Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Rdio Starts Offering Free Music Streaming in 14 New Countries”

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Rdio Starts Offering Free Music Streaming in 14 New Countries”


Rdio Starts Offering Free Music Streaming in 14 New Countries

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 02:15 AM PST


Streaming music service Rdio has started offering up to six months of free music streaming in 14 new countries.

The list of countries where the service is available (besides the U.S., where free music streaming was available before) is as follows: UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

Boasting a library of 18 million songs, Rdio offers free streaming, either through the web or Rdio's desktop apps for Mac and Windows. Perks include free listening for up to 6 months (depending on how many songs you stream), creation and collaboration on playlists, a music discovery engine and the ability to share…
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More About: free music streaming, rdio

Google Publishes Detailed Map of North Korea

Posted: 29 Jan 2013 12:44 AM PST


With the help of its community of citizen cartographers, Google has launched a detailed map for North Korea in Google Maps.

To build a complete map from what Google calls "very limited map data," the company used the data from users who added it using the Google Map Maker over the past few years.

Though the new map offers a fascinating insight into the most isolated country in the world, Google readily admits it still needs work.

"We know this map is not perfect — one of the exciting things about maps is that the world is a constantly changing place. We encourage people from around the world to continue helping us improve the quality of these maps for everyone with Google Map Ma…
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More About: Google, Google Maps, North Korea

U.S. Military Wants ‘Mission Impossible’ Self-Destructing Devices

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 11:30 PM PST


Self-destructing tapes from the "Mission Impossible" TV series and films served fictional spies well during the Cold War. Today, the U.S. military wants a modern version of vanishing electronics that are able to disappear upon command in the environment or a human body.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking for such spy craft technology at a time when swarms of electronic sensors and communication devices already help U.S. troops hunt enemies, keep track of friendly forces and monitor threats from nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. Futuristic electronics able to self-destruct upon command would help prevent devices from falling into enemy hands and li…
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More About: Department of Defense, destruction, U.S. Military

Is This the iPad 5?

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 09:25 PM PST


New images have surfaced of what may be our first look at the iPad 5.

Obtained by 9to5Mac from a accessories maker in China, the photos show the rear-panel of a 9.7-inch iPad, with a similar look and feel to Apple's recently released iPad mini. The panel is all black, with an iridescent black apple in its center, and looks to be almost as thin as its pint-sized counterpart.

The images on 9to5Mac fall in line with an iLounge report from last week. In that report the writer claimed to have spent time with the iPad 5, and described the tablet as a "stretched iPad mini." Smaller than the current iPad, the device he saw had relatively no left or right bezels, with the only area ar…
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More About: apple, iOS, ipad, iphone

Here’s the Best Worst On-Air Reporting in January

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 08:40 PM PST


Reporting live from Nowheresland: This is a journalist who can't get rid of the giggles.

Live television is almost asking for some epic mishaps and bloopers -- ask any on-air news anchor or reporter. Just because they call action, doesn't mean everyone is set to go. And the best occasions are when the journalists aren't aware the cameras are rolling and America gets to watch its local TV reporter embarrass themselves into television history.

But we appreciate their hard work and, even through the laughs, goat attacks, football tackles and occasional technological difficulty, they will still tell us what is happening in the world.

SEE ALSO: Somewhere Out There, Local News Is E
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More About: bloopers, news bloopers, news broadcast

Ask Siri To Buy Your Next Movie Tickets

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 08:21 PM PST


Now you can ask Siri to handle picking up tickets to the latest blockbuster.

Apple rolled out iOS 6.1 Monday, adding Siri support for Fandango in the process. After the update iOS users can ask their favorite digital assistant to find movie times for them, ultimately launching the Fandango app on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch where they can complete a purchase for tickets.

Fandango tickets are also supported by Passbook, which means at some theaters your phone can also become your ticket inside the theater.

Siri's Fandango support was one of several improvements to iOS 6 made Monday. Apple also added 4G LTE support for 36 additional iPhone carriers and 23 more iPad carrie…
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More About: apple, iOS, iOS 6.1, iphone, siri

Everything You Wanted to Know About Facebook Groups

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 07:38 PM PST


1. Setting Up a New Group




After you sign in to Facebook, you'll see "Groups" listed in the left-hand column of the homepage. You can click "Add Group" to create a new one. If you have several groups listed already, you may need to click "More." Groups seem to automatically rely on your network settings. You have the option to create a group within your school or alma mater's network or outside of it. Creating a group within your school network will help people in that network find the group and join it based on similar interests, rather than having to be friends with them on Facebook. Creating a group outside of your network allows you to broaden the topic and reach.

Click here to view this gallery.


Once upon a time, Facebook users joined groups to self-identify; groups lived in your About section, next to your favorite books, movies and quotes. (Anyone remember "Grab Your Balls... We're Playin' Tennis?")

