Friday, January 4, 2013

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “5 Big Trends You’ll See at CES 2013”

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “5 Big Trends You’ll See at CES 2013”


5 Big Trends You’ll See at CES 2013

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 02:43 AM PST


Despite its uncertain future, the annual CES is always the year's first taste of the new technologies that will define it. With hundreds of companies peddling thousands of products, it's easy to get lost in the noise of pre-show chatter, but out of the chaos, various patterns are emerging, and some will grow to become bona fide "trends."

International CES 2013 officially begins on Tuesday, Jan. 8, but like the presidential primaries, companies are unveiling new products earlier and earlier in advance of the show in order to be heard before the din of the show gets too loud. LG, for example, began announcing TV news as early as Christmas, and Samsung dropped news about PCs and cameras earl…
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More About: audio, automobile, Bluetooth speakers, car tech, CES, CES 2013, HDTV, motion control, UHDTV

Gingerbread Still Dominates Android Landscape, Jelly Bean Reaches 10 Percent Share

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 02:08 AM PST


The latest report from Android Developers is out, and, lo and behold, Android is still a very fragmented platform.

Android 2.3 or Gingerbread is present on 47.6% of devices -- down from 55.8% in October 2012 but still very dominant. Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich is powering 29.1% of devices, and the latest and greatest Android, 4.1/4.2 or Jelly Bean now has a 10.2% share.

android fragmentation

Unfortunately for developers who have to keep all these versions in mind, even the ancient Android 2.2. or Froyo is still very alive and present on 9% of devices, while Android 2.1 Eclair powers 2.4% of all Android devices.

Check out the rest of the stats over at Android Developers.

Thumbnail image Ma
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More About: android, fragmentation

Apple’s U.S. Smartphone Market Share Rises to 35 Percent

Posted: 04 Jan 2013 12:58 AM PST


ComScore's new U.S. smartphone market share numbers are in, and the trend that's been going on for years hasn't changed: Google's Android and Apple's iOS are gaining, while everyone else is losing.

In the three-month period ending November 2012, Google had a 53.7% market share, up from 52.6% in August. Apple's market share rose from 34.3% to 35%, while RIM, Microsoft and Symbian all lost market share, dropping to 7.3%, 3% and 0.5% respectively.

smartphone market share november

On the manufacturer front, Samsung's share rose from 25.7% in August to 26.9% in November, while Apple chalked an ever bigger gain, rising from 17.1% to 18.5%. That second place is looking increasingly distant for LG, which dropped from 18…
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More About: apple, Google, htc, LG, microsoft, Motorola, RIM, samsung, Symbian

jOBS: The Dumbest Movie Name in History?

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 10:42 PM PST


Mashable OP-ED

By now, thankfully, most Apple watchers have stopped making wild product-based pronouncements about the company that begin with the words "Steve Jobs would." As in: Steve Jobs would have nixed Apple Maps; Steve Jobs would never have allowed Siri to launch in such a disappointing form; Steve Jobs would have annihilated Android already.

Not only is it impossible to know where Apple would be today with its founder at the helm, but Jobs himself insisted to his successor that all such questions were out of bounds. "I never want you to ask what I would have done," he told Tim Cook back in 2011, referring to the in-fighting at Disney after its founder died. "Just do what's rig…
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More About: apple, steve jobs

Teens Without Internet Are ‘Educationally Disadvantaged’

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 08:11 PM PST


The Internet has received more than its share of criticism from parents who condemn it as unsafe or addictive. But it's starting to seem more likely that not having the Internet is the worse option.

new study by Oxford University's department of education has shown that teenagers without web access are actually at a serious disadvantage educationally and socially.

The National Office of Statistics has recorded that approximately five percent of British households with children are currently lacking Internet access. These offline students reported difficulty completing school assignments and not feeling included in social activities.

SEE ALSO: Facebook and Google Help Launch Onlin
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More About: education, teens

Meet Tumblr’s First Artist in Residence

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 07:36 PM PST


For more than 100 years, artist-in-residence programs at colleges, museums and municipalities have allowed artists to immerse themselves in a new community to create original works and build their portfolios.

In September, that opportunity was offered to Roger Biersborn by one of the biggest art communities in the world: Tumblr.

In 2012, the blogging network made the top 10 list of the most visited sites in the world, thanks in part to more than 20 billion posts. More recently, "Tumblr" surpassed "blog" as a more popular Google search time. Both feats are symbolic of the site's towering online presence, boasting a staggering 83 million blogs that run the gamut from celebrity accounts t…
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More About: art, GIFs, tumblr

Cats Get Their Own Social Network

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 06:55 PM PST


Fellow cat owners: ever caught your feline stealing jealous glances at your laptop? Wonder why they keep walking all over your keyboard?

