Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Today’s Top Stories: John Browett Joins Apple, Megaupload Data Safe for Now” |
- Today’s Top Stories: John Browett Joins Apple, Megaupload Data Safe for Now
- Salesforce.com Launches a Customer Service Product for Small Teams
- Megaupload Data Safe for Another Two Weeks
- Twitter Is Not a Media Company, CEO Says
- Polling App Makes Blog Feedback Painless
- New Career Website Lets Job Seekers Upload Video Resumes
- 20 TV Shows With the Most Social Media Buzz This Week [CHART]
- Twitter CEO: We Are Not Censoring the Web
- Giants? Patriots? Mobile and Social to Win Super Bowl XLVI
- 6 Ways to Give Your App a Leg Up on the Competition
- Patriots Player Uses Spotify, Facebook to Share Pre-Super Bowl Mix
- Clear To Do App Has Some Surprising Design Inspirations
- When Apple’s Siri Met the Flaming Lips [AUDIO]
- Codecademy is 1 Million Strong and Launching a Teacher Tool
- Microsoft Begins Private Preview of Office 15
- Obama: Protect The ‘Fundamental Integrity’ of the Internet
- Android Users Most Likely to Use Phones While in the Bathroom
- Behind the Scenes of Twitter’s No-Cost Viral Recruiting Video
- Syrian Hactivisits Attack Al Jazeera English
- How Mobile Games Leapt From Cult to Cultural Phenomenon
- Arrivals for Foursquare Displays Check-ins on Old-Style Airport Board
- Apple Introduces New Reservation System for iPhone Purchases in China [VIDEO]
- Top Twitter Photos from the 2012 Presidential Campaign
- Groupon is a Star in CBS Pilot — But in the Wrong City [VIDEO]
- Turn Your Facebook Timeline Into a Movie
- Bill Would Make Cellphone Carriers Disclose Tracking Software
- British Tourists Barred From Entering U.S. Over Tweet About ‘Destroying America’ [VIDEO]
- The Swarm: Short Horror Film Made Entirely on Phones [VIDEO]
- Who’s Winning? The Most-Shared Super Bowl Ads So Far
- Face-Detection Program Ranks Senators with the Biggest Smiles [VIDEO]
| Today’s Top Stories: John Browett Joins Apple, Megaupload Data Safe for Now Posted: 31 Jan 2012 05:16 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. Today, we're looking at three particularly interesting stories. John Browett Joins Apple as Senior Vice President of Retail John Browett has joined Apple as senior vice president of retail, reporting to CEO Tim Cook, the company announced. Browett was the CEO of tech retailer Dixons Retail since 2007. He will take charge of Apple's retail strategy and the expansion of Apple retail stores around the world. Megaupload Data Safe for Two More Weeks User data on troubled file hosting service Megaupload will not be erased for at least another two weeks, says Megaupload lawyer Ira Rothken. "The hosting companies have been gracious enough to provide additional time so we can work out some kind of arrangement with the government," said Rothken. Megaupload’s assets have been frozen since the site’s founder Kim Dotcom and six others who ran the site were indicted by The U.S. Department of Justice in January, and the site is trying to find a way to let its users access the data hosted on the service. Facebook Getting Ready for IPO Facebook’s long-awaited initial public offering might happen as soon as Wednesday, but it’s been a bumpy road. The IPO could be in the $100 billion range, meaning it would be the biggest tech IPO of all time, valuing Facebook about four times that of Google when it went public in 2004 Image courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59 More About: apple, first to know, first to know series, megaupload, morning brief, Today's top stories For more Tech coverage:
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| Salesforce.com Launches a Customer Service Product for Small Teams Posted: 31 Jan 2012 02:01 AM PST   In a step toward extending its enterprise cloud software offerings to small businesses, Salesforce.com launched a customer service product for small teams on Tuesday. The product, Desk.com, was created from Salesforce.com’s most recent acquisition, Assistly. It streamlines customer service inquiries from a company’s website, phone, Twitter handle and Facebook account into one dashboard. Although Assistly’s former CEO Alex Bard (now general manager of Desk.com) says Desk.com is “rebuilt from the ground up,” with the exception of a new mobile app, it functions almost identically to Assistly. The service comes with a URL for a help center that can be masked to look like part of the customer’s website. In addition to serving answers to common questions and encouraging self-service, the page provides an email portal for customer service. Those emails, as well as inquiries from other sources, can all be answered directly from the dashboard. Like Acceptly, Desk.com will be free for one full-time agent and $49 per month for every additional full-time agent. Part-time users can log into the system for $1 per hour. Salesforce.com already has a cloud-based customer service software package it calls “Service Cloud” that has more than 17,000 customers. It actually has many of the same features as Desk.com, but it’s designed and marketed for large companies. Salesforce.com has repackaged Assistly in order to reach companies with few employees. That company already includes giants like Starbucks and Bank of America on its list of 100,000 clients, but with products like Desk.com it hopes to also welcome companies like six-person Instagram. To start, more than 1,000 of Acceptly’s clients, including TED, Spotify, Yelp, Vimeo and Instagram will be automatically switched over to Desk.com on Tuesday (whether they notice or not).  Image courtesy of iStockphoto, kemie More About: Assistly, customer service, desk.com, salesforce.com For more Business coverage:
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| Megaupload Data Safe for Another Two Weeks Posted: 31 Jan 2012 01:14 AM PST   The data on Megaupload will not be erased for at least two more weeks, Cnet reports citing Megaupload lawyer Ira Rothken. The data on the file hosting service, whose founders have been accused of piracy and money laundering, was in danger to be erased as soon as Thursday, Feb. 2, as the site’s assets were frozen and it was unable to pay its hosting fees. “The hosting companies have been gracious enough to provide additional time so we can work out some kind of arrangement with the government,” said Rothken. The authorities have made backups of some of the data, which is to be used as evidence, but not all of it. The deletion of all the data on Megaupload would harm users which used the service for perfectly legal purposes. One of the hosting companies which stores some of the Megaupload data, Carpathia hosting, told us they simply cannot return users their data. “Carpathia Hosting does not have, and has never had, access to the content on MegaUpload servers and has no mechanism for returning any content residing on such servers to MegaUpload's customers.(…) We would recommend that anyone who believes that they have content on MegaUpload servers contact MegaUpload. Please do not contact Carpathia Hosting,” said Carpathia in a statement. Hopefully, the authorities and Megaupload will find a solution to give the users a way to retrieve their data before it’s erased. Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom (a.k.a. Kim Schmitz) and six others who ran the site were indicted by The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in January. They are accused of making $175 and causing $500 million in copyright infringement; if they’re found guilty, they’re looking at a maximum 20 years prison sentence. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tioloco, LdF, narawon. [via Cnet] More About: data, megaupload, trending For more Business coverage:
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| Twitter Is Not a Media Company, CEO Says Posted: 30 Jan 2012 10:21 PM PST   “Twitter is not a media company,” Twitter CEO Dick Costolo declared on stage at AllThingsD‘s media conference in Laguna Nigel, CA, Monday evening. The statement was surprising given Twitter’s well-publicized role as a platform for breaking news, entertainment and other communications. “You [even] sell advertising,” AllThingsD‘s Peter Kafka pointed out. “We’re in the media business, but we’re not necessarily a media company,” Costolo elaborated. “We don’t create our own content; we’re a distributor of content and traffic. We’re one of the largest drivers of traffic to other media properties, [namely] to other online web properties, even to films.” Costolo pointed to a Super8 campaign Paramount Pictures ran on Twitter last June. The studio promoted the hashtag #Super8Secret, through which it offered advanced screening tickets to the film. The film performed “50% better” during opening weekend than Paramount expected, Costolo said. Kafka and Costolo went on to discuss the origins of Twitter’s advertising business. “When you came [to Twitter] in 2009, Twitter’s business model wasn’t clear,” Kafka recalled. “Now it’s solidly an ad business. Did you push the company in that direction?” he asked. “I was certainly involved in it,” said Costolo. “The honest answer is that i was a key participant in it, certainly advocated for it. By no means was it my idea to create and launch the products we have now.” Kafka asked Costolo if the company explored any other business models at the time, but Costolo evaded the question. “The notion that there were other ideas we considered and that I disposed of makes it sound too palace intrigue-y,” he complained. “It makes it sound a little too Hamlet. The reality of life is that it’s a lot more Tom Stoppard than Shakespeare,” he said. Costolo likewise skirted questions about whether Twitter would have its first profitable year in 2012 — “We don’t discuss financials,” he said — but did stress the health of Twitter’s advertising business. In particular, he noted that engagement in several recent Promoted campaigns was above 50%, and that the cost per customer acquisition rate — by which we assume he means the cost per follower acquisition rate — is “fantastic.” At the moment, Twitter is less interested in developing new products or revenue streams than growing the ones it’s already developed, Costolo suggested. “It’s all about scaling that now, launching these products globally,” he said. More About: Advertising, dick costolo, Media, Twitter
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| Polling App Makes Blog Feedback Painless Posted: 30 Jan 2012 08:59 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.