But no more. Now, Pages have replaced traditional groups. And today's groups revolve more around communication, sharing and interaction.

SEE ALSO: 18 Facebook Fossils We'll Remember Forever

Groups help gather with friends around common interests; within groups, you can share updates, photos, documents and more under specific settings of your choosing.

In light of Facebook Pages' popularity, some users may wonder if groups are obsolete. However, Pages are always public, mean…
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More About: Facebook, features, How-To, Social Media

NBA Star’s Epic White House Photobomb Will Crack You Up

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 06:59 PM PST


Conventional wisdom holds that photos snapped in the White House should be taken with a certain modicum of sincerity. Chris Bosh is not a conventional dude.

More About: NBA, Sports, Watercooler

Nearly 1 in 10 Ray Lewis Social Comments Mention Murder

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 06:04 PM PST


It seems Ray Lewis still hasn't lived down the stain of his alleged role in a double murder in 2000.

More About: nfl, Sports

Facebook Is Down for Some Users

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 05:56 PM PST


If you're having problem logging into Facebook this evening, you're not alone. The site is experiencing outages in parts of the United States.

The outage seems to be sporadic. Some Mashable staffers in San Francisco have access while others do not. The same is true in New York City, where some users can login without issue and others are unable to connect.

According to DownRightNow.com, Facebook started experiencing issues about 8:00 p.m. EST. We've reached out to Facebook for comment and will update this post as more information become available.

Is Facebook down for you? Let us know in the comments.

More About: Facebook, service outage

Digital Republicans Have Weekly Twitter Chat to Rejuvenate Before 2016

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 05:26 PM PST


Online collaboration might be the Republicans' path to victory in 2016, a former member of Mitt Romney's digital staff believes.

Accordingly, he has organized a weekly Twitter chat to help Republican digital staffers foster an atmosphere of partnership following Romney's loss.

That defeat triggered accusations and finger-pointing among some of the right's digital director community, a tense environment which ex-Romney staffer Bill Murphy believes is hurting the party.

"I worked on the Romney campaign and I noticed afterwards there was a lot of -- call it disagreement or criticisms -- of what the right and Republicans were doing digitally," said Bill Murphy, who organizes the chat,…
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More About: Politics, Twitter, US

Apple Maps: Come Visit My Butt

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 04:52 PM PST


Apple CEO Tim Cook has personally acknowledged the numerous problems with the Maps app, launched late last year. He's in the midst of devoting considerable resources to fixing it. He has deputized Apple's Mr. Fix-it, Eddy Cue, to sort out the problem.

So we feel a little bad pointing out yet another error in Apple Maps -- but this is one we just couldn't resist.

In the middle of San Francisco's infamous Tenderloin District, near the corner of Eddy and Taylor, Apple Maps will direct you to a restaurant apparently called "My Butt."

The best part: users have noticed, and four of them have left Yelp reviews of My Butt.

"I hope I don't sound too cheeky," writes one Yelp reviewer…
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More About: apple maps, Google Maps, tim cook, yelp

Steve Jobs’ Diet Put Ashton Kutcher in Hospital Days Before Filming Biopic

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 04:48 PM PST


Ashton Kutcher was hospitalized while preparing for his movie role as Steve Jobs: "My pancreas levels were ... out of whack, which was really terrifying."

More About: ashton kutcher, celebrities, Entertainment, films, Movies, steve jobs

MPAA Wants to Use Drones to Shoot Movies

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 04:29 PM PST


Drones are routinely used to kill terrorists and conduct surveillance operations in the Middle East. But we've already seen that they have countless other applications, like protecting endangered species, transporting medical supplies and even delivering burritos. Soon enough, movie-making could be added to the list.

In fact, the Motion Picture Association of America is actively lobbying to get permission to use robot planes to shoot Hollywood flicks, as revealed in a lobbying disclosure report last week.

Howard Gantman, a spokesman for the MPAA told The Hill that having a drone film some scenes can be cheaper, safer and more useful than relying on traditional techniques such as a hel…
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More About: Drones, Hollywood, lobbying, mpaa

Turn Vine Videos Into GIFs With This Mac App

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 03:50 PM PST


Want to turn your Vine video clips into an animated GIF? A new Mac app makes it a snap.

Over the weekend, Twitter engineer Esten Hurtle created VineGifR, a simple Mac app that turns a Vine URL into an animated GIF file.

The app -- which is still in its early stages -- is incredibly easy to use. Just open it up, paste in a Vine URL and select the file name and where you want to save your GIF.

Once you do that, the finished product looks like this:

Right now, the output size for a 6-second video GIF is a bit large at about 2MB per file, but Hurtle says he'll look at ways to reduce the file size so this can be used on sites such as Imgur.

