Mashable: Latest 21 News Updates - including “Watch the Mars Rover Launch Live [VIDEO]” |
- Watch the Mars Rover Launch Live [VIDEO]
- Ex-Googlers Launch iPhone App for Tapping Into Friends’ Reviews
- Thanks to Mashable’s Socially Savvy Supporters
- Meet the 2011 Mashable Awards Nominees for Social Media
- How AT&T Could Expand Its LTE Network if the T-Mobile Deal Dies
- 10 Best Cross-Platform Multiplayer Mobile Games
- 9 Tips for Activating the Entrepreneurial Spirit
- Can T-Mobile Survive Without AT&T?
- Top 10 Kindle Fire Cases
- Shoppers Fight Over $2 Waffle Makers at Walmart [VIDEO]
- AT&T Wants You to ‘Make a Case’ for an AT&T 4G Phone via Facebook
- Social Media Dashboard MarketMeSuite Helps Turn Followers Into Customers
- 4 Ways Companies and Causes Can Partner for Good on Facebook
- Asus Transformer Prime, First Quad-Core Android Tablet, Now on Pre-Order
- 15 Helpful Resources for the Holiday Season
- Inside the Y Combinator Experience With the Founders of Codecademy [VIDEO]
- Black Friday: Twitter Affirms Your Decision to Stay Home [PICS]
- Top 6 Mashable Comments This Week
- Verizon Galaxy Nexus Costs Just $199, Says Mystery Ad
- Google+ Gets Its Own TV Commercial
- Black Friday Roundup, Google+ TV Spot, Asus Transformer Prime Pre-Orders: Today’s Top Stories
- Apple Black Friday Sale Now Live
| Watch the Mars Rover Launch Live [VIDEO] Posted: 26 Nov 2011 05:01 AM PST      On Saturday, Nov 26 at 10:02 a.m. EST, NASA will send the biggest rover it has ever built, Curiosity, to Mars. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, carrying NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory – the official name for the new rover – is ready for liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Currently, there’s a 70 percent chance of weather conditions being favorable for launch. The one-ton rover carries 10 scientific instruments which will be used to closely examine the Gale Crater after it lands on Mars in August 2012. Curiosity’s findings will lay down the foundation for a possible future manned mission to Mars, and answer important questions about the Red Planet’s habitability. You can watch the live video stream of the launch in HD resolution below. More About: Curiosity, launch, Mars, Mars rover, NASA, rover, Video
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| Ex-Googlers Launch iPhone App for Tapping Into Friends’ Reviews Posted: 25 Nov 2011 07:53 PM PST   The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: Stamped Quick Pitch: An iPhone app that lets you find and share recommendations with people you trust. Genius Idea: Although review sites can be handy while trying to secure a last-minute hotel reservation or — deep breath — finding a hair salon in a new neighborhood, nothing evokes more confidence than taking the recommendation of a friend whose tastes you know and trust. But there doesn’t yet exist a convenient platform or library for sharing and storing recommendations with your friends. Enter Stamped, a Google Ventures-backed iPhone app launched by a team of (mostly) former Google employees this week. The app, which is coming soon to other smartphone platforms as well as the desktop, lets you keep track of and share the things you like. You can also tap into the recommendations of your contacts and well-known tastemakers, such as chef Mario Batali (an advisor to the startup) and New York magazine. It works like this: After downloading the app, you’re given 100 stamps, which you can use to recommend restaurants, books, movies and albums, among other things. You can also see what your friends are recommending by authorizing the app to pull in your contacts from your phone, Facebook and Twitter. If someone likes your recommendation, he or she can give it an additional stamp, and you’ll earn two more stamps to give out. Recommendations can also be liked and saved to a do-list. Pulling up your friends’ recommendations is easy. You can browse by category (such as books) or location (including nearby), the latter of which is displayed conveniently on Google Maps. You can also search for terms like “sushi” or “iPhone app” to hone in further.  Get recommendations from tastemakers such as chef Mario Batali, film critic Peter Travers and fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff. Click here to view this gallery. “People are very prone to sharing and exchanging, there just wasn’t an efficient way to do it,” says cofounder Bart Stein of his team’s desire to create the app. Like many a startup entrepreneur, CEO and cofounder Robby Stein (who, according to Stamped’s about page, is not Bart’s brother) says he and his team are “100% focused on building a product that delights our users.” They have, however, also recognized immediate opportunities for revenue. When you see a recommendation for a restaurant for instance, you can click through to book a reservation on OpenTable. Likewise, you can purchase movie tickets through Fandango, books through Amazon and songs through iTunes. Stamped has an affiliate relationship with each provider. So there you have it: a truly useful, beautifully designed app — with a plausible business model — from a talented, well-backed set of young entrepreneurs. This is hands-down one of the most promising startups I’ve seen all year. Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark  The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today. More About: bain capital, bizspark, Google Ventures, iphone app, spark-of-genius, stamped For more Business coverage:
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| Thanks to Mashable’s Socially Savvy Supporters Posted: 25 Nov 2011 05:59 PM PST
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| Meet the 2011 Mashable Awards Nominees for Social Media Posted: 25 Nov 2011 04:50 PM PST   After collecting nominations from the Mashable community for over a month, the 2011 Mashable Awards have now shifted to the voting portion of the program. The awards honor nominees and winners in 28 categories, covering four of Mashable‘s core content areas: Social Media, Tech, Business and Entertainment. Here we take a closer look at the nominees in the “Social Media” category, with a breakdown of the finalists from each of the nine sub-categories. From the worlds of sport, business, media, politics and entertainment there are “must-follow” personalities, while the social networking services themselves get recognition for helping keep us connected. Final voting is now open and will close on Dec. 16. Winners will be announced on Mashable Dec. 19, and will be honored at the MashBash CES Jan. 11, 2012, during the 2012 International CES convention at 1OAK, the hot new nightclub at the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas. Best Social NetworkThis category honors the reader's choice for the best social network.