Quick Pitch: Quipol is a web application that makes creating and embedding polls on blogs easy. Genius Idea: Quipol allows bloggers to get feedback from their audiences with a super simple and customizable polling template. If Quipol were an ice cream flavor, it would be vanilla. It’s delicious by itself, but meant to be individualized by each person. Instead of sprinkles, nuts and hot fudge, however, Quipol customization allows for video, pictures and comments. Think of Quipols as quick polls — extremely pared down versions of online polls (see right). Each poll displays one question with thumbs-up and thumbs-down options. A comments section encourages chatter. The idea behind Quipol is to make customizable polls as simple and elegant as possible, Max Yoder, the 23-year-old entrepreneur behind the new web application, tells Mashable. “I think of traditional polls as a hunched-over half ape,” Yoder said. Yoder believes Quipol’s two answer options aren’t as limiting as you would think because they encourage bloggers to be creative with their question wording. Plus, they force readers to go with their gut and not be wishy-washy with their answers. Yoder started developing the poll application eight months ago and tested the prototype with the groups that Quipol was meant for — fashion bloggers, avid Tumblr users, political bloggers, entertainment bloggers and tech bloggers. Forbes Magazine was one of the biggest early adopters. But Quipol was made for anyone to use — the average blogger who wants to get feedback about issues they care about. Looking ahead, the goal for Quipol as a company is to keep the partnerships coming. Quipol is viewed by many as a company that does one thing very well, and big companies and small businesses use its product so they don’t have to write out and upkeep a polling dock. “Building kind of a pared down poll will guide the ship,” Yoder said. “We will be here for you for all development, resources and upkeep.” There are many polling software products for online audiences. Toluna also lets users add videos and pictures to polls; Micropoll doesn’t require registration to create polls and PollDaddy gives users access to surveys, polls and quizzes on various platforms including e-mail and Twitter. Yoder’s goal for the end of the year is to gain 25,000 users and really improve the product based on continued user feedback. People can already sign in for free with their Facebook or Twitter to embed their own polls. There is also a new video element where they can add a YouTube video directly into a poll (see video below). They can be as creative with the pared-down poll as they want. 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, blogging, Business, Marketing, Media, social networking, startup, Tech, web applications
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| New Career Website Lets Job Seekers Upload Video Resumes Posted: 30 Jan 2012 08:26 PM PST A new career website that launched on Monday aims to be a one-stop shop for hiring managers and job seekers. GetHired.com was co-founded by Suki Shah, 28, who was inspired to create the integrated site after running his own medical diagnostics company and experiencing difficulties with the hiring process. “We created GetHired.com out of a pure need that we experienced in the market for both employers and job seekers,” he told Mashable. “There is no solution that currently integrates job postings, prescreening via audio and video, applicant tracking, interviewing, and social recruiting.” His goal is to streamline every task of the job search into one place. On GetHired.com employers can search for candidates, sift through multimedia resumes, schedule interviews (and sync those appointments to their iPhones) and video chat with potential hires. Job seekers can upload a video of themselves explaining their background and expertise, or answer employer-submitted questions via an automated phone system and upload the sound bites to their profiles. “Companies often spend tens of thousands of dollars or more for a fraction of these capabilities. We’re thrilled that we are able to make GetHired.com available for free,” Shah said. For the time being, the site will be free for hiring managers, but eventually charge a nominal fee (about $25 bucks) per job post. It will always be free for job seekers. The company announced on its blog that GetHired received “$1.75 million in an oversubscribed round of seed funding.” While LinkedIn is a great tool for job seekers–letting you identify who’s viewed your profile and which keywords they used to find you, GetHired.com features a great deal of tools for hiring managers. And unlike LinkedIn, only employers can view job seekers’ multimedia resumes on the site — a job seeker can’t sign-in and check out their competition. Job seekers can also set their profiles to “private” and only allow managers at jobs they have applied for to view their profiles, rather than any hiring manager. Having audio and video gives each candidate a chance to be heard, Shah said. “A stand alone, paper based resume is arguably the most discriminating component of the hiring process today. We all know that job seekers are much more than what an 8.5 by 11 piece of paper can represent. And if that is all that employers ask for, candidates may be disqualified for a number of reasons — for example, like the school that they may have attended,” he said. “When you integrate video and audio into the hiring process, you give every applicant an equal opportunity to be seen and heard by an employer. As a result, employers often report that they hire candidates that they may have otherwise overlooked.” Hiring managers will be able to posts links to GetHired, along with job descriptions, and refer job seekers to their site where employers can manage all applicants in one place. Right now, Monster and Career Builder are the most popular, general job-seeking sites. Recruiters have long used social networking sites to hire and check out candidates, but could GetHired be another tool in their arsenal? What do you think about GetHired.com? Will you use it? For what purpose? Tell us in the comments. Image courtesy of iStock and Bim. More About: career, employer, employment, hiring, job seekers For more Business coverage:
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| 20 TV Shows With the Most Social Media Buzz This Week [CHART] Posted: 30 Jan 2012 08:02 PM PST Even though President Obama didn’t much address tech or social media during the State of the Union, the event sure stoked the social media channels. Twitter alone saw 760,000 tweets related to the State of the Union. Additional social chatter propelled that number to 2.1 million mentions, according to Trendrr. Furthermore, CNN’s Florida Republican Presidential Debate socially outpaced all other ranked television shows by a long haul. But a couple of shows made the social TV cut for the first time, namely, American Dad and CSI: Miami. Care to explain, fans? The data below is compliments of our friends at Trendrr, who measure specific TV show activity (mentions, likes, checkins) across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue and Miso. To see daily rankings, check out Trendrr.TV.   Image courtesy of iStockphoto, narvikk More About: features, Social Media, social tv, social tv charts, Trendrr, TV For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Twitter CEO: We Are Not Censoring the Web Posted: 30 Jan 2012 07:57 PM PST   Twitter CEO Dick Costolo took the stage at AllThingsD‘s media conference in Laguna Nigel, CA, Monday evening to defend the company’s new censorship policies. Twitter announced last week that it would begin censoring tweets in certain countries to comply with local laws. The move sparked outrage among many users, who gathered under the hashtag #TwitterBlackout and pledged to boycott the service on January 28. But as Costolo argued on stage — and my colleague Josh Catone pointed out last week — Twitter’s new policies allow for greater freedom of speech on the platform. Previously, when a government demanded that Twitter remove a tweet or block a user, access to that content would be blocked from the entire world. Now, Twitter can hide the tweet or user from that individual country, but allow the rest of the world to see it. “There’s been no change in our stance or attitude or policy with respect to content on Twitter,” Costolo said. “What we announced is a greater capability we now have. Now, when we are issued a valid legal order in a country in which we operate, such as a DMCA takedown notice, we are able to leave the content up for as many people around the world as possible, while still operating within the local law. You can’t operate in these countries and choose the laws you want to abide by.” “Is there a way you could work outside the law? Say ‘Iran, we’re not going to censor?’” Kafka suggested. “We don’t proactively go do anything,” said Costolo. “This is purely a reactive capability to what we determine to be a valid and applicable legal order in a country in which we operate. We’re fully blocked in Iran and China. And I don’t see the current environment in either country being one in which we could go and operate anytime soon.” “We want to run Twitter as transparently as possible,” Costolo added. This is the actual thoughtful and honest approach to doing this.” More About: AllThingsD, dick costolo, Twitter For more Social Media coverage:
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| Giants? Patriots? Mobile and Social to Win Super Bowl XLVI Posted: 30 Jan 2012 07:32 PM PST   The New York Giants and New England Patriots face off for gridiron glory this Sunday in Super Bowl XLVI. But the game’s real winners could be social networks and mobile technologies — as well as the marketers who best leverage those platforms. A look back at how fans engaged with last year’s game provides an interesting insight into the huge role that social and mobile now play in people’s Super Bowl experience. The analysis comes from a recent study by digital marketing agency iProspect, which has worked with a list of sports-related clients including Adidas, Under Armour, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Finish Line. Dawn Zencka, iProspect’s vice president of strategic insights, connected with Mashable to go over some of her team’s findings and dissect a bit of what it all means. But first, here are some of iProspect’s numbers that most jumped out at us:
“The point is becoming that there’s a much bigger opportunity than just buying ads during the game itself,” Zencka said. With 30-second Super Bowl slots going for $3.5 million this year, Zencka said, brands may want to get more value for their money by finding ways to target fans’ heavy mobile use and social presence. Examples could include commercials that spread virally on YouTube in addition to their broadcast slots, as well as marketing campaigns that encourage simple consumer interaction. “People have to do something while the teams are in the huddle or during timeouts, so their phones are a good activity,” Zencka said. Facebook and Twitter have been recognized for some years now as conversation hubs during major live events like the Super Bowl and Academy Awards. But with mobile tablets and smartphones proliferating as consumers’ tech of choice, Zencka said that marketers will “absolutely” need to think beyond broadcast more and more. “As we see the growth in mobile devices continue, it’s going to be very interesting to see how it all plays out with marketers getting more savvy,” she said. How do you think brands can best leverage sports fans’ mobile and social emphasis? What are some of the best campaigns you’ve seen to date? Let us know in the comments. More About: Facebook, Mobile, Super Bowl XLVI, Twitter For more Business coverage:
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| 6 Ways to Give Your App a Leg Up on the Competition Posted: 30 Jan 2012 06:44 PM PST   Paul Baldwin is the chief marketing officer of Outfit7 Inc., a subsidiary of Out Fit 7 Ltd, the leading entertainment app developer. Paul has more than 17 years of experience developing, marketing and monetizing digital entertainment content. Spend a few minutes browsing through both the Android and Apple app stores and it’s easy to see the fierce competition for user attention. The number of apps has grown to more than 1 million, each vying for downloads and market share. The app development world is still very top-heavy, with a very small percentage of developers controlling the majority of downloads and revenue. But that in no way means that a newcomer can’t build a successful app that captures the hearts and minds of consumers, and becomes the next big thing. Since the app stores themselves control which apps are elevated and highlighted, how can you ensure your app gets time in the spotlight and the attention it deserves? Here are six tips drawn from experience. 1. Focus on ProductThe best way to get your app noticed is to build a unique and engaging product. Although that’s an article all on its own, let’s sum it up in a few key points. Know your exact market and who you’re competing against. This will help you understand your target user — what he expects and likes and who else is offering apps to him. Great apps are also usually the first in their category, or apps that completely reinvent existing categories. A big sign that you have a great app is when you start seeing copycat apps. Embrace them and use them as motivation to continue. Another element that great apps have in common is fun. You want to make your app something that users will come back to again and again, rather than a one-time, disposable thrill. Whether that means creating lovable characters or tapping into the human desire to compete, remember to deliver fun the first time and every time after. Also, great apps are simple. No user guides should be necessary to participate, and there should be nothing to “figure out” from a user standpoint. They are intuitive and immediately easy to grasp. Finally, the last big hallmark of a phenomenal app product is the ability for users to make the app personal through customization features. Today’s app audience is constantly wondering what’s in it for them. Allow them to make it theirs and they’ll more likely become instantly enamored. 2. Allow Users to Engage Others with Your AppThese days, more developers are using social media as part of the app as a major key to its success. Your customers’ word-of-mouth multiplies your network a hundred times over without costing you a dime, so be sure to put mechanisms in place that allow users to talk about the app and share experiences with friends. For example, if your app enables users to create fun videos, make sure they can share those videos with others. This type of direct experience sharing will go a long way in spreading the word about your app. Caveat: Don’t “over-viralize” your app with too many social features that don’t make sense. 3. Get Media and Blogger Attention: Make It SimpleMedia attention and especially reviews of your app can really help to spread recognition. To get that kind of attention, though, you have to have a solid app to begin with, a great story around your app, and it absolutely must be easy to talk about. The tendency is to come up with the most ingenious, compelling app, filled with loads of features but none that really stand out. This is called "feature creep" and usually spells disaster. Remember, the launch is just the beginning. Successful apps are always adding new content months after launch. If reporters and bloggers (and users for that matter) have a hard time explaining what your app is, what it does or why they like it, they’re less likely to talk about your app. Keep version one simple. To make your app easier for media to cover, provide materials like press kits, beta codes (if necessary) and reviewer guides. It also helps to identify technology and pop culture trend stories that your app can fit into. 4. Continue Your Marketing EffortsWhen your app launches, you’ll definitely want to have a marketing strategy in place to seize your launch window of opportunity, but it’s also important to continue marketing long after launch. Many developers find pre-launch strategies helpful for grabbing attention. This includes creating a “coming soon” page that teases your app a bit, collecting emails for those interested in the first look, and even extending first invites to target publication audiences. Make sure you exhaust every "co-marketing" opportunity out there with other app developers. Some major publishers will trade their app installs for your app installs. Everybody is in the same boat, in the same huge ocean of apps. You might be surprised to find that other developers are more than happy to participate in reciprocal marketing. The important thing to remember is that app marketing windows are perpetual, meaning you should establish marketing vehicles that you can trigger at your discretion over long periods of time. That means plan, plan, plan. 5. Use AnalyticsWhen developing apps, you have all kinds of data at your fingertips to evaluate how your app is being received. Use analytics to monitor your ranking and as a marketing tool. Become a student of the Android and iOS category rankings (e.g., entertainment vs. games). Each category has its own nuances for determining “top” rankings, so be sure to evaluate each one. Understand why the app moved up in the rankings in order to iterate and improve your own ranking over time. Additionally, if you have a good sense of what is moving the bar for your app, you can also learn from what the top developers are doing. More importantly, in my opinion, is that you leverage the wealth of analytics available from your app to make your app better over time. Not only will the data help you iterate and improve your app from a technical standpoint, but it will also allow you to create the right content to which users connect. Once the app is live, analyze the data to update your release schedule and product roadmap. You can also learn when your customers are willing to "rate your app" or be pitched another app in your portfolio. Analytics can shed light on how frequently you should attempt to cross-sale or suggest another item for purchase. 6. Prepare for SuccessThis tip may seem a little strange at first — who wouldn’t be thinking about success? But in reality, many apps start strong then fade and fizzle. Preparing for success is as much about your product as it is about the team behind it. It’s crucial to structure your team in a way that supports hyper growth. It’s good to rely on a more fluid and dynamic network of expertise and project teams than a rigid structure. Think of your app as a brand that will enable you to leverage brand extension opportunities. Build your apps to welcome future cross-promotion opportunities, rather than intrusions on the user experience. The best way to prepare for app success is to constantly focus on keeping your users engaged. Give them more than just product updates once they’ve downloaded and become fans of your app. Give them instant fun, addictive experiences that they will want to share with friends. Whatever your secret sauce is or has been, be sure to nurture it to keep your users wanting more — and deliver your app in a way that surpasses user expectations. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, svariophoto, Flickr, ItzaFineDay More About: android, apple, contributor, developers, features, Marketing, Mobile, mobile apps