This is only Hurtle's second ever…
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More About: animated gif, mac app, Twitter, Vine, vinegifr

Pinterest Tests New Look — But Will You Even Notice?

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 03:22 PM PST


Pinterest is testing a new look among a small group of users to make it easier for people to find what they want.

More About: design, pinterest, Social Media

App Crash Reporter Crashlytics Joins Twitter

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 03:13 PM PST


App crash-reporting service Crashlytics announced Monday that it will be joining the flock at Twitter.

Launched a little over a year ago, the company helps developers determine what specific line of code is causing their app to crash so that they can more quickly correct the problem.

Twitter is an existing customer of the service, as are a number of other high-profile apps including Waze, TaskRabbit, Yelp, and Kayak. Despite its acquisition by Twitter, the company says it will continue to support its existing customers, and add new ones.

"Development of Crashlytics will continue unabated and we remain dedicated to working with all of our customers – current and new, big and smal…
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More About: App, Twitter

How to Get NFL Fans on Facebook? Just Win, Baby

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 03:08 PM PST


Sweaty, savage, steadfast and often sauced, NFL fans are an interesting bunch indeed. Facebook data yields some fascinating insight on these strange beasts.

More About: nfl, Sports

Star Trek Fan Reshoots Movie Trailer on iPhone

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST


So the two-minute teaser trailer heralding J.J. Abrams' second Star Trek movie, Into Darkness, wasn't enough for you? Is the wait for the movie (which comes out in May) driving you insane?

We feel you. And so does Star Trek fan Dustin McLean, who just released a stunning, no-budget, shot-for-shot remake of the trailer. It was shot entirely on an iPhone, in what appears to be McLean's apartment and a hair salon, without any of that pesky CGI getting in the way of its pure awesomeness. Check it out:

And here's a side-by-side comparison with the original. Note the precision timing:

This isn't the first time McLean, a Pasadena-based filmmaker, has entered the genre of shot-by-sh…
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More About: Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness

4 Reasons Your UX Investment Isn’t Paying Off

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 02:42 PM PST


We all know the business case for doing user experience (UX) work: Investing upfront in making products easy to use really pays off. It reduces project risk, cost, and time while improving, efficiency, effectiveness, and end user satisfaction.

(Don't know the business case? Read this or this. Or this.) But what if you're investing in UX and not getting results?

There can be many factors behind an under-performing user experience effort. First, rule out the obvious: Your UX folks are jerks, they don't communicate well, they don't understand business, they aren't team players, they have such terrible body odor people stay 10 feet away …

Next, look at your organization. The…
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More About: graphic design, user experience, user experience design

Apple’s Rumored Cheaper iPhone Looks Like iPhone 5, iPods Combined

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 02:39 PM PST


More details about Apple's rumored cheaper iPhone have emerged online, providing a concrete idea of how the smartphone looks.

In a nutshell, it will be a cross between the iPhone 5, the latest iPod touch and the iPod classic, according to an unconfirmed report by iLounge.

The budget version will have a 4-inch screen like the iPhone 5, a bottom like the fifth-generation iPod touch and a shape similar to the iPod classic. (To be precise, its dimensions are slightly larger than the iPhone 5's, at a half-millimeter taller, half-millimeter wider and nearly a millimeter thicker.)

From the front, the device looks almost exactly like the iPhone 5, with the sensor, camera and button in…
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More About: apple, iphone

Listen to the Most Surprising Breakout Billboard Hits

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 02:32 PM PST


Last week, the single "Thrift Shop" by Seattle rap duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis climbed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Dominating the U.S. music rankings is a hefty accomplishment on its own, but when you consider that Macklemore and Lewis are not yet signed to a label, their achievement takes on a whole new meaning.

This isn't the first time that an artist has topped the charts without the strength of a major label behind him. For this week's Music Monday, we decided to look back on the past few decades of top hits. Amidst the domination of the charts by the likes of Madonna, Mariah Carey and the Black Eyed Peas, we found a few underdogs who had major Billboard hits.…
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More About: billboard-hot-100, macklemore, music monday

YouTube: Super Bowl Ads Shown Before the Game Get 600% More Views

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 02:16 PM PST


Is putting your Super Bowl ad on YouTube before the big game a good idea? It is if you want to get more views for your video. According to YouTube's research, ads that ran online before the Super Bowl last year got 9 million views, in average. Those that waited? 1.3 million.

The six-fold difference explains why there has been an onrush of 2013 Super Bowl videos on YouTube already. On Monday alone, Volkswagen, Audi, Century 21 and Axe dropped their Super Bowl spots on YouTube. According to YouTube, 34 of last year's ads were online before last year's game and 20 were withheld until broadcast. In 2011, about a dozen brands put their complete ads online, including VW, whose "The Force" ad b…
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More About: Advertising, Marketing, YouTube

First Names Dropped From We the People Petitions

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 02:12 PM PST


The White House has abbreviated citizen signatures on its We the People petition website. The signatures, which used to include a signer's first name and last initial, now just include first and last initials.