Up-and-Coming Social Media ServiceThis category honors the reader's choice for the social media service that is currently experiencing major growth but has not yet received massive mainstream attention. Services nominated for this category are not necessarily full-fledged social networks but must include social media as a core feature.
Must-Follow Actor or Actress on Social MediaThis category honors the reader's choice for the actor or actress who best uses Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr or other mainstream social networking sites.
Must-Follow Musician or Band on Social MediaThis category honors the reader's choice for the musician or band that best uses Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr or other mainstream social networking sites.
Must-Follow Athlete on Social MediaThis category honors the reader's choice for the athlete who best uses Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr or other mainstream social networking sites.
Must-Follow Media Personality on Social MediaThis category honors the reader's choice for the journalist, author or TV news anchor who best uses Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr or other mainstream social networking sites.
Must-Follow Business Personality on Social MediaThis category honors the reader's choice for the business personality or executive who best uses Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr or other mainstream social networking sites.
Must-Follow Non-Profit on Social MediaThis category honors the reader's choice for the non-profit organization that most deserves to be followed on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr or other mainstream social networking sites.
Must-Follow Politician on Social MediaThis category honors the reader's choice for the politician who best uses Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr or other mainstream social networking sites.
Thank you again for your nominations. Congratulations to all the finalists! Voting is now open! You have until Dec. 16 to vote for your favorite finalists to win. Good luck!
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| How AT&T Could Expand Its LTE Network if the T-Mobile Deal Dies Posted: 25 Nov 2011 03:50 PM PST   It's not looking good for AT&T/T-Mobile. After the FCC began moving toward giving the deal an official thumbs-down, AT&T formally withdrew its application for approval. While the case is still due to be heard by the Department of Justice, that agency has already sued to block the deal, so the smart money is now on the merger — which would have created the nation’s largest wireless carrier — collapsing. That would put AT&T back at square one in its quest to expand its nascent long-term evolution (LTE) network. AT&T debuted its LTE network in September this year, almost 10 months after Verizon became the first major carrier to offer the technology's next-generation speeds. LTE boasts a much faster data connection than 3G networks, effectively bestowing mobile devices with broadband connections. Although AT&T is expanding LTE rapidly (six more cities recently came online, bringing the total to 15), its own filings show the rollout will extend the service to only 80% of Americans. AT&T has a plan to extend the reach of its network to 97% of the country, however — that plan being to buy T-Mobile and repurpose its spectrum and infrastructure for LTE. With the deal now in jeopardy, AT&T is in need of a Plan B for LTE. There are actually several Plan B's that the company could try. Among them: 1. Propose "T-Mobile Lite" DealOne idea that's been floated is for AT&T to completely revamp its deal with T-Mobile so it would acquire only the company's spectrum and infrastructure assets, but operations would be left alone. (This would be a bit different from the "divestiture" option that AT&T is said to be considering, which would see the new company sell up to 40% of T-Mobile’s assets to keep the deal alive.) In this scenario, T-Mobile continues to exist as a “virtual network operator,” like the former Virgin Mobile. That means the new T-Mobile would just sell wireless service, leasing its spectrum and cell towers from AT&T (and possibly others). AT&T might have to re-submit this as a separate proposal from the current deal, but it would give the company what it wants and still leave T-Mobile ostensibly autonomous. 2. Buy More Spectrum at AuctionBack in 2008, the FCC auctioned off most of the spectrum for analog TV signals after broadcasters moved to digital. It put five separate blocks of spectrum up for bids, most of which were gobbled up by either Verizon or AT&T, but one remained unsold. No one met the reserve price of $1.3 billion for the 700MHz "D Block" of spectrum, mainly because the FCC required the new owner to set aside parts of it for a public safety network, so it went back on the shelf. Now it's three years later, networks are expanding fast, and spectrum is more valuable than ever. The FCC hasn't scheduled another auction for the D Block yet, but when it does, shelling out a couple of billion for the spectrum — even with the public safety considerations — might be worth it for AT&T, especially considering it's in the right frequency band for LTE. 3. Expand on Its OwnThe problem with merely buying more spectrum is that it doesn't give AT&T any new equipment. In the aforementioned filing, AT&T essentially admitted that the problem with expanding LTE isn't so much spectrum as it is infrastructure. It wants all those cellphone towers and switches that T-Mobile has in place all over the country — equipment it can adjust to serve its own networks at relatively little cost since the two carriers use similar technology. AT&T will need to take a second look at those costs if it's serious about expanding LTE. It may be expensive, but so is ceding large chunks of the country to Verizon. Whatever the carrier decides, LTE is the future, and it's going to need a plan to bring that service to everyone in the U.S., T-Mobile or no T-Mobile. More About: att, fcc, LTE, merger, T-Mobile For more Mobile coverage:
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| 10 Best Cross-Platform Multiplayer Mobile Games Posted: 25 Nov 2011 03:17 PM PST 1. Hanging With Friends Zynga's turn-based take on hangman is now available on Android as well as iOS. Players form a word of 4-8 letters from their set of tiles, then send them to an opponent, who tries to solve it and send back his own word. iOS and Android players can play against each other and players can log in on either device with the same account. Click here to view this gallery. More and more mobile game developers are learning that their titles have to reach across playforms if they want to bring everyone in on the fun. With the smartphone market more evenly segmented than ever (iPhone and Android being the dominant operating systems), making games that people can play together, regardless of device, is key. Check out our picks for some of the best cross-platform mobile titles out there, and let us know in the comments if you have any favorites we might have missed. More About: android games, contributor, features, games, iPhone games, mobile games For more Entertainment coverage:
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| 9 Tips for Activating the Entrepreneurial Spirit Posted: 25 Nov 2011 02:32 PM PST   Kevin O'Connor, co-founder of DoubleClick, is the CEO of FindTheBest, an unbiased data driven comparison engine, which he established in Santa Barbara, CA. As an entrepreneur, I've been invited to guest lecture for entrepreneurial programs at colleges from Harvard to the University of Michigan. Each time I stood before a group of aspiring entrepreneurs, I couldn't help but wonder whether people could actually learn the needed skills and qualities to become a successful entrepreneur, or if we're born into said skills. I did some research and, synthesizing my findings with my own experience as an entrepreneur, concluded that people are born with some of the traits and characteristics needed to be a successful, innovative entrepreneur. However, these characteristics can always be improved through education and experience. I've been lucky enough to learn about entrepreneurship, leadership and teamwork from supportive family members and forward-thinking mentors. Here are 9 invaluable lessons I've taken away. Become a Budding Entrepreneur
Encourage Innovation Within Your Company
Hire Innovators
Do you have any tips for aspiring entrepreneurs? Please share in the comments below. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, RichVintage More About: Business, contributor, entrepreneurs, features, Startups, trending For more Business coverage:
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| Can T-Mobile Survive Without AT&T? Posted: 25 Nov 2011 01:42 PM PST   AT&T's bid to take over T-Mobile suffered a major setback this week when the Federal Communications Commission said the merger wasn't in the public interest since it would significantly diminish competition in the industry. Before the decision could be reviewed by a judge and officially rejected by the FCC, AT&T formally withdrew its application. While that doesn't mean the deal's dead, it makes it more of a longshot than ever. The news is certainly welcome to many customers, Sprint, and any number of people you could name from the long list of official public comments on the application (viewable here by entering Proceeding No. "11-65"), but it's a troubling development for Deutsche Telekom, which badly wants to sell T-Mobile USA. There are other potential suitors for the company (such as cable companies and many foreign carriers), but AT&T was clearly willing to pay top dollar for its assets, mainly because it's the company that could make the most use of T-Mobile's spectrum and customer base. If the merger with AT&T doesn't happen, it's going to leave T-Mobile in a troubling position. Even though it'll get a $4 billion "breakup" payout from AT&T, T-Mobile would emerge on the other side without many credible long-term solutions. T-Mobile’s iPhone ProblemAlthough it's America's fourth largest wireless provider, T-Mobile actually has a lot going for it right now. It has a solid nationwide network bolstered by fast-performing HSPA+ 42 technology, a lot of great smartphones to satisfy high-end customers, and the best value plans among the major carriers. Despite all this, T-Mobile has been losing subscribers (and its juicy two-year contracts) for over a year. Uncertainty over the AT&T deal is probably a factor, but there's something else holding back the carrier: Apple’s iPhone, or rather T-Mobile's lack of it. Looking at the most recent statistics from comScore, Android is the top mobile platform in the U.S., at 44.8%, but Apple's iOS has a solid second place with 27.4% of the market. Importantly, both are growing, and given the unprecedented sales of the iPhone 4S, Apple's going to factor highly in those numbers for the foreseeable future. Given those numbers, it doesn't take a genius to see how hard it would be to compete in a market if you're cut off from almost 30% of it at the get-go. It's rumored that Sprint paid an huge price to offer the iPhone to its customers (about $20 billion), and CEO Dan Hesse has said that, prior to the release of the