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| Patriots Player Uses Spotify, Facebook to Share Pre-Super Bowl Mix Posted: 30 Jan 2012 06:06 PM PST   Ever wonder what athletes blast in their headphones to get hyped before big games? Well, wonder no more thanks to a Facebook post by New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley. “Super Bowl Pre-Game Mix!!” Ridley wrote on his Facebook wall on Monday, accompanying a 12-track Spotify playlist. Ridley’s New England Patriots face the New York Giants on Sunday in Super Bowl XLVI. Ridley is active on Facebook and Twitter, frequently interacting with fans and posting reflective updates like, “Fake friends will never ask for food. Real friends are the reason you never have any…” But his Spotify playlist offered a unique window inside a professional athlete’s life. Now let’s take a closer look at what gets an NFL gladiator pumped for the biggest game of his career. The mix is all hip-hop. A decade-old song by Outkast — “So Fresh, So Clean” — is the one relative classic. It joins more recent tracks by artists including Rick Ross, Drake and Wale. Up first is “You The Boss,” in which Nicki Minaj repeatedly tells Ross that he is, in fact, the boss. Ross confirms that multiple times in the verses, at one point mentioning that he has 40 cars. In the playlist’s second song, Jay-Z offers that he “balls so hard mother****ers wanna fine me.” In the third song, “Legendary,” Wale reveals that his “only fear is mediocrity” and that he’s just “trying to be legendary.” It shouldn’t be a surprise if you’re sensing a theme of ambition and success here. Ridley’s list is short on introspection and emotional tenderness. But would you listen to anything else if you were preparing to butt helmets with the Giants’ fearsome defensive line? You’d probably want to feel more like Kanye West when he asks rhetorically in the mix’s eighth song, “Who gonna stop me? Who gonna stop me, huh?” Ridley’s Spotify playlist includes only edited versions of the songs. But we doubt that the censored tracks are what Ridley will actually be nodding his head to for a pre-Super Bowl lift. Did you enjoy seeing what an NFL player listens to to get hyped up? What would you include on your pre-game playlist? Let us know in the comments. BONUS GALLERY: Who to follow on Twitter for the Super Bowl XLVI scoop1. @SuperBowl2012 The official account of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee is a must-follow for fans going to the game. It will function as one of several channels directing fans to entertainment venues and addressing logistical concerns from the committee's social meda command center. Click here to view this gallery. Image courtesy of Stevan Ridley’s Facebook profile More About: Facebook, spotify, Super Bowl XLVI
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| Clear To Do App Has Some Surprising Design Inspirations Posted: 30 Jan 2012 05:51 PM PST   It’s increasingly difficult to build buzz around new mobile application studios, especially when the first app on deck is something thousands of others have attempted, like a “To Do” app. Yet that’s exactly what Phill Ryu and David Lanham, the two masterminds behind Impending, Inc. have managed to do. Ryu and Lanham are longtime members of the Mac and iOS development communities. Ryu’s past projects include MacHeist, The Heist and his work at tap tap tap. Lanham is a visual designer and artist, creator of the famed Twitterrific icon and is well-known for his work at the Iconfactory. Last week, the pair formally launched Impending, their new app venture, alongside a teaser for their first app, Clear. Clear is a new to-do list app for iPhone and iPod touch that they’re developing in conjunction with the team at Realmac Software. So why is Clear getting so much buzz? Check out the teaser video that has already racked up 312,000 plays in just four days: Clear features a unique new UI and interaction scheme that raises the bar for mobile apps. I’ve been beta testing it and can attest that the video is an accurate reflection of the overall experience. We had a chance to talk to Phill Ryu about Impending, his plans for the future and the design inspirations for Clear. On His Future at Tap Tap Tap“Well you know, John and Scott and I are still good friends and I am still a partner at tap tap tap. But there’s no question Impending is my focus right now. I think you will see some really cool stuff out of tap tap tap and maybe even some neat things in collaboration, but Impending is definitely the place for me and David to work on some more personal projects. Tap Tap Tap is its own steam engine right now and David and I want to take a break in a slightly different direction, and you are going to see some really cool things come out of it.” Design InspirationWhat separates Clear from the crowded space of to-do list apps is its design and overall user interface. According to Ryu, the Impending team was influenced by Push Pop Press’s work on the Our Choice app, Loren Brichter’s work with Tweetie and Microsoft’s Metro UI. On the subject of Push Pop Press, a company Facebook acquired in August, Ryu tells us: “They did some amazing things there, and you can see a lot of its influence in Clear’s lack of UI chrome and reliance on intuitive 1:1 touch and dragging interactions. And of course you can see an even more literal inspiration in iBooks textbooks.” One of Push Pop’s engineers was Austin Sarner, who Ryu describes as becoming “completely obsessed with springs” thanks to his work on a proprietary physics engine while at Push Pop. It just so happens that Sarner is also one of Ryu’s roommates and was able to provide his own feedback on the app. Another developer who inspired Clear was Loren Brichter. Brichter created the iPhone app Tweetie. In 2010, he sold Tweetie to Twitter and the app became the official iPhone client. Brichter was also responsible for Twitter for iPad and Twitter for Mac. Over time we pushed away from it to settle in our own sweet spot of fit and form and function, but you can see parts of it there, and we’re proud of it. Metro is great. Clear is just better. Although Brichter left Twitter in late 2011, his influence is still visible in many parts of the site and in the new version of the iPhone app. Brichter’s greatest impact on the wider iOS developer ecosystem was the invention of “pull-to-refresh.” Ryu calls Brichter “a creative thunder ball” and pays homage to the developer in his app. “In Clear,” Ryu explains “we have a color heatmap that shows your item priorities. Well, sometimes you need to put in an item in the middle of the list, and to do that in our app you just pinch the list apart, and in pops a new item. That’s our homage to pull-to-refresh. We call it pinch-to-insert.” Perhaps the most surprising influence is Microsoft and its Metro UI. According to Ryu, Clear co-creator Dan Counsell’s first UI mockup of Clear was “a more directly Metro inspired visual style.” “Over time,” says Ryu “we pushed away from it to settle in our own sweet spot of fit and form and function, but you can see parts of it there, and we’re proud of it. Metro is great. Clear is just better.” Ryu has an open invitation to anyone on the Metro team to the Clear beta. Ultimately, Ryu says that the goal with Clear was to “build on the shoulders of some of the best parts of our favorite cutting edge interface designs” and to “add our own stuff where it made perfect elegant sense.” The net result, according to Ryu, is “something truly from the future.” From my time with the app, Clear has a great look and more importantly, a great user interface. We look forward to seeing what Clear and the Impending team have planned for the future. More About: clear, david lanham, impending, interview, mobile app development, phill ryu, todo list For more Mobile coverage:
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| When Apple’s Siri Met the Flaming Lips [AUDIO] Posted: 30 Jan 2012 05:07 PM PST Alt-rock band the Flaming Lips samples everyone’s favorite iPhone-based personal assistant, Siri, in its new song, “Now I Understand.” The iPhone 4S’s personal assistant makes up one vocal track of the song, repeating “Wayne,” (Wayne Coyne, the band’s lead singer, isn’t featured), “I don’t understand” and “the moon, the stars and the sun” during the first half of the track. The Queen of Neo-Soul, Erykah Badu, sings the hook of the track, while the Lips themselves make provide the instrumentals. Apparently, rapper Biz Markie is also in the track, though we couldn’t hear him. The lips are making the song available for one week only on SoundCloud. The Flaming Lips are known for being forward-thinking with their music. Last February, the band released a song that could only be heard by playing 12 YouTube videos simultaneously. It followed up by releasing new tracks via USB sticks embedded in candy gummi skulls. Siri’s distinctive voice has already made its way into a number of YouTube songs and duets — including this gem — but this is the first time we can recall hearing Siri in a track from a well known band. What do you think of the track and the way the Flaming Lips are distributing it via SoundCloud? Let us know in the comments. [via Slate] More About: apple, flaming-lips, siri, soundcloud, The-Flaming-Lips For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Codecademy is 1 Million Strong and Launching a Teacher Tool Posted: 30 Jan 2012 04:47 PM PST   Codecademy hasn’t had much trouble attracting people who want to learn how to code — it has been used by more than 1 million people and signed up more than 100,000 people for its New Years resolution class alone, including the New York City mayor. Now it’s hoping to have the same success attracting teachers. The startup announced Monday that it is launching a course creator tool. Anyone can use the tool to make a game-like coding lesson of their own. According to the company, more than two thousand people have already signed up for the beta version via a link on the website. Founder Zach Sims tells Mashable the idea emerged early on when the site received emails from both coding professionals who offered their expertise and learners who lamented the site’s limited lesson offerings. “It seemed natural to better connect the two groups,” he said. All user-created classes will receive a custom URL that can be shared with the creator’s friends and networks. The startup has hired a full-time employee to screen content that has been submitted for inclusion on the main Codecademy site. The latter group of courses will solve a problem that Codecademy faced with its quick growth. Lessons are currently restricted to JavaScript. Now the site will quickly expand to Python and Ruby on Rails, and it can leverage specific expertise in each of those areas rather than relying on one team of coders to create content for every language. “You get the best class for each subject,” Sims says, “not just one authoritative source.” Coders are already sharing their knowledge through free tutorials and blogs, and Sims thinks the promise of recognition and a large audience will be enough to lure them to Codecademy while keeping their courses free. Are you a coder? Does the idea of creating a course for Codecademy appeal to you? Let us know in the comments. More About: Codecademy, coding For more Business coverage:
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| Microsoft Begins Private Preview of Office 15 Posted: 30 Jan 2012 04:19 PM PST   Microsoft says it’s started a private preview program of the next version of Office to a “select group” of customers. Going far beyond just refining and enhancing existing applications, the next version of Microsoft Office, codenamed “Office 15,” will unite the software suite with the company’s cloud and mobile platforms. Announcing the move in a blog post, Microsoft says this is the first time the next version of Office will be seen by anyone outside the company, though it didn’t identify any of its partners for the technical preview and mentions that they’re all bound by non-disclosure agreements. Microsoft says its sales team nominated the participants, and they represent a broad range of industries and customer profiles. Microsoft says Office 15 will be the “most ambitious undertaking” ever by the company’s Office Division. This version will simultaneously update Office software for the PC, mobile, cloud services and servers. It’ll provide new versions of:
The integration on cloud services and mobile apps has clearly been a priority for Microsoft. The company has been pushing its software deeper into mobile, recently releasing apps for SkyDrive, OneNote and Bing on multiple platforms, including iOS. Microsoft is also quick to point out that it offers 25 GB of storage on its SkyDrive cloud-storage system, or about five times what similar services typically offer (e.g. Dropbox). So when will the rest of us get our hands on Office 15 (or whatever it ends up being called)? Microsoft isn’t telling, though it says the software will enter public beta this summer. It’s likely it won’t see general release until Windows 8 hits stores first. Windows 8 is Microsoft’s wholesale revamp of its core operating system — adding things like a new user interface and touchscreen integration — and Office 15 is the first version of the software suite designed for the new Windows. However, Microsoft says it will also work with Windows 7. Excited about a new Office for Windows 8? Or have you already switched to other services like Google Docs? Tell us which camp you’re in via the comments. More About: bing, Excel, microsoft, microsoft office, office, Office 15, Office 2012, OneNote, powerpoint, SkyDrive, word
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| Obama: Protect The ‘Fundamental Integrity’ of the Internet Posted: 30 Jan 2012 04:11 PM PST President Barack Obama called for the protection of intellectual property rights in a Google+ hangout Monday evening, but said such protection must be done “in a way that’s consistent with Internet freedom.” Obama was replying to a question submitted over YouTube about his stance on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which currently lies dormant in the House of Representatives. SOPA (and its sister bill in the Senate, PROTECT IP Act, or PIPA) was the target of a coordinated Internet blackout protest in mid-January. Days after the online protest, both SOPA and PIPA were shelved indefinitely. Obama cited American intellectual property as an important export, while also saying America needs to be careful to protect the “fundamental integrity of the Internet as an open and transparent system.” The Google+ hangout was the culmination of a digitally-intensive week for the White House that was centered around Jan. 24′s State of the Union address. White House officials, including Vice President Joseph Biden, were taking questions live over Twitter throughout the week. According to Steve Grove, head of community partnerships for Google+, over 135,000 people submitted questions to the hangout. Google and YouTube selected the questions based on the number of votes each question received by other users throughout the past few days. Grove also said that neither President Obama nor Macon Phillips, the White House’s director of new media, knew the selected questions in advance. The Obama administration previously made its anti-SOPA position public in a blog post responding to a We The People petition. Other topics the president discussed during his Google+ hangout includes the use of unmanned drones, the economy and education. Image courtesy of The White House More About: barack obama, internet, PIPA, SOPA
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| Android Users Most Likely to Use Phones While in the Bathroom Posted: 30 Jan 2012 03:58 PM PST   Can’t part with your phone even when you’re in the bathroom? You’re in good company. About 75% of Americans admit they use their phones in the bathroom, according to a new study. A report by marketing agency 11mark found that three in four people are texting, emailing and even talking on the phone while in the bathroom. In fact, about 25% of Americans said they always bring their phone into the restroom. However, the survey — conducted among 1,000 Americans — revealed that Android users are slightly more likely to use their phones in the bathroom compared to other device owners. About 87% of Android users have used their phone while going to the bathroom compared with 84% of BlackBerry users and 77% of iPhone users. Meanwhile, BlackBerry owners (75%) are most likely to answer a call in the bathroom, compared with 67% of Android and 60% of iPhone users. As for accessing social networks and apps in the bathroom, Android and iPhone users come out on top. “The writing is on the stall,” Nicole Burdette of 11mark said in a statement. “This study confirms what we all know — that the last private place is no longer private. And that the ‘mobile-everywhere’ phenomenon is flushing out a host of new opportunities for savvy communicators.” Not surprisingly, millennials (91%) are most likely to use their phones while in the restroom. However, older generations aren’t too far behind — about 80% of Gen X mobile users said they use the phone in the bathroom, as well as 65% of baby boomers. The study also revealed that both men (74%) and women (76%) almost equally confess that they have used their phone while in the bathroom. However, men admit to doing more work from there, as 20% have made work-related calls from the bathroom, compared to 13% of women. Texting was the most popular phone-related bathroom activity, as 67% have read texts. About 38% have surfed the Internet from the bathroom. Do you think it’s socially acceptable to use the phone in the bathroom now? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, svariophoto More About: android, apps, blackberry, iphone, Mobile
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| Behind the Scenes of Twitter’s No-Cost Viral Recruiting Video Posted: 30 Jan 2012 03:52 PM PST   Twitter’s viral job recruitment video took the web by storm over the weekend, already gaining nearly half a million views — and it didn’t cost the company a dime. “We spent zero dollars on this film, using only existing equipment,” explain the video makers and members of Twitter’s corporate design team, Jeremy Briggs and Ian Padgham. Also involved was Olivia Watkins, a member of the recruiting team. According to Twitter, Briggs brought in his old camera from home for the low-quality scenes and Padgham drew the featured picture of CEO Dick Costolo on a whiteboard in a conference room. Everyone participating in the video actually works at Twitter. “I think the project really embodied the team spirit essence of #Hackweek,” Padgham says. The video was one of many projects derived from a week-long event at Twitter where employees stepped away from their desks to come up with ways to enhance the company. Nearly 100 teams participated in this year’s Hack Week. “Recruiting videos are the worst,” Padgham explains. “Jeremy and I decided to make the worst possible video ever, since there was no way to make a good one. Knowing that #HackWeek was coming up, we wanted to have fun and embrace the awesome creative environment you find at Twitter.” In 2010, Twitter created a recruiting video (also under Briggs’ assistance) in a similar cheesy style, which was designed to pay tribute to Wes Anderson’s film, Rushmore. Although it’s too early to say what the outcome is for Twitter’s employment, the video has definitely grabbed the web’s attention. While Twitter is known to be a mega fanbase for Justin Bieber, it looks like his people are fond of Twitter too.