Turns out they're not trying to catch your attention or steal your lap heat. They just want you to get off Facebook so they can have their turn.

OK, not really -- but the world's smartest pets are long overdue for their own social network. And now, thanks to a couple of developers in Malaysia, they just may have found one worthy of them.

The site in question is Catmoji, the brainchild of Matthew Phiong and Koekoe Loo Wan Koe. "We want to be Facebook for cats," the Penang-based programmers told Betabeat.

Facebook isn't the first social network…
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More About: cats

What Couples Fight About Most: the Remote

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 06:31 PM PST


Everybody knows that the biggest thing couples fight about is money, right? Wrong. Okay, so they fight most about who's doing what work around the house. Nope, that's not it either.

It's the remote.

According to 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair, 36% of couples fight over the TV remote control, arguing about which show they'll be watching next.

It's not just an educated guess, either. The poll sampled 1,100 adults, and it found that many of the disputes had to do with one of the members of the couple wanting to watch sports, and the other wanting to watch anything but sports.

We're curious about the demographics that participated in this poll. Were they a bunch of people who call the…
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More About: Couples fight, polls, Video

This Robot Security Portal Defends Against Terror Attacks

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 05:53 PM PST


A newly patented revolving door can supposedly detect potential threats and prohibit them from entering a building.

More About: Newsy, robots, security, videos

Taco Bell Comes up With Another Epic Social Media Win

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 05:35 PM PST


If a screenshot posted to Reddit on Thursday is to be believed, Taco Bell just scored another social win with this excellent Facebook post.

More About: taco bell, Watercooler

Facebook Starts Sending Out Notices for Sponsored Stories Settlement

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 05:24 PM PST


If you receive a message purporting to be from Facebook with the subject "LEGAL NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION" -- don't worry, it's legitimate.

Facebook is sending proposed settlement notices to members of a class-action lawsuit against the company's use of Sponsored Stories. Facebook's offer of $20 million to settle the case was granted preliminary approval by the courts in December.

An email detailing the reason behind the lawsuit as well as the terms of the settlement was sent to users it believes are class members of the lawsuit, "according to available records."

The lawsuit was initially filed on behalf of Facebook users objecting to the use of their names and pictur…
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More About: class action lawsuit, Facebook, Lawrence Lessig, privacy, Sponsored Stories

See the 5 Finalists For Doritos’ Crowdsourced Super Bowl Ads

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 05:11 PM PST


"Goat 4 Sale"


Click here to view this gallery.


It's that time of year again. While there have been drips and drabs of Super Bowl announcements over the past few weeks and months, the season has begun in earnest with the airing of Doritos' "Crash the Super Bowl" contest.

For the sixth year in a row, the PepsiCo brand is crowdsourcing its ads in the big game. After casting for entries from Oct. 8 to Nov. 16, the brand has settled on the five finalists above. Two of the ads -- one chosen by the people and one by Doritos execs -- will run during the Super Bowl. If the ad scores number one on USA Today's AdMeter, the ad's creator will get $1 million and the opportunity to work with Michael Bay on the next Transformers sequel, which is set…
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More About: Advertising, doritos, Marketing, Super Bowl

Blogger Makes $333,000 Online in One Day

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 05:02 PM PST


It may sound like the first line of a particularly fiendish piece of spam. But a blogger has now in fact brought in a third of a million dollars in roughly 24 hours -- all while working from home, presumably at some point in his PJs.

Of course, it helps that the blogger in question was Andrew Sullivan, commentator extraordinaire. It also helps that he's spent the last decade or so brewing his blog, the Daily Dish, into a potent mixture of serious moral analysis, must-read aggregation, and palate-cleansing videos (the "mental health break"). So no, this isn't necessarily something you could replicate at home.

Sullivan announced Wednesday he would be going independent from the Daily Bea…
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More About: daily beast, Media

Watch Italian Soccer Teams Quit Mid-Match After Racist Chants

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 04:57 PM PST


What a powerful moment: AC Milan and Pro Patria walk off the field mid-match after fans direct racist abuse at Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng.

More About: soccer, Sports

Nyan Cat Art Worth Meowing About

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 04:40 PM PST


TODD JAMES, Untitled (Nyan Cat)




Mashable image

Click here to view this gallery.


Mona Lisa. Venus and her shell. Nyan Cat.

