Mashable: Latest 12 News Updates - including “Mashable Weekend Recap: 38 Stories You May Have Missed” |
- Mashable Weekend Recap: 38 Stories You May Have Missed
- Facebook Timeline Doesn’t Show in Internet Explorer 7
- The Year in Mashable: What It’s Like Inside a Fast Growing Media Company, And What to Expect in 2012
- Top 10 Tech This Week [PICS]
- 8 Simple Digital Tools for Scanning Documents
- What Job Seekers Need to Know in Today’s Digital Market
- OnePager, a Startup Making Websites Easy for Small Business
- 30 Best Google Doodles of 2011
- Republican Candidates Take to the Web in the Battle for Iowa
- I Resolve: My Top 5 New Year Tech Resolutions
- LG Releases Gorgeous New Pics of the World’s Largest OLED Screen
- Starting a New Year’s Resolution? Gympact Makes You Keep It or Pay
- 3 New Digital Tools For Making Connections
| Mashable Weekend Recap: 38 Stories You May Have Missed Posted: 02 Jan 2012 04:33 AM PST      While most of us shared in the revelry as the ball dropped in Times Square, some of us Mashable staffers just couldn’t stop sniffing out news, tips, features and techniques for you, our dear readers. Over this weekend, lucky for us, the news cycle kept us busy, with plenty of stories of worldwide happenings, and at the same time, many of us wrote detailed looks back at the year that passed, and made big plans for the year to come. You, of course, were probably doing something fascinating, relaxing and unique over the weekend, bringing in the new year in a style that befits an in-the-know Mashable reader. Keeping that in mind, we’ve gathered all of the stories of the weekend together for you all in one place, right here. But before we get started with our Weekend Recap, we’d like to think all of you for helping us make this a successful 2011, and wish you the happiest and most fortunate 2012. News & Opinion Essentials
Helpful Resources
Weekend Leisure
|
| Facebook Timeline Doesn’t Show in Internet Explorer 7 Posted: 02 Jan 2012 03:49 AM PST   If you don’t like Facebook Timeline, all you have to do to get rid of it is use Internet Explorer 7 – but be prepared for a buggy experience. Facebook’s latest profile redesign is not visible in IE7, and the company might soon completely phase out support for the aging browser, ZDNet suspects. It took Facebook quite a while to cut support for IE7′s ancient predecessor, Internet Explorer 6. In August 2010, Facebook had announced that its chat feature will no longer support IE6, joining many other web services which gave up on the bug-ridden browser. It seems that the same fate now awaits IE7, which currently has a market share of about 4% according to StatCounter. When you open a Facebook profile with the new Timeline feature enabled, IE7 will simply show a buggy, old version of the profile. Officially, Facebook says it recommends using the “most up to date” version of Firefox, IE, Safari or Chrome; it doesn’t however, mention support for older versions of these browsers. If the move is intentional, it’s hardly a surprising one. Once, support for older versions of browsers was an important feat for web services, especially popular ones. Nowadays – with many browsers, including IE, being automatically updated for users – there’s little reason to keep using a browser that’s more than five years old. [via ZDNet] More About: facebook timeline, IE6, IE7
            |
| The Year in Mashable: What It’s Like Inside a Fast Growing Media Company, And What to Expect in 2012 Posted: 01 Jan 2012 04:11 PM PST   2011 was Mashable‘s most successful year to date, growing to 25 million monthly unique visitors and almost 60 staff. We expanded to a spacious new office in New York and hosted 5 successful conferences. Growing a company this quickly is both challenging and a great deal of fun. What we’re most proud of over the past year is the team spirit we’ve built: Here’s a sneak peek into 2011 from inside Mashable — and some dates for your calendar in 2012. Mashable Awards Mashable's year always begins with the annual Mashable Awards at CES in Las Vegas. Click here to view this gallery. More About: mashable, New Year For more Social Media coverage:
      |
| Posted: 01 Jan 2012 03:13 PM PST 1. China's 310mph Train China is testing a 310mph super train that's so streamlined and lightweight, it can reach extremely high speeds on normal steel train tracks. It's a refinement of an existing design, making it even more likely that this train will be carrying real passengers before too long. [via DVICE] Click here to view this gallery. Even though the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day seems like it might be bereft of technological excitement, those of us at Top 10 Tech This Week discovered that is not the case. Much to our surprise, we found more techno-coolness than ever this week, with gadgetry ranging from a brand-new bullet train to twin spacecraft orbiting the moon, a zippy new smartphone, and even a bit of quirky strangeness. Strap yourselves in once again, space cadets, because it’s time for liftoff. More About: honda, iphone, samsung, steve jobs, Top 10 Tech, trending
      |
| 8 Simple Digital Tools for Scanning Documents Posted: 01 Jan 2012 02:30 PM PST
Small business and startup employees are constantly on the go. They need quick, mobile solutions for scanning, storing, organizing and sharing important documents. Eager to empty that box full of receipts? Looking for an easy and secure way to send signed documents? We’ve found eight apps and tools that seamlessly scan and file your most important documents and keepsakes. Best of all, most of them integrate with proven file hosts Dropbox and Evernote. What other tools have proved useful when scanning and integrating your own documents? 1. DocScanner One of the most universal apps out there, DocScanner works across iOS, Android and Symbian platforms. Just take a photo of a document, receipt or notebook page and email it as a PDF. Integrate with Mobile.me, Dropbox or Evernote. Price: $4.99 Click here to view this gallery. More About: features, mashable, mobile apps, scan, scanners, Small Business, web apps
      |