“We have been blown away by the positive reaction on almost all of our channels — tweets, YouTube and Facebook comments, and even Google+ posts,” Padgham and Briggs say. “Even the guy who makes Justin Bieber’s videos wants to work at Twitter now.” More About: features, humor, Recruiting, Twitter, Video, viral videos
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| Syrian Hactivisits Attack Al Jazeera English Posted: 30 Jan 2012 03:43 PM PST   Syrian pro-government hacktivists attacked Al Jazeera English‘s website Sunday, in response to the news organization’s “Syria Live Blog,” which reports on the Arab League’s observer mission to Syria. Visitors to Al Jazeera English’s blog saw a picture of President Bashar al Assad over a Syrian flag, which read, “You got hacked again by the Syrian Electronic Army. We want Bashar al-Assad.” Despite the foreign image, the hack had no apparent impact on the site’s content. The hackers, who call themselves the Syrian Electronic Army, describe themselves as follows: “We are a group of enthusiastic Syrian youths who could not stay passive towards the massive distortion of facts about the recent uprising in Syria, and this distortion is carried out by many Facebook pages that deliberately work to spread hatred and sectarian intolerance between the peoples of Syria to fuel the uprising.” Previous Syrian Electronic Army hacks include Harvard University’s website and YourAnonNews‘s Tumblr, following an attack against the Syrian Ministry of Defense website. The group keeps the Harvard University logo on its website, like a trophy of its conquest, suggesting it’s more interested in proving its hacking know-how than performing a hack which is actually destructive. The AJE blog tends to emphasize the violent nature of Assad’s regime — with updates such as “UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Sunday that President Bashar al-Assad must end the killings in his country” and “At least 66 people, including 26 civilians, were killed in violence across Syria on Sunday” — so it makes sense that the blog would be a prime target for pro-government hacktivists. Ars Technica says a post about casualties reported by the Local Coordinating Committees drove the hack, which began around 1:30 p.m. ET. Ars points out that, while the Syrian Electronic Army’s connection to the government is unclear, the hacker group’s web page is hosted by the Syrian Computer Society, which Assad led prior to becoming president. Access to news from Syria is incredibly difficult because the government restricts foreign journalists. News reports are often derived from uploaded videos shot on mobile phones. Do you think cyber warfare is the next platform for the conflict in Syria? Let us know in the comments if you find this hack threatening. More About: al jazeera, hacktivism, Syria
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| How Mobile Games Leapt From Cult to Cultural Phenomenon Posted: 30 Jan 2012 03:37 PM PST   Although they’re played on small devices, mobile games are becoming a huge deal — and they’re not just confined to smartphones anymore. Games like Doodle Jump and Pocket God were some of the first to expand into multimedia and merchandise markets. And Angry Birds has become ubiquitous enough that retailer Barnes & Noble celebrated National Angry Birds Day at stores in December 2011, hosting scavenger hunts and merchandise sales. How is it that these games, which sell for less than a cup of coffee, and in some instances are even free, can reach so far? Primarily, it’s because they’re cheap, and therefore, are able to more easily hook players. A console game that costs 60 times as much will have a higher barrier of entry, and therefore, won’t be as likely to achieve mainstream success. A game like Temple Run, which will expand to Android in February, earns 7 million players on a daily basis. This exceeds most any other major console or PC title; only an extremely popular franchise like Call of Duty can even come close to that kind of user base. That lower barrier of entry is precisely why more people get hooked, and how games can start to reach mainstream acceptance. Furthermore, people are able to carry smartphone-friendly games in their pockets, purses and backpacks. Often these games accompany people’s spare time and commutes. Players develop a positive attachment to mobile games, and are more likely to purchase associated t-shirts, plush toys and even media spinoffs. So what else contributes to a mobile game’s success? One of the earliest titles to reach mainstream acceptance, Doodle Jump, was referenced on The Big Bang Theory, one of the most-watched shows in the U.S. Pocket God achieved popularity through its frequent updates — weekly, at its peak — and has introduced an accompanying comic book series and figurines. FarmVille, a game that started on Facebook before going mobile, has talked about a movie based on the game. But the poster child for mobile games achieving broad cultural reach is Angry Birds. It’s the game that celebrities tweet about being addicted to, and the game that continues to top the iOS charts two years after its original release. You’ll commonly find Angry Birds merchandise in retail stores — Rovio even opened up an Angry Birds retail store in Finland that immediately turned a profit. Although many of these games get started on the iPhone, they are quickly spreading to other platforms, like Android. Angry Birds is also available on computers, and has been used by Google to promote its Chrome web browser. The game is also available on the PSP and PS3, where it has topped sales charts for multiple months. Cut the Rope also expanded to Android, and has been developed in HTML5 to help promote Internet Explorer. Fruit Ninja made its way to Kinect, and has sold over 739,000 copies to-date. Not surprisingly, becoming involved in the mobile gaming industry can pay off big time. Chillingo, the company that published the original Angry Birds under their Clickgamer label, and later published Cut the Rope, was later bought out by EA for $20 million.