What do those three things have in common? If you said "subjects of famous paintings," you hit the brush on the canvas. Nyan Cat might not have reached the same level of fame as da Vinci and Botticelli's famous ladies, but a recent art show starring the Internet famous feline could land the Pop Tart kitty at the Louvre.

Last month, the New York Art Department held a fundraiser to benefit Printed Matter, a non-profit focused on promoting publications made by artists that had much of its archives damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Artists donated their Nyan Cat-inspired artwork to raise money that will help Printed Matter digitize the archives before t…
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More About: art, cats, memes, nyan-cat, Watercooler

Meet the Adorable Bulldogs That Rule College Sports Social Media

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 04:14 PM PST


Here's Blue III, successor to Blue II, skating across campus.




Image courtesy Butler University

Click here to view this gallery.


Cute, wrinkly Blue II is the Butler Bulldogs mascot and a Twitter superstar. See his adorably slobbery pics here.

More About: college sports, Sports

What Does 2013 Hold for a Gaming Industry in Flux?

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 03:44 PM PST


The last year was a turbulent and exciting one in gaming.

After Double Fine's record-breaking Kickstarter, a gold rush began as indies funded their dreams with the masses. Facebook reported 235 million of its users play games each month. Nintendo launched a console that faced "second-screen" entertainment head on. A live-action series about Halo was watched millions of times on YouTube. These are but a handful of trends that forecast the future.

Mashable spoke to 16 prominent figures across the games industry to discern what might be coming down the pike in 2013. Many of those quoted below talked about similar themes: freemium games, the rise of digital distribution, new console and ta…
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More About: features, games, Gaming, video games

This Was the Best Thing That Happened on Twitter Today

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 03:22 PM PST


Today on Twitter, William Shatner -- a.k.a. Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the Starship Enterprise -- tweeted at real astronaut Chris Hadfield. The response was pretty great, and by far the best thing that happened on Twitter during the hours of Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2013.

Live long and prosper.

[View the story "The Best Thing That Happened on Twitter Today" on Storify]

Photo courtesy of Flickr, Keith McDuffee

More About: conversations, space, Twitter, Watercooler

Bill Clinton to Attend Samsung Keynote at CES

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 03:13 PM PST


President Bill Clinton is among the notable guests making an appearance at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.

More About: Bill Clinton, CES, CES 2013, samsung

Watch G-Form Drop Its New Xtreme iPhone 5 Case From Space

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 03:09 PM PST


Case maker G-Form demonstrated its new durable line of cases Thursday with a video dropping its new iPhone 5 case from the stratosphere, 100,000 feet in the air.

To make the fall happen, the company tied one end of the case to a weather balloon, and sent an iPod touch 5 -- which can also fit inside the iPhone 5 case -- into space. During its travels the case had to endure negative 60 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures, as well as high winds and maximum drop speeds.

The iPod touch survived the fall in perfect working condition, and the whole experience was captured on the touch's built-in camera.

XTREME Cases for iPhone 4 and 5, iPad, iPad mini, iPod touch and Samsung Galaxy S III…
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More About: case, CES, CES 2013, iphone

Never-Before-Seen Stage of Planet Birth Revealed

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST


Astronomers studying a newborn star have caught a detailed glimpse of planets forming around it, revealing a never-before seen stage of planetary evolution.

Large gas giant planets appear to be clearing a gap in the disk of material surrounding the star, and using gravity to channel material across the gap to the interior, helping the star to grow. Theoretical simulations have predicted such bridges between outer and inner portions of disks surrounding stars, but none have been directly observed until now.

An international team of astronomers have used the partially completed Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study a young star about 450 light-years from Earth. The…
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More About: NASA, Planet, Science, space

Mom Tricks Son Into Thinking He Bought a $50,000 Car on eBay

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 02:41 PM PST


An 8-year-old boy just wanted a look at a Mustang for sale on eBay, but almost purchased the $50,000 car on the auction site. To teach him in lesson, his mother pretended he accidentally bought it and it couldn't be returned. She recorded the incident and posted it to YouTube.

In the video, the mom tricks her son by telling him he bought the car, adding that his family would have to sell everything. He cries, saying, "I'm horrible," but after about a minute of misery, she tells him the truth and they both laugh. The comments on the video range from applause to outrage at the mother's actions.

SEE ALSO: 10 Adorable YouTube Videos of Baby's First Christmas

Some parents love pranki…
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More About: Children, ebay, parenting, YouTube

This Is What the OUYA Kickstarter Console Looks Like

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 02:37 PM PST


OUYA vs Soda Can




The OUYA, the $99 Android console, is indeed smaller than a soda can.

