecasts.

The supposed gold-standard of box office predictions is Hollywood Stock Exchange, a prediction market. The researchers found that HSX had a 96.5% accuracy (when also combined with number of theaters). It’s impressive that HSX gets a fair amount of accuracy despite it using “fake” currency. HSX is currently awaiting a ruling from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission that will allow it to trade using real money. When that happens, the accuracy of its prediction market should increase. At that point it may be interesting to see how much more closely the two prediction systems compare, since the apparent edge that the Twitter algorithm has right now seems too small to be significant.

In any case, with Twitter, since it’s also a communications medium, tweets about a movie not only indicate interest, but also can ultimately influence a movie’s sales at the box office. However, this effect seems distinctly different than the traditional notion of “observer effect,” since the act of measuring the interest in a movie can actually occur without directly participating in the Twitter conversation. That said, if it becomes common practice to predict box office success by analyzing Twitter, the incentive to exploit this by spamming Twitter with tweets about an upcoming movie increases greatly. After all, the many predictions that foretold that Avatar would break box office records certainly played a self-fulfilling part in its breaking of those box office records. Furthermore, Tweets were taken for the 7 days before the weekend — which means there would not be enough time to make any adjustment to any marketing (in the event of a dire prediction), and certainly not to production budgets, which have already been spent.

So, while, in their report, Asur and Huberman conclude:

While in this study we focused on the problem of predicting box office revenues of movies for the sake of having a clear metric of comparison with other methods, this method can be extended to a large panoply of topics, ranging from the future rating of products to agenda setting and election outcomes. At a deeper level, this work shows how social media expresses a collective wisdom which, when properly tapped, can yield an extremely powerful and accurate indicator of future outcomes.

The simple fact is that there is still quite a chasm to cross before Twitter can be used practically for any type of prediction or forecasting activity.

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Sony has announced its “Road to Zero” global environmental plan. The plan, which includes a long-term goal of achieving a zero environmental footprint by 2050, uses backcasting methods to set specific mid-term environmental targets for the next five years in line with that goal. Sony’s definition of zero environmental footprint is not only limited to the neutralization of carbon emissions, but also extends to waste and use of finite materials such as oil-derived virgin plastics.

Targets are based on four environmental perspectives – climate change, resource conservation, control of chemical substances and biodiversity – across all product lifecycle stages, from research and development to recycling. The mid-term targets will be implemented globally across the Sony Group beginning in fiscal year 2011 (April 2011), and will extend through the end of fiscal year 2015 (March 2016), at which time new targets for the following 5 years will be set.

Specific mid-term targets include:

• 30% reduction in annual energy consumption of products (compared to fiscal 2008)
• 10% reduction in product mass (compared to fiscal 2008)
• 50% absolute reduction in waste generation (compared to fiscal 2000)
• 30% absolute reduction in water consumption (compared to fiscal 2000)
• 14% reduction in total CO2 emissions associated with all transportation and logistics (compared to fiscal 2008)
• 16% reduction in incoming parts packaging waste (compared to fiscal 2008)
• Increase of waste recycle ratio to 99% or more
• 5% reduction in utilization ratio of virgin oil-based plastics in products (compared to fiscal 2008)
• Assessment of impact of resource procurement and facility construction on biodiversity, and promotion of biodiversity programs such as groundwater cultivation
• Minimization of the risk of chemical substances through preventive measures; reduction in use of specific chemicals defined by Sony; and promotion of use of alternative materials

“We are fully committed to putting our innovative spirit and technological expertise to use to help solve environmental challenges,” said Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO and President of Sony Corporation. “From the development of new materials and energy-efficient technologies, to the introduction of better processes in manufacturing and production, we will work aggressively to meet the ambitious targets we are setting for ourselves and, at the same time, establish a model for others in our industries to follow.”

Sony has already made significant progress in reducing its environmental impact around the world. Sony’s European sites, for example, have reduced their CO2 emissions from electricity use and facility heating by approximately 93% between fiscal years 2000 and 2009. In addition, the majority of its BRAVIA TV range now carries the EU ‘flower,’ an eco-label introduced by the EU to certify greener, more environmentally friendly products that comply with strict ecological criteria.

