Friday, January 25, 2013

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Yolo Is Intel’s First Smartphone for Africa”

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Yolo Is Intel’s First Smartphone for Africa”


Yolo Is Intel’s First Smartphone for Africa

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 02:50 AM PST


Chip maker Intel and mobile operator Safaricom have announced the Yolo, the first smartphone for the African market with an Intel processor.

Intel claims the Android device is aimed for "cost-conscious and first-time buyers in Kenya," but its specifications aren't as shabby as that characterization might imply. It's powered by the Intel Atom Z2420 processor which can reach speeds of up to 1.2GHz. It also comes with a 3.5-inch touch screen, a 5-megapixel camera with full HD video capture support, FM radio and HSPA+ support.

"We are delighted to partner with Safaricom in bringing the first smartphone with Intel Inside to Kenyan consumers. The new handset extends the benefits of Intel t…
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More About: intel, YOLO

HTC Launches Cheap Desire U in China and Taiwan

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 01:26 AM PST


HTC has launched a new low-end, budget-friendly smartphone in China and Taiwan: the HTC Desire U.

The device has a 4-inch, 800x480 pixel screen, a single-core 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of memory storage (further expandable via microSD memory cards) and a 5-megapixel camera. It also comes with Beats Audio.

It supports Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth 4.0, and is powered by Android 4.0. It's currently scheduled to arrive only in China and Taiwan, but the exact date of availability hasn't yet been revealed. We don't know if an international version is in the works, but we might get a glimpse of the device (hopefully along with some other new models) at the upcoming Mobile World Congress, held 2…
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More About: HTC Desire U

Can Virtual Classrooms Recreate a Traditional College Experience?

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 11:26 PM PST


The burgeoning online education scene is a practical option to a traditional college education for a number of reasons -- cost, convenience and efficiency. And for professors it offers a consistent classroom format.

A number of online education sites say the goal is not to be a substitute for the classroom experience, but to offer an even more collaborative learning environment, while also making education convenient and accessible for everyone -- whether you're taking a couple college courses or learning for the fun of it. In light of recent news about a partnership between a California state school and an online education site, it's possible that because of the high cost of education,…
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More About: college, education, elearning, online education, university, virtual classrooms

Online Wedding Registry Focuses on Local Stores

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 09:01 PM PST


NewlyWish is a free online wedding gift registry service that offers couples options beyond the usual big department stores.

More About: startup, The Launchpad, wedding

The Top 7 Freshman Members of Congress on Twitter

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 08:21 PM PST


Twitter's popularity among lawmakers has been meteoric. Three years ago less than half of the Senate and House of Representatives were on the platform, now every senator and 90% of representatives are tweeting away.

Twitter use is particularly heavy among the freshman class -- almost every freshman member of the recently begun 113th Congress has a public Twitter account.

Who are the top 7 freshman members of Congress on Twitter? Mashable asked Twitter analytics firm < a href="http://www.peekanalytics.com/" target="_blank">PeekAnalytics to find out. PeekAnalytics is able to determine not only a Twitter user network's audience size, but also its social influence and demographic data about audience members.

1. Elizabeth Warren
Photo via Da
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More About: congress, Politics, Twitter, US

Nipple-Bottomed Reeboks Freak Out The Internet

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 07:48 PM PST


No, this is not a piece of Martian footwear. It's Reebok's newest shoe, which a former NASA scientist helped design. Would you wear it, or is too ugly?

More About: fashion, Sports

Hands On With Twitter’s Social Video App, Vine

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 07:05 PM PST


Twitter launched Vine on Thursday -- an app that lets you share 6-second video clips.

Currently iOS-only, the stop-motion videos can include as many scenes as you can fit in. Video stops and starts when you press on your device's screen. Your finished product can then be shared just on Vine, or with friends on Twitter or -- in theory -- Facebook.

Still in its infancy, the service isn't without drawbacks. Sharing for instance can only be done with the video is initially uploaded/. So if you forget to select that Twitter button when you upload your followers will be out of luck forever.

Thursday at least, uploading those videos to social networks also takes a bit of time. Some of…
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More About: Twitter, Vine

Fake Amazon Page Is Best Online Resume Ever

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 06:26 PM PST


We don't actually know if Philippe Dubost is any good at his job. But boy, can he throw together a resume.

Dubost, a web product manager currently based in Paris, is looking to travel for his next position. So he decided to make his CV stand out anywhere in the world -- by mimicking an Amazon product page.