The signature blocks also include the signer's location and the date of the signature.

The change comes less than two weeks after the White House raised the bar for petitions to receive an official response to 100,000 signatures in one month. The 16-month-old website was flooded with hundreds of thousands of petitions related to the shooting of 26 people at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., in December and from citizens seeking to secede from the union after President…
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More About: online petition, we the people, White House

Disney’s Mystery ’1952′ Project Gets Renamed ‘Tomorrowland’

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 02:10 PM PST


Walt Disney Studios announced Monday that its mystery film project, previously known only as 1952, will be titled Tomorrowland when it hits theaters Dec. 19, 2014.

Starring George Clooney and featuring a creative team that includes Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) and Damon Lindelof (Lost, Star Trek), Tomorrowland is one of Disney's most high profile development projects. It's also one of the most mysterious.

All we really know about the film is the participation of Clooney, Bird and Lindelof. Bird is directing, based on a script he wrote alongside Lindelof.

Last week, Brad Bird tweeted an image with the caption, "The Box...opened."

Inside the…
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More About: brad bird, disney, tomorrowland, viral marketing

36% of Viewers Will Use Second Screen During Super Bowl

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 02:07 PM PST


If you're one of the lucky ones headed to Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La., for Super Bowl XLVII, we wish you a great trip.

For the rest of us who will be watching the big game at home, it turns out we're in good company. Century 21 Real Estate surveyed close to 3,000 people about the big game and found an overwhelming majority (88%) think home is the best place to be on game day along with, of course, good friends, good food and a big screen television.

Century 21, an advertiser in this year's Super Bowl, looked at the habits and likes of stay-at-home viewers and found men say they like "being able to control instant replay with the DVR" as a reason to watch the game at hom…
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More About: second screen, Super Bowl

NFL Commissioner Hit With Tough Questions in Reddit Q&A

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 01:57 PM PST


Public figures looking to build some Internet credibility via an interview on Reddit may want to reconsider their strategy after reviewing the experience of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Violent off-the-field incidents and increased awareness of the longterm damage caused by a game built on savage collisions has cast a pall over the NFL. An awkward labor dispute with its officials' union hurt the the league's credibility with many fans early this season. But football nevertheless remains an iconic American sport and its extreme popularity shows no true signs of waning anytime soon.

Amid this context and six days before Super Bowl XLVII, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell took to Reddit o…
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More About: nfl, reddit, Sports

Soundrop Brings Social Listening to Facebook

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 01:51 PM PST


Social music service Soundrop launched its "listening room" app on Facebook on Monday, allowing fans and users to share the audio experience.

The Norway-based company lets users create and embed a Soundrop room on Facebook pages, where people can listen to tracks or watch videos while chatting with other fans. Listeners can vote on what song they want to hear next from a preset playlist streamed from YouTube or VEVO.

Soundrop rose in popularity when it first launched its app on music streaming service Spotify in 2011. Its founders believe "...music sounds better with friends" and look to help artists engage their fanbase while simultaneously accelerating video traffic.

Last year…
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More About: apps, Facebook, Music, OpenSocial, social network, soundrop

Facebook iPhone App Adds Recording and Sharing Video

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 01:47 PM PST


Facebook updated its iOS app Monday, adding the ability to record and share videos from the app as well as the ability to send voice messages.

Voice messaging was previously released as an update to the company's Messenger app. Often a place for the social network to try out features with power users before releasing them to the public, it looks like voice messaging was a hit, and is now being rolled out to the masses in Facebook's main app.

Monday's update also added access to your device's camera, so you can send along a photo or video clip to your recipient as well.

If you want to share a video clip with more than just one person, video clips can also now be recorded and…
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More About: App, apple, Facebook, iOS, iphone

Yahoo Beats Earnings Estimates but Display Ad Revenue Drops 5%

Posted: 28 Jan 2013 01:45 PM PST


Yahoo had a strong fourth quarter, but its display advertising business is heading in the wrong direction.

Yahoo reported earnings per share of $0.32 on revenue of $1.22 billion for the December quarter, beating Wall Street's estimates of an EPS of $0.28 on revenue of $1.21 billion. That beat was enough to send Yahoo's stock price up by as much as 5% in after-hours trading.

However, the earnings report showed some troubling signs for the company's advertising business. Yahoo's display ad revenue minus traffic acquisition costs was $520 million, a 5% decline from the same quarter in 2011. Likewise, the number of ads Yahoo sold declined by a whopping 10% year-over-year.

Some of this…
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More About: marissa mayer, Yahoo

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