iPhone 4S, the iPhone is the No. 1 reason customers leave Sprint. If Sprint hadn't gotten the iPhone, it would effectively be relegating itself to a "second tier" carrier, in between Verizon/AT&T but larger than regional carriers like US Cellular and C Spire. That's exactly where T-Mobile will find itself if the deal doesn't happen. Again, the merger isn't dead, but given the government's concerns about competition, it's looking more and more likely that T-Mobile will end up as some kind of independent entity — either in name or in practice — when all this merger business is said and done. That'll leave it in a weakened position, with still no iPhone in its lineup. No Plan for LTEWhy couldn't T-Mobile just work out its own deal with Apple, maybe spending some of that $4 billion payout? It could, but there's a technical reason why T-Mobile doesn't offer the iPhone now: the iPhone's radio doesn't support T-Mobile's unusual 1700MHz band. That could easily be changed in future models, of course, but there's another factor at play: LTE. It's only rumor at this point, but there's a good chance the next iPhone may have LTE. Currently Verizon and AT&T have active LTE networks, and Sprint has a plan to introduce the technology in the near future. Right now, however, T-Mobile's LTE plan is to become part of AT&T. If that doesn't happen, it'll be forced to revert to its old plan of partnering up to serve LTE to its customers. Plus it would have to figure out its radio issues with Apple at the same time. For that all to happen in time for the next iPhone — which could drop anywhere between summer and fall 2012 — T-Mobile would have to be working these things out right now, and since AT&T is still pressing forward with plans for a merger, that's probably not happening. So that leaves T-Mobile out of the iPhone game until 2013, at the earliest. That'll leave the carrier way behind, settling for an ever-smaller piece of the provider pie. It all adds up to a not-so-pleasant picture. T-Mobile could still turn things around, but it would need to start putting the pieces in place now if it's going to have a hope at staying competitive. Otherwise, the company's German overseers may simply decide it's worth more to simply chop it up and sell the pieces. More About: att, iphone, iPhone 4S, merger, sprint, T-Mobile, Top Stories, trending For more Mobile coverage:
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| Posted: 25 Nov 2011 01:22 PM PST 1. Proporta Leather Pouch Made from the "finest quality alternative to leather," Proporta's pouch provides stylish protection without the guilt. Cost: $26.95 Click here to view this gallery. Are you a proud owner of the new Amazon Kindle Fire tablet? If not, maybe the reviews will help you decide. If so, you need to think about protecting your shiny new gadget with a suitable cover. We’ve found 10 fabulous cases for the Kindle Fire, each with a different texture, style and color to suit your personal preference. Take a look through our gallery of great cases for the Fire. In the comments below, link to any other attractive options you’ve spotted for Amazon’s newest tablet. More About: accessories, amazon, cases, features, Gadgets, gallery, Kindle, kindle fire, Tech
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| Shoppers Fight Over $2 Waffle Makers at Walmart [VIDEO] Posted: 25 Nov 2011 12:44 PM PST
An observer records a grab for discounted waffle makers using his cellphone camera. It’s Black Friday, the biggest day of discount shopping in the U.S., and horror stories are pouring in from across the country. Among the more sensational items: one Walmart shopper in Los Angeles used pepper spray to fend off customers in the Xbox aisle, injuring 20, while another was shot by an armed robber outside of a Walmart in northern California, the Associated Press reports. To get a taste of what some of those frenzied Walmart scuffles look like, check out the video above, in which a crowd of shoppers attack a supply of $2 waffle makers. The video was originally uploaded to Twitter shortly after midnight by a woman calling herself Ms. Clark. Her profile suggests she is from the Little Rock, Ark., area. Happy holidays, America. 1. Jarod Standifer "And the waiting begins...." Standifer shares a photo of shoppers camping out to be sure of getting the best deals. .Click here to view this gallery. More About: black friday, trending, Video, viral video, viral-video-of-day, YouTube
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| AT&T Wants You to ‘Make a Case’ for an AT&T 4G Phone via Facebook Posted: 25 Nov 2011 12:09 PM PST   AT&T has launched a campaign that lets you advocate for an AT&T 4G smartphone over Facebook this holiday season. Using the “You’ve Got a Case” Facebook app, you can create a personalized video for one of five AT&T smartphones: the HTC Vivid, the Samsung Galaxy SII Skyrocket, the HTC Inspire 4G, the Samsung Captive Glide 4G or the the BlackBerry Torch 4G. The video, which has been optimized for both the desktop and mobile devices, will let you employ the persuasive powers of actor Will Arnett, who poses as a lawyer to advocate for the phone on your behalf. To create a video, you’ll need to head over to youvegotacase.com and give the app permission to access your Facebook profile. You can then tell your lawyer what phone you would like and whom you would like to “serve” your case to: your mother, your spouse, etc. (If the person you’d like to serve doesn’t have a Facebook account, you can opt to send the video via email.) The video, or case, can then be shared to the Facebook wall of both you and your “defendant,” where “a jury of your Facebook peers” can weigh in.  