The result, "Philippe's Amaz'ing Resume," is a pitch-perfect pastiche. Suggesting that you add the applicant to your shopping cart to see his price is such a clever way of asking to be hired, we're amazed no one thought of it before. Especially when followed by the urgent reminder: "only 1 left in stock. Order soon!"

You can see the full resume here. But in case Dubost's site ha…
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More About: amazon, resumes

10 Casualties of Facebook Domination

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 06:00 PM PST


1.Email




We each have that friend who refuses to join Facebook and only communicates by email. In other words, he basically doesn't exist. Email use is way down among teens, and though Twitter is partially to blame, Facebook's ubiquity is a major factor. Image courtesy of Flickr, A Florian

Click here to view this gallery.


"Like" it or not, Facebook has changed the way we live. The monolithic social site has consolidated numerous forms of communication under one big, blue roof, simultaneously rendering some traditional means of interaction obsolete. Even those that adapted have been irrevocably altered by Facebook's rise.

SEE ALSO: Facebook More Memorable Than Faces or Books

Are we forgetting a big medium that bit the dust because of Facebook? Anything in particular you miss? Let us know in the comments.

Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, Sarah.Marshall

More About: Facebook, features, Social Media

Twitter Can Help Health Officials Track Outbreaks

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 05:39 PM PST


Sharing your health woes on social media can be beneficial for tracking disease outbreaks, a new study says.

Researchers at Brigham Young University found that Twitter's speed and volume can help health officials use the site as an early-warning system to monitor diseases.

Tweets with location information may allow officials to plot points on a map to detect a trend, then alert providers to gear up for a possible outbreak. Though accurate information is available for only about 15% of tweets containing GPS data, it's enough for a system to monitor key words like "fever" or "coughing" in a specific area. Check out the video, above, for more.

Twitter can also help health officials…
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More About: disease, health, outbreaks, tracking, Twitter

Internet Boldly Uses the Force on Star Wars, Star Trek Memes

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 05:21 PM PST


"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ... It is a period of civil war, rebel spaceships boldly go where no man has gone before."

The worlds of Star Wars and Star Trek collided Thursday when rumors beamed out that Trek director J.J. Abrams would direct the new Disney-back Star Wars Episode VII. The nerd world hadn't witnessed an explosion this big since Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star.

SEE ALSO: Obama's Death Star Response is Best Star Wars Tribute in History

The Internet rushed to share its vision of what an Abrams-helmed Star Wars might look like. Think William Shatner sweet talking Wookiees and new, more spandex-style uniforms for Stormtroopers.

I'm sorry, interwe…
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More About: GIFs, memes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Watercooler

Super Bowl Puppy Cam Is Here — and It’s Too Cute for Words

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 05:16 PM PST


NFL football too violent? Try this cuddly "puppy cam," a promotion for an upcoming clash of fuzzy gladiators called the Puppy Bowl.

More About: Super Bowl, Watercooler

Facebook Cuts Down Twitter’s Vine

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 04:59 PM PST


Facebook has blocked Twitter's new Vine app from being able to find your Facebook friends on the service.

The app launched this morning, and previously offered users a way to see which of their Twitter and Facebook friends were also using the service, in addition to contacts stored in their phone.

A request to search for Facebook friends on Vine now yields a pop-up message indicating that the app is not authorized to make the Facebook request. The dialog box was first spotted by a Verge reader.

A Twitter spokesperson told Mashable the company didn't have anything to share beyond that notification. We've reached out to Facebook for comment.

We're also currently unable to s…
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More About: Facebook, Twitter, Vine

Dad Draws Awesome Art on Kids’ Lunch Bags

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 04:50 PM PST


The Incredible Mr. Limpet




Photo courtesy of Tumblr, Lunch Bag Art

Click here to view this gallery.


It's a daily routine for many fathers: dragging the little ones out of bed, helping them get ready for school or packing their lunch.

Derek Benson takes it to a whole new level, combining his passion for art and all things nerdy with his kids' daily meals. Every day, the father of three decorates his children's lunch bags with a new illustration, taking inspiration from shows or books he shares with the family.

Since 2008, Benson has been spending his lunch breaks with Sharpies and oil pastels in hand. Each drawing takes no more than 30 minutes, with something different for each child. His eldest daughter Dana, now 12, isn't too keen on the idea of still taking Daddy's drawings to sc…
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More About: art, drawing, gallery, parenting, Photos, Watercooler

Belkin Acquires Linksys From Cisco

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 04:27 PM PST


Belkin announced Thursday that it is acquiring Cisco's Home Networking Business Unit, including the Linksys brand, current products and employees.