What’s next for these superstar mobile games? While they continue to dominate the charts, other games are emerging as contenders. Disney’s Where’s My Water? has earned a solid spot in the top iPhone and Android charts. Disney’s established global presence and retail chains are an existing springboard for merchandise sales. Temple Run, developed by the husband-and-wife team at Imangi Studios, could be on the road to app megastardom as well. The game’s already massive player base will likely expand in the next few months as the game releases on Android — and the merchandising possibilities are already there. Evil monkey plush toys? No-brainer. Where would you like to see mobile gaming expand in the future? Do you think some games and developers have a better chance than others? Sound off in the comments below. BONUS: 10 Ways Angry Birds Is Taking Over the World1. Smartphone Apps Where the revolution began: Angry Birds first released the game onto Apple's iOS in December 2009. Click here to view this gallery. More About: angry birds, cut the rope, Entertainment, farmville, features, Gaming, mobile apps, mobile gaming
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| Arrivals for Foursquare Displays Check-ins on Old-Style Airport Board Posted: 30 Jan 2012 03:29 PM PST   Tired of Foursquare‘s busy roll of check-ins? A new app cuts out all the clutter and shows you exactly where your friends have arrived. Arrivals for Foursquare is an app based on a concept developed by Toby Barnes for his eight-year-old son to keep track of him while on business trips. Originally called “Where’s Dad?”, the web-based program was made to display Barnes’ current locations based on check-ins. The updates were shown directly on the screen of a spare iPhone he gave his son and were designed to look like an arrivals board from an airport. Similarly, Arrivals features an at-a-glance display, so anyone can view Foursquare check-ins of friends on a split-flap screen inspired by old-time airport arrivals boards, complete with sound effects of changing split flaps. The Arrivals app conveys where your friends are without a time stamp, city, country or the names of friends. It simply displays the name of the venue in which the person checked-in and their Foursquare profile picture. “My son often asks where I am when I am out of the country for business,” Barnes, a digital products designer and strategist based in Nottingham, U.K., told Mashable. “We didn’t want to give him access to a Twitter or his own computer.” He loaded the program onto an old iPhone that would sat in a glass box on his son’s wall, connected to the house’s Wi-Fi network, so that updates would be automatic. “He hears a click-clack and will know I checked in somewhere,” said Barnes, who will often check-in at airports or train stations upon arrival. “As we were developing it, we started to think it would be useful to see where friends are. If you see friends have checked into a pub around the corner, you could go and meet them.” People can use their old devices in this way by connecting the Arrivals website to Foursquare and running it as a native application. Since it’s web-based, anyone can access Arrivals on their Kindle, iPad or any mobile device. Arrivals was an attempt to truly display where friends are with a more clear and non-intrusive display, said Dan Williams, the web app’s developer. Williams uses Foursquare to solely check-in, but gets updates about the location of friends on Instagram and Twitter, rather than Foursquare itself. “The idea is that if it sits passively on my desk, always visible, I can keep up with what’s happening,” he said. “The intention is to be calm, unobtrusive and pretty. It’s not much different to a screensaver or an executive desk toy.” As to why Barnes went with an split-flab display, he says: “I have always been in love with the physical haptic change of a split-flap display. You can do a lot with it. It is something that is very subtle and really can aesthetically sit in the background and change.” Would you consider displaying your friends’ Foursquare check-ins on a digital arrivals board? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Image courtesy of Flickr, Dan Williams. More About: foursquare, iphone, Startups, Tech, web applications
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| Apple Introduces New Reservation System for iPhone Purchases in China [VIDEO] Posted: 30 Jan 2012 03:24 PM PST When the iPhone 4S first became available at Apple stores in China earlier this month, pandemonium ensued. Now, Apple has revealed a new way of hopefully safely being able to sell Apple’s newest mobile phone in the country. In mid-January, gangs of scalpers reportedly began fighting while waiting for the Apple store in Hong Kong to open. When an employee announced with a bullhorn that the the store wouldn’t open because it could be unsafe for employees, unhappy shoppers yelled and threw eggs. Apple’s new process could keep the chaos to a minimum. Hong Kong shoppers can reserve an iPhone at a new website between 9 a.m. and noon. They are asked to provide contact information and government ID, and must show the matching ID when they go to the store. A lottery-like system notifies them if they’ve been issued a reservation. With these extra measures in place, Apple will be able to vet orders and should be able to limit scalping reservations. Check out the video above to learn more. China already is a major market for Apple, and it could only grow, with the iPhone 4S becoming available there. The company could move as many as 40 million iPhones in China next year, according to one analyst's prediction. [via 9to5Mac] Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Camrocker More About: apple, china, iphone, mashable video For more Mobile coverage:
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| Top Twitter Photos from the 2012 Presidential Campaign Posted: 30 Jan 2012 03:07 PM PST
All four of the remaining Republican candidates, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum have substantial followings on various social networks. While all of the remaining and past Republican candidates have consistently posted photos from the campaign trail to Twitter, only Gingrich has an official account on Instagram. Gingrich currently has 113 Instagram followers and has posted 23 photos. Most of his photos are of rallies and town hall meetings across the country. While Gingrich is the only Republican candidate with an official Instagram account, a group of Paul supporters have created their own account, “RonPaulSupporters,” which has more than 1,200 followers. Additionally, President Obama has an official staff-maintained Instagram account with 121,919 followers. Even though they are not on Instagram, the other candidates regularly share Twitter photos that provide a behind-the-scenes look at their campaigns. Candidates have posted photos of everything from crowded rallies to goofy everyday glimpses into their lives on the road. With a steady stream of Twitter photos, political candidates are another group who are a part of the mobile photo sharing boom. Of the remaining candidates, Gingrich is the most popular on Twitter by a large margin. Gingrich has attracted 1,429,889 followers. Romney (302,161 followers), Paul (219,822) and Santorum (100,697) have a significantly lower number of followers. What do you think of the Twitter photos candidates have posted? Do your think their social media presence will have any effect on election results?
Bachmann Signs A Supporter's Shirt August, 25, 2010 @TeamBachmann "Meeting w/ supporters at the St. Cloud office grand opening. Thanks for all of the support! http://yfrog.com/m9pdcj #bbt10" Click here to view this gallery. More About: instagram, obama, presidential campaign, Twitter
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| Groupon is a Star in CBS Pilot — But in the Wrong City [VIDEO] Posted: 30 Jan 2012 03:03 PM PST Working at Groupon is now cliche enough to work as the setting of a TV pilot. CBS picked up a pilot for a new sitcom called Friend Me. The conceit is about two twenty-something best friends who move from Illinois to Los Angeles to work at Groupon. The pilot, which is from From Alan Kirschenbaum (Raising Hope) and Ajay Sahgal (Nevermind Nirvana), is called Friend Me and its about two twentysomething guys who move from Illinois to Los Angeles to work at Groupon. Here’s the concept behind the show:
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| Turn Your Facebook Timeline Into a Movie Posted: 30 Jan 2012 02:58 PM PST   A browser tool launched Monday transforms content from your Facebook Timeline into a fast-paced movie. In what will surely incite a roller coaster of flashbacks, Timeline Movie Maker from marketing agency Definition 6 lets you become a filmmaker with the click of a button. Definition 6 collaborated with Facebook. After Movie Maker “parses nostalgia,” “captures your good side,” and “finds I-Remember-Whens” on your Timeline, the tool allows you to change the movie’s music and replace any image, video or check-in. Watch my reel below for an example (without the sound). Click here to create your own one-minute cinematic experience. You’ll be able to share your movie only to Facebook friends — not to subscribers. A spokesperson told Mashable Definition 6 has no plans to make the videos embeddable. I used Screenr to record my mini movie, although the music didn’t capture (trust me, the music is stellar and is a dynamic addition to the visuals). You’ll have these options for music when you create your movie.  “Timeline Movie Maker is evaluating highly engaged content in a chronological fashion, choreographing a user's personal journey on Facebook, with content that has the most engagement and uses comment analysis to identify key life moments and where the user is tagged,” says Paul Hernacki, CTO at Definition 6. “The result is a powerful example of how the synergy between technology and marketing is crucial in driving complex projects like this to life, ultimately evoking an emotional connection from the end user.” Facebook announced Jan. 24 that old profiles would be swapped out for Facebook Timeline within a weeks. What do you think of Facebook Movie Maker? Sound off in the comments. More About: Definition 6, Facebook, facebook timeline