Admittedly, the videos are a little contrived, but the application smartly makes public to people you’re likely to influence (i.e., your Facebook friends) that you’re shopping for an AT&T phone. It’s also a more colorful way of hinting what you’re after than dropping a link to an online order form. What do you think of the campaign? If you were (or are) planning to ask for an AT&T 4G phone as a present this winter, would you use this Facebook app to do so? A Note on AT&T’s 4G NetworkAlthough all five smartphones in the campaign are labeled as 4G phones, it’s worth noting that AT&T’s 4G LTE network has only come to fifteen metropolitan areas so far, including Dallas/Forth Worth, San Antonio, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Athens, GA, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. 4G-enabled phones will have download speeds of 5-12 Mbps, or about 10 times faster than what's offered through AT&T's 3G network, the carrier claims. More About: att, BBDO, Facebook, Marketing
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| Social Media Dashboard MarketMeSuite Helps Turn Followers Into Customers Posted: 25 Nov 2011 11:29 AM PST  The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Quick Pitch: MarketMeSuite is a social media marketing dashboard that allows businesses and teams to manage their social media. Genius Idea: Actively engage followers and turn them into customers for your company or business. Tammy Kahn Fennell and her dad were small business owners selling collectibles in New York, when she realized interacting and engaging with the community are key to a successful business. To help fellow businesses advance in this area, Fennell and her friend Alan Hamlyn developed MarketMeSuite – a free social media marketing dashboard that lets users manage their marketing campaigns on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The cross-platform application promotes user engagement, conversations and interactions with social communities. “Social media is the cheapest way to promote your business, but it won’t be a beneficial strategy if you are not using the right tools,” says Fennell, CEO of MarketMeSuite. “MarketMeSuite helps businesses use social media to improve engagement and actually have a return on their investments.” MarketMeSuite has marketing features that make it easy to manage all of your social websites in one dashboard, including:
To get started with MarketMeSuite, users have to download the application to their desktop and add their Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. MarketMeSuite then extracts all of your account information from these sites to help you begin designing social media campaigns for your business.  MarketMeSuite Dashboard The MarketMeSuite team is testing other social networks to possibly add to the dashboard, including Google+. One alternative to MarketMeSuite, Hootsuite, has already added Google+ integration — although in Mashable‘s own use has not always worked properly. Hootsuite also lets users post to LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. MarketMeSuite will also face tough competition with Hootsuite, which announced last summer that it had surpassed 2 million users. MarketMeSuite raised $200,000 in funding and added 10,000 users in just four weeks. Now with up to 15,000 users, MarketMeSuite is attracting businesses that want multiple user accounts without paying any fees, but it’s still a ways behind Hootsuite. Statistics show MarketMeSuite users typically show 25% of increase in traffic to their business after using the marketing tool for one month. “We hope businesses that use our website will gain a unique social skill set that will allow them to curate social leads,” says Fennell. Version 4 of MarketMeSuite, which will take the application even further, is expected to be released in the coming months. The new version will enable users to curate their followers by location, network and team member, and manage and filter Facebook and Twitter feeds through a “Social Inbox.” Fennell says the new version will “create an unbiased playground where all networks can be used for marketing” and cut through clutter to help users engage in the places most relevant to their businesses. Image courtesy of MarketMeSuite, MarketMeSuite Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today. More About: bizspark, MarketMeSuite For more Business coverage:
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| 4 Ways Companies and Causes Can Partner for Good on Facebook Posted: 25 Nov 2011 10:33 AM PST   Facebook is a particularly appropriate medium for companies and causes to use when joining forces to engage consumers because “it’s a prime mobilization platform” explains Marc Blinder, creative director for Context Optional, a social media marketing company. “People want their friends to see them doing something good — those types of activities are very palatable in this medium.” A new white paper from the Cause Marketing Forum traces the history of cause marketing on Facebook back to 2007 and explains the current lay of the land through these 4 popular campaign types: 1. Like-for-DonationFollowing the addition in 2009 of the “Like” button on the Facebook platform, a simple, one-click cause marketing format arose. The premise is simple. Every time a user clicks the “Like” button on a campaign’s or brand’s page, a donation is released to a charity. Although the most common contribution in these types of campaigns is not more than a $1 cash donation, the dollar amount may vary or the donation triggered may be an in-kind donation based on a specific number of Likes. The ‘Like for