The financial details of the deal -- which officially take Cisco out of the consumer business -- weren't disclosed. With Linksys and Belkin under the same roof, Belkin says it will account for 30% of the U.S. retail home and small business networking market.

We had a chance to speak with Belkin CEO Chet Pipkin about the acquisition and what it means for the Belkin and Linksys brands in the future.

If you're an existing Linksys customer, you don't need to worry. Belkin will maintain support for its products and all valid warranties will be
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More About: Belkin, cisco, Linksys, routers

Mosaic, First Real Web Browser, Turns 20

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 04:01 PM PST


The web as you experience it -- with pretty pictures, in a browser, with back and forward buttons -- emerged 20 years ago.

On Jan. 23, 1993, programmer Marc Andreessen released Mosaic, the web browser credited with making the Internet accessible for the general public. While not the first graphical web browser, it was the most popular one of its time and still the model for today's browsers.

Before Mosaic, for example, images and text weren't able to display together. Each had its own window. There were no bookmarks; there wasn't even a back button.

Mosaic made all this possible — and for free. In fact, it's still available from Archive.org, or from the National Center for Sup
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More About: history, Mosaic, web browsers

iRobot’s Medical Robot Gets FDA Approval for Hospital Use

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 03:26 PM PST


You may soon see Rosie the Robot strolling the halls of more hospitals now that iRobot's remote presence robot has been given official FDA clearance. The Remote Presence Virtual + Independent Telemedicine Assistant, or RP-VITA for short, is the first autonomous navigation remote presence robot to receive FDA clearance for use in hospitals.

The RP-VITA was made by iRobot, makers of the Roomba vacuum cleaner robot, in conjunction with InTouch Health, a provider of telemedicine solutions. We first told you about the medical robot this past summer when it started trial rounds in several hospitals.

The robot is designed to allow medical specialists to communicate remotely with patients. Us…
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More About: medical technology, robots

Warner Music Nashville Takes Its Country Stars Social With New Site

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 02:54 PM PST


Warner Music Nashville just unwrapped a new, social media-driven website that makes it easy for country fans to keep tabs on the online activity surrounding their favorite artists.

Propelled by a responsive web design and Arktan's social-data curation technology, WarnerMusicNashville.com aims to be a "one-stop destination" for musicians' buzz from fans across social networks as well as digital content from the musicians.

Blake Shelton's page, for example, aggregates all posts mentioning his name on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Users can filter to see content posted by just Shelton. Each artist page also provides links to his or her music on iTunes, Spotify and YouTube. Addit…
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More About: Entertainment, Music, Warner Music, Warner Music Nashville, web design

How to Use Twitter’s Vine to Create and Share Videos

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 02:44 PM PST


Sign In




You can sign into Vine using your Twitter account or email address.

Click here to view this gallery.


What could you show the world in six seconds? That's the idea behind Vine, a service introduced Thursday that allows you to create and share looping videos.

Currently only available for iOS, Vines are created by pressing and holding your finger down on the screen of your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. You're given 6 seconds of "tape" for your video masterpieces, but you can start and stop recording as many times as you'd like during that six seconds to include several different scenes.

For instance, I created this Vine showing off some of the toys I have on my desk, starting and stopping the recording to pick up a new toy. The service can also be used to create a stop-motion v…
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More About: App, Twitter, Vine

Is J.J. Abrams Directing Star Wars Episode VII?

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 02:12 PM PST


Nothing is official yet, but it seems Star Wars Episode VII may have found its director.

According to multiple Hollywood outlets, the job has been offered to J.J. Abrams -- creator of Alias and Lost, and director of both the rebooted and the upcoming Star Trek movies.

That in itself may present a problem. Star Trek's rights are owned by Disney rival Paramount; that studio, along with many fans, will not want to see the two series united under a single director.

SEE ALSO: Star Wars Just Got a New Lease on Life

But the directorship of the next episode of Star Wars, due in 2015, is a "done deal" between Disney and Abrams, according to reports from Hollywood blogs Deadline, The Holl
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More About: Star Trek, Star Wars

All The Latest in Manti Te’o's Strange and Twisted Saga

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 02:10 PM PST


Manti Te'o maintained his innocence in the hoax and it was revealed he spent 500 hours on the phone with a man pretending to be his girlfriend. Seriously.

More About: Sports

4 Social Media Lessons From a Successful Food Truck

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 01:56 PM PST


Before John, my husband-to-be, and I started our food truck in 2010, I cyber-stalked food trucks on the West Coast and in New York City to find out how they were using Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare.