Click here to view this gallery.


The $99 hackable Android-based gaming console OUYA is fulfilling its orders for Kickstarter backers by sending the first units out to developers. Backers began receiving their OUYA consoles as early as last Friday.

According to the OUYA blog, 1,200 consoles have been sent out to developers. While these aren't the final run of the OUYA that consumers will receive, they have enough pieces to get developers started making games for the console. Developers receive a rooted console, along with two transparent, prototype controllers specially designed for the console.

The OUYA raised more than $8 million on Kickstarter last summer, promising to open the television to all developers by inclu…
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More About: android, features, Gaming, ouya

Facebook Adds Voice Messaging to Its Messenger App

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 02:09 PM PST


Facebook added the ability to send voice messages to its Messenger app for iOS and Android Thursday.

To send a voice message, tap the + button beside where you traditionally type a message in the Messenger app. Then select Record, holding the button down to speak. When you release the Record button, your voice message will be sent to your recipient.

Along with today's update, Facebook has also started testing VoIP functionality in Canada. iPhone users in the country can try the feature by tapping the "I" button in the top right corner of a conversation with a person they would like to call, and then tapping Free Call.

Important to note: While free to use, these VoIP calls will u…
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More About: App, Facebook

Online Holiday Spending Tops $40 Billion for First Time Ever

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 01:55 PM PST


U.S. consumers spent $42.3 billion online during the holiday season, the first time online spending has ever topped $40 billion for that time period, according to comScore's latest shopping data for November and December.

While online sales grew by about 14% from the previous holiday season's total of $37.2 billion, sales still fell short of the $43.4 billion (or 16% growth) that comScore had forecasted.

"That is obivously a nice growth rate, certainly when you compare it to offline channels," Andrew Lipsman, VP of industry analysis for comScore, told Mashable. "But it did fall a little bit short of expectations, which is probably consistent with reports that retail ended up soft this…
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More About: holidays 2012, online shopping

Watch Local TV Royally Fail at Live NYE Broadcast

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 01:45 PM PST


Somewhere, the spirit of Dick Clark is shaking his head while watching this local TV station destroy New Year's celebrations.

This poor Los Angeles station was simply over having to follow Eastern Standard Time rules and ring in the new year three hours early. So KDOC decided they could one up Times Square with Jamie Kennedy and its own bash.

SEE ALSO: These Are the Worst Case Scenarios for New Year's Eve

Except KDOC forgot to invite enough people to the party. And it forgot to hire staff to run the show. And instead, had what we can only believe are drunk interns from the sales department direct the show into a flurry of random cuts, dead air, misplaced commercials and Kenned…
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More About: new years, new years eve

Compare Cities Instantly With VERSUS IO

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 01:42 PM PST


Good news, travelers. VERSUS IO, a new comparison engine, lets you instantly view side-by-side pros and cons of more than 240 cities worldwide.

More About: comparison engine, data, travel, websites

Steve Jobs Film Coming in April

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 01:34 PM PST


"jOBS," the indie film about former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, will arrive in theaters in April, the movie's distributors announced. It stars Ashton Kutcher.

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

Only 3 of the 79 New Congress Members Don’t Have Twitter Accounts

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 01:06 PM PST


Call it the "Social Class" -- all but three of the 79 new lawmakers who entered the halls of Congress on Thursday have public Twitter accounts.

Some, such as Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, might even qualify for elite Twitter status with 72,600 and 39,000 followers respectively as well as verified accounts.

So who are the odd legislators out?

Photo via Win McNamee/Getty Images

First, there's Angus King, incoming Senator for Maine, former governor of that state and a political independent. King's campaign website links to a Twitter account -- @AngusKing2012 -- but visitors are met with the Twitter equivalent of a 404 error.

It's possibl…
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More About: congress, Politics, Twitter, US

NASA May Give the Moon a Smaller Moon of Its Own

Posted: 03 Jan 2013 01:01 PM PST


One of 2012′s oddest and most interesting ideas in space exploration may be getting a renewed lease on life in 2013. According to New Scientist, NASA is "mulling over" a proposal from researchers at the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) to give the moon a moon of its own.

In this proposal, NASA would snag an asteroid from deeper in space and tow it back to the moon, where it would take up orbit around the Earth's only natural satellite. It may sound far-fetched, but NASA is considering funding the idea in its next round of budgeting.

The full study was first published last April. KISS researchers envision a slow, steady spacecraft powered by solar ions -- a sort of spacefari…
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More About: asteroid mining, moon, NASA, space

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