Sony Europe is also a founding member of the ‘European Recycling Platform’ (ERP). Fully operational in 11 European countries, the ERP effectively manages end-of-life collection and recycling for all consumer electronics products. In 2008, approximately 60,000 tons of electronic waste were collected and recycled on behalf of Sony in 20 European countries.

In the U.S., Sony Electronics (SEL) was the first consumer electronics manufacturer to institute a nation-wide Take Back Recycling Program in 2007 through which consumers can recycle any Sony-branded product free of charge. To date, SEL has recycled more than 13,000 tons of electronic waste through its take back efforts.

In Japan, Sony is the only company that voluntarily collects used small-sized consumer electronics on an experimental basis jointly with a municipality, Kitakyushu City in southern Japan. Gold, silver, bronze and palladium are extracted from the products discarded by city residents and are subsequently reused by Sony. For example, the recycled gold was used in Sony’s semiconductor chips that were then adopted for use in Sony Ericsson’s “URBANO BARONE” mobile phone (available in Japan through KDDI Corporation since February 2010).

In addition, the new VAIO W eco edition, launched in most major global markets this year and designed to be the industry’s most environmentally friendly laptop, features recycled plastic parts, an electronic manual and an innovative carry-bag that saves 10% in CO2 emissions during production.

Sony Pictures Entertainment, based in Culver City, CA, took an important step toward its zero waste goal in June 2009 by partnering with the City of Culver City in a first-of-its-kind organic waste composting program. Thanks to this program, the studio has already diverted up to 80% of its waste from landfills (as of December 2009). In addition, an estimated 8,559 set pieces were reused in 2009, saving over a million pounds (500 tons) of material and helping reduce impact on natural resources. That same year, the studio recycled 81 tons of electronic waste.

Sony’s fiscal year 2015 targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and power consumption per product were reviewed and approved by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as a renewal of the company’s Climate Savers Programme commitments. Sony has been a member of the WWF Climate Savers Programme since 2006. The Programme was organized by WWF International to mobilize companies to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The folks at Cool Cat Collars want your cat to be safe, so they’re giving away one of their Ancol reflective safety collars! Made from tough nylon webbing, these collars are backed with a reflective plastic strip to make kitty more visible at night. They also have a breakaway buckle for added safety, plus they come with a color coordinated bell. Choose from blue, red/orange, or silver.

To enter, please leave a comment on this post. The winner will be chosen in a random drawing on April 13. One entry per person. This giveaway is open to readers everywhere! Thanks Cool Cat Collars!

Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Michael Lynton spoke last month at ShoWest, the nation’s largest convention for the movie theater industry, and basically urged for healthier snacks at their concession stands in addition to their traditional offerings of candy, popcorn and soda. He noted that “adding healthier options to your existing menu is the right thing to do for our industry, for audiences and for our country.”

Lynton said a poll of moviegoers commissioned by Sony Pictures revealed:

• two-thirds of moviegoers and three-quarters of parents are more likely to buy healthy snacks at theaters if they are offered;
• forty-two percent of parents said they would buy concessions more often if healthy options were available;
• sixty percent of parents said having healthier snacks in theaters would enhance their overall moviegoing experience;

Lynton said he was not asking theaters to stop selling popcorn, soda and candy. “Audiences love them” he said. “I’m just talking about adding some healthier items to what you already sell.”

Lynton also announced that the Alliance for a Healthier Generation has offered to meet with the theater owners “and offer advice on how to change your menus in a way that makes sense for your audiences and your business.”

“The private sector, including the theater industry, has the ability to improve the access families have to healthier foods and beverages,” said President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation, who co-leads the Alliance for a Healthier Generation with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and American Heart Association President Clyde Yancy. “The Alliance brokered voluntary agreements with the beverage industry that resulted in an 88 percent decrease in beverage calories shipped to America’s schools in just a few years. We are eager to work with the movie theater industry to craft similar agreements to provide healthy concession options in movie theaters.”

“In order to turn the tide on the obesity epidemic we are going to need to make soup to nuts changes in the number of calories we take in and the calories we actively use. Because kids are eating and foraging at home, school, sporting events and at the movies, changes are needed everywhere,” said Dr. Neal Halfon, professor of pediatrics, public health and public policy at UCLA and director of the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities. “We can’t expect kids to make healthy choices if they aren’t given healthy choices to make. And while this is a nationwide problem, and will require support from companies with a national stature like Sony Pictures and large theater chains, it will also depend on the ingenuity and commitment of local theater operators to make the difference in their communities.”