For the most part, they posted their daily routes and specials of the day, and while that alone attracted them hundreds of customers, I knew that wouldn't fly for us.

Our town, Tallahassee, is mostly known for politics and football, and certainly doesn't have the population of cities like Los Angeles and NYC. We knew we were going to have to get creative.

Though we were early adopters of Twitter and used Facebook when it was just a site for college students (the wonder years), up…
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More About: Food truck, Marketing, Social Media, social media marketing

Te’o Hoaxer Is a Pretty Good Singer

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 01:38 PM PST


Ronaiah Tuiasosopo isn't just an alleged identity thief -- he's also a talented singer. Here's a mashup of his ballad and photos of people Te'oing..

More About: hoax, Manti Te'o, mashup, singer, YouTube

Microsoft Posts Record Revenue of $21.5 Billion in December Quarter

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 01:35 PM PST


It looks like Microsoft had a decent end to 2012.

Microsoft reported earnings-per-share of $0.76 on revenue of $21.46 billion in the December quarter, beating EPS estimates by a penny but coming in just shy of Wall Street's consensus estimate for revenue of $21.6 billion. Nonetheless, Microsoft's revenue for the quarter set a new high.

The Windows division of the company had a particularly strong quarter, generating $5.88 billion in revenue, a 24% increase from the same period a year before. Even when you factor in deferred revenue from Windows upgrade offers, Windows revenue was still up 11% year-over-year.

"Our big, bold ambition to reimagine Windows as well as launch Surface and…
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More About: microsoft, stocks

Matt Damon Kidnaps Jimmy Kimmel

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 01:28 PM PST

Krossover Equips School Sports With Pro Film Study

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 01:15 PM PST


The most successful athletes and coaches spend hours studying game film, both of themselves and of their opponents. All professional-level and most high-level college teams employ entire crews of specialists to film and break down footage of games.

For high schools and smaller college programs, however, video capabilities vary from team to team. A New York startup is trying to level the playing field.

Krossover offers its service for basketball, football and lacrosse teams of all levels. In essence, it is an outsourced video crew. Coaches can send game footage and roster information to Krossover.

"What they get back from us the next day is the equivalent of what a NBA or NFL team
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More About: features, Sports, Startups, Video, web apps

55+ Events in PR, Digital Marketing and More

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 01:14 PM PST


Whether you're looking to make industry contacts or learn the latest trends in advertising, technology and media, Mashable's Events Board has something for you. We picked four of the latest events to be listed to give you an idea of the possibilities for networking, developing skills and moving your business forward. Check these out, or head over to the full listings to find relevant events in your area or preferred destination.

You can sort listings by when they were added, get discount codes for Mashable readers and maybe even see a YouTube video of a past event so you'll know what to expect. You can also subscribe to the events newsletter or follow our events account on Twitter so you'…
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More About: Events, Events Board, features, mashable

Intrepid Museum Crowdsources Enterprise Pictures

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 01:00 PM PST


New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum wants your pictures for a new exhibition on the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Yes, you heard that right. One of your photos or Instagrams of the famous shuttle has a chance to go on display at the new exhibit "Space Shuttle Enterprise: A Pioneer."

Elaine Charnov, the VP of exhibitions at the Intrepid Museum told Mashable that some of the crowdsourced pictures will be shown on a screen at the entrance of the Shuttle Pavilion, which was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.

You can upload your pictures here or via Instagram or Twitter, using the hashtag #IntrepidShuttle.

Why crowdsourcing? "I thought that given how many people online had been uploadi…
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More About: enterprise, NASA, onaswarm, space, space shuttle

Logitech Looks to Sell Harmony Remote Business

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 12:36 PM PST


Logitech announced disappointing earnings for its Q3 2013 fiscal period. Sales were down 14% year-over-year and the company reported a net loss of $195 million ($1.24) per share.

As a result, CEO Bracken Darrell is focused on making serious changes to Logitech's business. On the earnings call following the release, Darrell set out a bold set of plans for the business that include selling off the Harmony remote business and doubling down on mobile and tablets.

On the earnings call, Darrell noted that, "[Logitech's] Q3 results were unacceptable." He cited the weakness in the global market for new PCs and the "slow transition to Windows 8" as major factors in the results.

"The PC marke…
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More About: harmony, logitech

‘Flying Wing’ Uses Half the Fuel of a Standard Airplane

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 12:24 PM PST


NASA has demonstrated a manufacturing breakthrough that will allow hybrid wing aircraft to be scaled up.

More About: Airplane, hybrid, NASA

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