a $1 Donation’ has dominated the cause marketing space over the past several years due to its simple-to-implement format. However, results have been mixed as to the effectiveness and resonance of such campaigns with key audiences as “Like Fatigue” has begun to set in. 2. Simple-Action-for-DonationNext in the hierarchy of consumer engagement are campaigns that ask consumers to take a simple action such as posting a picture, video or comment on a brand’s or campaign’s Facebook page in order to unlock a donation. These campaigns may also offer an additional incentive (such as a sweepstakes entry or access to exclusive content) above and beyond unlocking a donation in order to increase participation. The desired outcome when users upload a picture, post a comment or broadcast a link is to harness the exponential power of the social network by having these actions organically shared across a user’s “six degrees” of friends. Due to Facebook’s Promotions Guidelines, Simple-Action-for-Donation campaigns including contests or sweepstakes are fueled by third party applications. 3. Interactive-Action-for-Donation Custom-designed applications are often used in cause marketing campaigns in an attempt to increase user interest, engagement and sharing by making the consumer activity more appealing. For example, users have been asked to “Set a Place” during Frigidaire’s Save the Children campaign of 2010, “Make a Bed” during TownePlace Suites’ American Red Cross campaign of 2010 or “Plant a Tree” during Timberland’s and various non-profit partner’s campaigns in 2008, 2010 and 2011, to release a donation. Fundraising Apps Causes users are able to unlock corporate donations in a variety of ways, including:
For example, Aflac’s fall 2011 ‘Friend of a Feather‘ campaign encouraged users to donate $10 to childhood cancer research. Users could donate $10 to receive a plush duck and unlock a 2-for-1 or $20 matched donation, make a donation of any amount, forego the duck, but still release a 2-for-1 donation, or join the community at no cost and unlock a $2 donation. Aflac pledged to donate up to $2 million via these activities. Games Some games are designed around an existing cause marketing campaign such as Diet Coke’s February 2011 Capture the Flag effort in support of their ‘Heart Truth’ initiative. Other game companies have learned how to integrate causes into an existing game. For example, after the tsunami in Japan, game developer Zynga partnered with non-profit Direct Relief and sold a virtual Japanese Fan via their hugely popular game ‘Mafia Wars‘. One hundred percent of the proceeds went to Direct Relief for earthquake and tsunami relief. Facebook even pitched in by donating their standard 30% cut of the virtual goods sales, and the result was that gamers raised $650,000 in only 48 hours. Since U.S. virtual goods revenue on Facebook is predicted to grow 32% to $1.65 billion by the end of 2012, ‘gaming for good’ is an area of continued opportunity for cause marketers. 4. Voting CampaignsIn voting-driven cause marketing campaigns, companies offer a cash or in-kind prize to causes that gather the most votes or other targeted online actions. Facebook is often used as the campaign home. These campaigns have made a big splash because they involve large donation amounts and have garnered significant media attention. In 2010 the ‘Pepsi Refresh‘ campaign raised eyebrows around the world when Pepsi announced it would forego spending money to air commercials during the Superbowl and would instead donate upwards of $20 million to local organizations and causes via a Facebook campaign where users nominated the organizations and charities to receive Pepsi’s donations. Aviva USA’s Summer 2011 ‘Status for Youth‘ campaign asked users to sign-up in advance to donate a status update to one of four pre-selected charities on a given day. The number of status donations each charity received determined how much of a $100,000 grant each organization received from Aviva (even the charity with the fewest votes received $5,000). Aside from the monetary support to be won, this particular campaign also offered non-profits the huge opportunity to spread the message about their organization’s cause. Aviva USA implemented both their corporate Facebook presence and the campaign’s Facebook page in early July 2011 with around 200 fans and by late September had gained over 15,000. These voting campaigns have been successful in attracting attention, awareness, excitement and engagement in an otherwise cluttered social space. Voting campaigns are not without critics among non-profit circles who report staff and donor fatigue after competing in such contests as well as a sense of unease in being pitted against other worthy causes. Leading cause marketers predict that cause campaigns will continue to flourish in this medium. The trend will move away from one-off, one-click interactions and toward campaigns that deliver deeper engagement with brands that are authentically partnered with non-profit organizations and able to demonstrate a clear impact. More About: cause marketing, csr, Facebook, mashable, non-profits