In a videotaped message to the convention, Dr. Mehmet Oz, vice chair and professor of surgery at Columbia University and host of The Dr. Oz Show, said, “Everyone enjoys popcorn and a soda at the movies, but there are healthier alternatives. Good nutrition doesn’t mean eating spinach at every meal. But with so many children and teens going to movies so often these days, I think we’ve got to be mindful about what they’re eating and drinking, and giving them the chance to choose healthier food makes a lot of sense.”

Lynton said theater owners should consider taking this step because childhood obesity is an epidemic, it’s the responsible thing to do for audiences and society, and it’s good for their business because it would help families enjoy theaters even more and, by giving them healthier options, more snacks will be purchased.

Regarding what kinds of snacks might be offered at theaters, Lynton said, “I don’t think giant tubs of spinach or broccoli’s a good idea. And nobody wants to eat cauliflower while watching Spider-Man, or drink a 40-ounce cup of prune juice.”

He said moviegoers suggested to the studio’s interviewers the kind of snacks they”d like to see:

• fresh fruit, fruit cups, apples with dip;
• veggies with dip;
• yogurt;
• granola bars and trail mix;
• baked chips, apples chips and unbuttered, air-popped popcorn.

Lynton said some people sneak healthy snacks into movie theaters, like a granola bar or a box of raisins, which represents an untapped market for concession stands. “People are consuming food differently these days. In fact, many of your theaters are located near Starbucks and Whole Foods and in malls and other places where consumers are now finding more nutritious food and beverage options. Audiences would love both a great theatrical experience and terrific snacks.”

Lynton said employees at Sony Pictures are offered a subsidized healthy lunch special and expanded salad bar at the studio commissary. He noted some theaters are moving in the direction of offering healthier foods; some use canola oil instead of coconut oil for their popcorn. He also said he understands that some things “will prove to be logistically or economically impossible…But even small steps in the right direction can have a big impact.”

Principal photography began Friday, March 26, in New York on Columbia Pictures’/Sony Pictures Animation’s hybrid live-action and animated family comedy, The Smurfs, it was announced by Bob Osher, president of Sony Pictures Digital Productions, Hannah Minghella, president of Sony Pictures Animation and Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures. We wrote about the movie last summer, but more details have emerged.

Audiences everywhere are in for a Smurfy good time as the Smurfs make their first 3D trip to the big screen. When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours – in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down. The film is set for release August 3, 2011.

Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara, and Hank Azaria star on camera opposite an all-star voice cast. Anton Yelchin will play Clumsy Smurf; comedy legend Jonathan Winters, who voiced roles in the “Smurfs” television series, will voice Papa Smurf; the adorable (meaning I LOVE HER) Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Katy Perry will play Smurfette; Alan Cumming will play Gutsy Smurf; “SNL’s” Fred Armisen will voice Brainy Smurf; and George Lopez will play Grouchy Smurf.

In the live-action roles, Azaria will play the Smurfs’ nemesis, the evil wizard Gargamel. Harris and Mays star as an expectant couple whose lives are turned upside down when the Smurfs cross over from their magical village to New York City. Vergara plays Odile, Harris’s boss, a cosmetics executive.

The film is directed by Raja Gosnell. The screenplay is by J. David Stem & David N. Weiss and Jay Scherick & David Ronn, based on the characters and works of Peyo. The producer is Jordan Kerner and Ezra Swerdlow, Ben Haber, and Paul Neesan are the executive producers.

Commenting on the announcement, Minghella said, “We’re thrilled with the way our cast has come together. Raja and Jordan and the entire team working on The Smurfs have developed a film with tremendous heart and great comedy and now we have a dream cast to bring the movie to life.”

Adds producer Jordan Kerner, “What a wonderful journey this has been. The time is right for an adventure that will thrill fans and introduce the blue heroes to a new generation, and the technology is here to allow the three-apple-high Smurfs to appear in all their glory on the big screen and in 3D. Columbia Pictures has been magnificent at every turn in their commitment to get The Smurfs to the screen. Our partners at Lafig, including Peyo’s daughter Veronique Culliford, have been with us in the creation of the story and characters every step of the way. It’s a real thrill to begin shooting and working with our compatriots at Sony Pictures Animation. Just wait – the blue invasion is coming!”