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| Bill Would Make Cellphone Carriers Disclose Tracking Software Posted: 30 Jan 2012 02:49 PM PST   Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) released a draft of a cellphone privacy bill Monday that would require providers to tell subscribers if tracking software was installed on their mobile device. The Mobile Device Privacy Act (MDPA) is a response to the Carrier IQ controversy that exploded at the end of 2011. Under the bill, carriers would have to disclose whether or not tracking software is installed on users’ phones and, if it is, they would have to let users know exactly what data was being collected. Any downloadable apps that use tracking software would also have to get a user’s permission before collecting data. And if a carrier or app developer wanted to share that data with a third party, they would have to file the deal with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC). "Consumers have the right to know and to say no to the presence of software on their mobile devices that can collect and transmit their personal and sensitive information," said Rep. Markey. "While consumers rely on their phones, their phones relay all sorts of information about them, often without their knowledge or consent. I am concerned about the threat to consumers' privacy posed by electronic monitoring software on mobile phones, such as the software developed by Carrier IQ.” The draft bill also calls for the outlining of an “enforcement regime” to punish offenders, which would involve the FTC, FCC, State Attorneys General and “private rights to action.” Rep. Markey is a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is the co-chairman of the Congressional Privacy Caucus. Carrier IQ is software installed in mobile devices that is designed to track those devices’ performance. According to InformationWeek, the software was installed in 141 million devices in November of last year. Spring and AT&T confirmed their use of Carrier IQ, while Verizon, RIM and Nokia all denied use of the software. Apple said they removed Carrier IQ in iOS 5. Last November, Trevor Eckhart, a systems administrator from Connecticut, uploaded a video to YouTube showing that the then-mysterious Carrier IQ software was logging every keystroke and SMS message he sent or received as well as his approximate physical location. The Internet quickly blew up with allegations that carriers were using Carrier IQ to “spy” on their users. But Carrier IQ has insisted those rumors are untrue. “Carrier IQ delivers Mobile Intelligence on the performance of mobile devices and networks to assist operators and device manufacturers in delivering high quality products and services to their customers. We do this by counting and measuring operational information in mobile devices – feature phones, smartphones and tablets,” said the company in a statement issued late last year. “This information is used by our customers as a mission critical tool to improve the quality of the network, understand device issues and ultimately improve the user experience.” Want to read the draft version of the bill? It’s embedded below: Mobile Device Privacy Act — Rep. Markey 1-30-12_0 Do you think Rep. Markey’s privacy bill is a good idea? Sound off in the comments below. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ymgerman More About: Carrier IQ, cellphone, Gadgets, Tech
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| British Tourists Barred From Entering U.S. Over Tweet About ‘Destroying America’ [VIDEO] Posted: 30 Jan 2012 02:21 PM PST Leigh Van Bryan claims his tweets about “destroying America” and digging up Marilyn Monroe’s grave were jokes, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security isn’t laughing. The British man and his friend, Emily Bunting, who flew to Los Angeles for vacation, were detained and questioned by Homeland Security at the airport. Anti-terror agents held the travelers because they believed Van Bryan was going to commit crimes based on the tweets the Department of Homeland Security flagged in mid-January. “Federal agents even searched his suitcase looking for spades and shovels, claiming Emily was planning to act as Leigh’s ‘look out’ while he raided Marilyn’s tomb,” the Daily Mail reported. After five hours of interrogation and staying in holding cells overnight, Van Bryan, 26, and Bunting, 24, were sent back to England. The two must apply for visas if they wish to visit the U.S. in the future. The incident shows the U.S. government’s uptick in surveillance of social media, an effort to protect national security and identify terrorists. But it sounds like the U.S. isn’t up on Brit lingo or Family Guy quotes. “Destroy” can also mean to party or have a good time to a Brit. The Marilyn quote was in reference to a Family Guy episode, Van Bryan said. “The Homeland Security agents were treating me like some kind of terrorist,” Van Bryan told The Sun. “I kept saying they had got the wrong meaning of the tweet, but they just told me ‘You’ve really f***** up with that tweet, boy.’” Watch the video to hear more about the duo and their run in with drug smugglers. Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, SimmiSimons More About: homeland security, jail time, mashable video, terrorism, Twitter, vacation
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| The Swarm: Short Horror Film Made Entirely on Phones [VIDEO] Posted: 30 Jan 2012 02:08 PM PST
The Swarm is all about shallow breathing, heavy petting and Xperia smartphones. The short horror film, shot entirely on Sony’s Xperia Arc S phones, follows a group of (mostly) horny teenagers in London who come face to face with an otherworldly terror. The 9-minute film was directed by Tom Harper (The Scouting Book for Boys, The Borrowers) and co-written by Geoff Busetil and Daniel Kaluuya, who previously worked on the Skins TV series. Skins‘ penchant for young people and sexuality clearly bleeds into the script as the teens trounce around rural London either getting it on or hoping to (there is one story-line involving a family but otherwise it’s all teens). The use of Xperia Arc S phones gives the whole film a sort of Blair Witch, hand-held vibe with plot points captured when the protagonists naturally film themselves. The film thankfully never induces motion-sickness and there is always some logical reason for them to be filming the proceedings. It’s actually a clever bit of marketing showing the many ways the phones can be used. (Look, you can use the phones to post videos online, or create a family video, or capture fireworks or film an amateur sex tape.) It’s also, literally, a clever bit of marketing. The Swarm was created to promote the new phones as part of Sony’s Xperia Studio, a project that challenges creative types to push the limits of what Sony’s line of phones can do. Xperia Studio previously worked with an artist collective, filmed a 360-degree off-road bike run and embedded with astrophysicists in New York. For The Swarm, director Tom Harper created a special cradle for the Xperia phones for steady shots but, more often than not, just let his actors run wild and film the scenes themselves. The final product is a little shaky, but has a somewhat realistic feel. Plus, to Harper (and Sony’s) credit, there is almost no brand placement or explicit advertising in the film itself. Of course, this isn’t the first film to be shot on a smartphone. Professional and amateur directors are starting to realize that high-powered smartphones can go toe-to-toe with some of the best tech out there. Don’t buy it? Check out these 10 amazing music videos shot only using an iPhone 4. Tech will continue to improve, making projects like The Swarm less of a novelty and more of a reality. Still, despite some special effects and post-work, The Swarm is an ad-free showcase of what Sony’s phones can do. Give it a watch and let us know: Was it money well-spent? More About: Film, Video, viral-video-of-the-day For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Who’s Winning? The Most-Shared Super Bowl Ads So Far Posted: 30 Jan 2012 01:54 PM PST   We’ve just entered the Year of the Dragon, but Super Bowl 2012 is shaping up to be the Year of the Dog. No less than five of the ads featured in Unruly‘s list of Super Bowl ads with the most traction star dogs, including the early favorite — Volkswagen’s “The Bark Side.” It’s not hard to figure out why: Just like no stockbroker ever got fired for buying IBM, no chief marketing officer is going to get canned for featuring a pooch in their Super Bowl ad. Since this list only encompasses videos that have been released prior to the Super Bowl, the canine count may rise even further. There are still a few holdouts who haven’t released the complete versions of their ads yet. However, as of the Monday before the big game, there are several full ads on YouTube. Below are the ads and trailers that are getting the most shares so far. The list, as computed by Unruly, is updated every five minutes, so this is a snapshot as of Monday afternoon, Eastern Standard Time. As you can see, Matthew Broderick’s return as Ferris Bueller is giving Volkswagon’s canine chorus a run for its money. 1. "The Bark Side" (Vokswagen)Not surprisingly, the sequel to the most-shared ad of last year's Super Bowl, and of all of 2011 for that matter, is leading the pack this year. Volkswagen released this video last week showing dogs barking to the tune of Star Wars's "The Imperial March." So does that mean there will be dogs in this year's ad? More Star Wars? We'll know soon enough. Click here to view this gallery. More About: Advertising, honda, Marketing, Media, Super Bowl ads, TV, Video, volkswagen, YouTube
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| Face-Detection Program Ranks Senators with the Biggest Smiles [VIDEO] Posted: 30 Jan 2012 01:44 PM PST Adopting Face.com‘s face-detection algorithm, a new program called Congressmiles analyzes the smiles of a group of people. His guinea pigs for the project: U.S. senators. Dan Nguyen, a developer at ProPublica, created the program by incorporating the Sunlight Congress API, the Congress API for photos of individual House and Senate members, plus Face.com’s API that provided the face detection element of the new program. Face.com utilizes facial recognition technology in its API services and social tagging applications including the Photo Finder Facebook Application. Face.com program codes are available for developers to apply detection and recognition technology in new ways. “I chose senators because there is only 100 of them, they’re fairly well-known and it’s always fun to poke fun at them,” Nguyen told Mashable. “The day after I made my post, a fellow Canadian journalist did the same for his members of parliament. I could easily change my code to do the House of Representatives.” Though it was built just in the midst of political frenzy resulting from GOP presidential debates, the application shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Nguyen says he made the program to demonstrate the process of simple coding applications. “However, I do think it would be interesting to run a bunch of past official campaign photos from both losers and winners, and test for that famous claim that square-jawed, smiling candidates also enjoy better election results,” he said, among other possible variables. As for the results of this Congressmiles study, watch the video above. Considering there is a Facebook Fan page for Mitt Romney’s hair and the comments about Ron Paul’s old age at Thursday’s CNN Republication Debate in Jacksonville, a politician’s smile can say a lot to potential voters. Tell us in the comments how you could use face-detection technology. Image courtesy of Flickr, Vince Alongi More About: face detection, face.com, Politics, Video
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