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| Asus Transformer Prime, First Quad-Core Android Tablet, Now on Pre-Order Posted: 25 Nov 2011 10:17 AM PST   The first quad-core Android tablet scheduled to hit the market, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, is now available for pre-order in North America. Consumers can now place orders for the 10.1-inch tablet from a range of retailers in the U.S. and Canada, including Best Buy, B&H and Future Shop. Amazon is also slated to carry the Transformer Prime, although it has not yet set up a pre-order page. The device is expected to begin shipping sometime in December. The tablet, a successor to the Asus Eee Pad Transformer released last spring, is thin and fast. It has a 8.3mm-thick body, a 1280×800 display, a Nvidia Tegra 3 processor (making it the world's first quad-core tablet), 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera capable of shooting 1080p video, a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera and a microSD slot. It weighs 1.29 pounds and has 12 hours of battery life. The Transformer Prime will run Android 3.2 when it begins shipping, with an upgrade to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) promised for the end of the year. The device costs $499 for a 32GB version and $599 for a 64GB model. An optional attachable keyboard costs $149. It comes in two colors: “amethyst gray” and “champagne gold.” It’s questionable whether the Transformer Prime will sell as well as its predecessor. At $400, the first-generation Transformer has been the cheapest Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablet on the market, and its detachable keyboard made it a convenient alternative for those who wanted to type but didn’t need the full capabilities of a laptop. Although it’s strong on hardware, the $100 increase in price will make it a more difficult sell given that the entry-level (16GB) iPad is also priced at $499. Leaked photographs suggest that Lenovo has a quad-core Android tablet in the works as well.  The Transformer Prime costs $499 for a 32GB version and $599 for a 64GB model. Click here to view this gallery. More About: android, android tablet, Asus, asus eee pad transformer prime, transformer prime
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| 15 Helpful Resources for the Holiday Season Posted: 25 Nov 2011 09:59 AM PST   It’s that time of year again – time to gather around the dinner table, race through crowds to get our hands on this year’s best deals and start crossing off items on our holiday shopping lists. Whether you’re looking forward to shopping or giving, these resources will help you celebrate this year’s holiday season. Black Friday Deals
Holiday Gift Ideas, Tools and TipsImage courtesy of iStockphoto, filonmar More About: black friday, Christmas, Hannukah, Holidays 2011, Kwanzaa, trending
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| Inside the Y Combinator Experience With the Founders of Codecademy [VIDEO] Posted: 25 Nov 2011 09:02 AM PST Since Zach Sims and Ryan Bubinsky left Columbia University to join Y Combinator, their startup, Codecademy, has attracted close to 1 million users and $2.5 million in funding from elite tech investors like Fred Wilson's Union Square Ventures, Ron Conway's SV Angel fund and Yuri Milner. In our latest episode of Venture Studio, the founders talk about the Y Combinator experience and what it takes to launch a company with the huge vision of teaching the world how to code. Follow Venture Studio, in association with Mashable, which is brought to you by Square1 Bank. The show is hosted by Dave Lerner, a 3x entrepreneur and angel investor. You can follow him on Twitter here. More About: Codecademy, mashable video, trending, venture studio, y combinator For more Business coverage:
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| Black Friday: Twitter Affirms Your Decision to Stay Home [PICS] Posted: 25 Nov 2011 09:02 AM PST 1. Jarod Standifer"And the waiting begins...." Standifer shares a photo of shoppers camping out to be sure of getting the best deals. .Click here to view this gallery. If you’re staying well away from the retail madness that is a mall on Black Friday, then we salute you. The lure of bargains is too much for many though, with shops opening their doors at midnight as the Holiday spending season begins in earnest. Take a look through our gallery of Twitter pics showing the lines, crushes, overflowing shopping carts and mass of humanity desperate to nab the “door-busting” deals offered by retailers hoping to cash in on the tradition. And if you have ventured out, then link us to your Black Friday snaps in the comments below — we may add them into the gallery. More About: black friday, features, gallery, shopping, thanksgiving, Twitter
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| Top 6 Mashable Comments This Week Posted: 25 Nov 2011 08:47 AM PST   One of our favorite parts of working at Mashable is getting to read and respond to the comments that you, our readers, post on each article we write. A few weeks ago, we launched a new feature to showcase your best comments each week. It’s been a big hit with the Mashable community. Included in our weekly roundup are comments that are on-topic, thoughtful or just plain funny. We love how these kind of responses drive a conversation and entertain us and the rest of the Mashable community. Here are this week’s top comments on Mashable: Newspapers and Online Revenue Anders Jaccobsen offers his views regarding newspapers and their efforts to stay profitable in the digital age. He doesn't agree with all the opinions posted in our article, but he offers plenty of alternatives. Nicely done, Anders. Comment originally posted on: Why Can't Newspapers Make Money Online? Click here to view this gallery. Want to be featured in our weekly round-up? It’s easy! First, sign up for Mashable Follow, our content curation and social space. Next, read our comment guidelines to get an idea of what we’re looking for. Finally, start posting! We can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say about the topics we love. For more Social Media coverage:
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| Verizon Galaxy Nexus Costs Just $199, Says Mystery Ad Posted: 25 Nov 2011 08:11 AM PST   Multiple tech blogs are reporting the appearance of ads for the hotly anticipated Galaxy Nexus smartphone. Although it's already known that Verizon would be getting the first phone to run Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich," no one knew exactly when or at what price. Now we have some new data on one of those unknowns: the ad says the Verizon Galaxy Nexus will sell for $199.99. However, clicking on the ad apparently doesn't take you to a pre-order page, so it's unclear whether the ad is official or not. We were unable to reach Verizon Wireless by press time. The $200 price is surprising because the phone was expected to sell at $300, the same price point as the Verizon Droid Bionic, which also boasts the big-ticket features of a dual-core processor and 4G LTE network connectivity. Some sites suspect the ad, which appeared on various Android sites early this morning, was part of an aborted Black Friday promotion. The ad appears to have been taken down, lending some credence to the "accident" theory. It was published through the NetShelter ad network, according to Talk Android, and you can view a recording of it at Droid Life. As for when the Galaxy Nexus will finally arrive on Verizon, the latest rumors, based on an allegedly leaked screenshot of an internal Verizon product database, point to Dec. 8. Officially, the only thing available on Verizon is a sparsely detailed information page with an email notifier. If you can’t wait, you can pre-order an unlocked version of the phone from Expansys, though it’ll cost you $749, and the phone will be the HSPA+ version, not the LTE one. What's all the fuss about? In addition to being a dual-core 4G LTE phone and the first to run the next major version of Android, the Galaxy Nexus boasts Face Unlock, which lets you unlock the phone by scanning your face with the camera; Android Beam, which allows short-range sharing via near-field communication wireless tech; and a new contacts system that automatically gathers and organizes connections from social networks. For the full skinny on the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich, check out our review, or browse the gallery below. [via The Verge] BONUS: Galaxy Nexus ReviewedCheck out those clean lines I like its minimalist design. Click here to view this gallery. More About: galaxy nexus, ice cream sandwich, ICS, samsung, verizon For more Mobile coverage:
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| Google+ Gets Its Own TV Commercial Posted: 25 Nov 2011 07:45 AM PST Sharing, but like real life. This is the message Google is sending with the first video TV commercial for its social network, Google+, which aired during a Lions vs. Packers football game in the U.S. Thursday. The ad focuses on all the ways in which Google+ is different from Facebook: organizing your friends, family, acquaintances and colleagues into different Circles, and meeting them in Hangouts. Video spots demonstrating Google’s products aren’t new, and we’re seeing more and more of them as the Mountain View giant grows. A Google Chrome TV commercial launched this summer featured pop megastar Justin Bieber, and a recent ad for Samsung Google Nexus showcased the features in the new version of Google’s mobile OS, Android 4.0. Google also recently posted a shorter, music-accompanied video clip dubbed “Google+: Circles Love Story,” which tells a short story through a quick demonstration of Circles. Check it out below. More About: ad, Google, social network, trending, Video
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| Black Friday Roundup, Google+ TV Spot, Asus Transformer Prime Pre-Orders: Today’s Top Stories Posted: 25 Nov 2011 06:47 AM PST   Welcome to this morning’s edition of "First To Know," a series in which we keep you in the know on what's happening in the digital world. We're keeping our eyes on three particular stories of interest today. Black Friday Deals Go Live Black Friday sales have begun in the U.S., and a range of consumer technology retailers, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, AT&T, Target, Best Buy, Walmart and many others, are discounting their goods. Google+ TV Spot Airs Google aired a 90-second TV commercial for Google+ during Thanksgiving. Asus Transformer Prime Now on Pre-Order The first quad-core Android tablet, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, is now available for pre-order in North America. Further News
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59 More About: first to know series
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| Apple Black Friday Sale Now Live Posted: 25 Nov 2011 05:13 AM PST   Apple’s Black Friday sale is less surprising than ever this year, since a leaked brochure informed us on all the discounts two days in advance. As usual, the discounts are nice, but far from amazing, with most price cuts being in the 10-15% range. Now, Apple Black Friday is officially live and kicking, so if you want to save $41 on an iPad, $21 on an iPod touch, $11 on an iPod nano or $101 on a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or an iMac, this is your chance. Apple also offers discounts on a number of accessories this year, with savings being considerably bigger for third party accessories such as bags, speakers and headphones.  More About: apple, black friday, sale
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With the explosion of mobile devices, advertising dollars will begin to shift to mobile for tech marketers this year. 
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