| What Job Seekers Need to Know in Today’s Digital Market Posted: 01 Jan 2012 01:30 PM PST   Jindrich Liska is founder and CEO of Jobmagic, a leading social recruiting platform which enables employers to hire candidates on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Jindrich has pioneered many social recruiting approaches which are now used worldwide by brands such as Disney, J.Crew and Compuware. The 2011 job market is ending on a positive note. With unemployment shrinking to a mere 8.6% — its lowest level since May 2008 — and a steadily growing economy, businesses are planning on hiring and recruiting even more as their confidence in customer demand builds. In this new, growing market, those seeking their next dream job should cultivate their presence and contacts strategically in places where employers will be on the lookout for the best talent. According to the MSU survey [PDF] of more than 3,000 companies conducted last month, social media has flourished as a burgeoning recruitment strategy, becoming a more mainstream approach for companies of all sizes and industries, even the most conservative. For job seekers, social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter have established new ways getting discovered by employers, as well as directly reaching recruiters and hiring managers. Here’s the scoop on what job seekers should know in order to be successful in today's digital job market. Your Social Media Profiles Are as Important Your Resume (If Not More Important)The MSU report asserts that 36% of companies surveyed are using social media for recruiting. In today's competitive market, recruiters look for the most current information on candidates, which is readily and easily available on social networks. Job seekers should actively include links to their complete and up-to-date Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter profiles in their applications. When creating your profiles, do not just import your resume — it often contains too much detailed information. Rather, build your profile from scratch with a concise description of your prior experience to grab a recruiter's attention. To make yourself more discoverable, search engine optimize your title and skills. Be sure to use social news streams as a dynamic extension of your traditional resume. Employers are interested in candidates who are passionate about their work. Job hopefuls should share interesting and relevant news about your industries and areas of expertise, demonstrating their knowledge and establishing yourself as an essential player in the fields. While the social news dialogue ought to maintain a professional tone, you should also reveal yourself to be a fun, authentic individual. 80% of Success is Showing upSocial media enables us to stand out, to be more noticeable, to differentiate ourselves from the masses and to tell the whole story behind and beyond a one-page resume. When contributing to your news streams and profiles, choose current topics of interest, start participating in discussions about your professional field and industry trends, and share your own hands-on tricks of the trade. Many companies are now making use of Facebook Pages that are dedicated exclusively to careers and hiring. These pages are generally run by recruiters and talent acquisition professionals that are looking to attract and hire candidates. Savvy job seekers should make use of these pages and proactively ask questions about job openings, the specifics of a company's interview process, or any upcoming career events. Responses are generally instantaneous, and you will quickly establish connections within the company. Additionally, every field has its own industry thought leaders broadcasting on Twitter. You should follow the influencers in your field, contribute to the discussion and share it with others who might be interested. Take advantage of @-mention feature to keep participants engaged and include hashtags to increase the visibility of your tweets. You should also join LinkedIn Groups related to your field or moderated by a company you are interested in. Since hiring managers are always on the lookout for team players, you should establish a reputation by sharing your opinion, answering questions and offering advice in the group discussion forums. Join specific company groups to gain additional insight and keep up on the latest hiring news. Recruiters are very active in these groups, and taking steps to establish a positive LinkedIn presence will help to assure that you get a call. Social Networks Enable Direct InteractionThere was a time when contacting recruiters on job sites and boards was difficult, and proactively reaching out to hiring managers was nearly impossible. Social media has created a culture of openness, and has all but eliminated the 'black hole' that resumes have fallen into for decades. Many companies even highlight their recruiters on job postings; not only can you contact a recruiter directly, but you can often view recruiters' and hiring managers' social media profiles before contacting them. Job seekers need to connect to recruiters who are hiring in their field and location. If you don't know them directly, subscribe to them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter to stay current on all job openings, and work towards developing a positive relationship with them. Your Networks Help You Find Jobs (and Help Employers Find You)More companies than ever are cutting their job advertising budgets, opting to channel their recruiting efforts through referral hiring. The MSU report indicates that 44% of companies use referral hiring, and 49% tap into alumni networks in order to recruit. Companies are drawing on their employee's social networks to share jobs and attract the most qualified candidates. The more extensive your personal network is, the greater your odds of encountering these unadvertised job opportunities. Grow your networks by reaching out and connecting to people with whom you have either professional or personal relationships. If you don't know the person well, begin by subscribing to their feed or ask a friend for an introduction. As in real life, opportunities can arise from any connection — a co-worker, a friend, a neighbor, etc. Many companies publish their job openings and career events on their Facebook Pages, so connect to the pages of companies that are of interest to you to start receiving active job openings in your news feed with little effort. With the economy on the mend and hiring rates rising, job seekers should not hesitate to break into the social media sphere. Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter offer an abundance of ways to connect with companies, foster your professional reputation, gain exposure to job postings, and ultimately, realize your professional aspirations. Establish your online professional brand and presence now. Your dream job is waiting for you. Social Media Job ListingsEvery week we post a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we publish a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top social media job opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!
More About: contributor, Facebook, job search series, jobs, profiles, Twitter
      |
| OnePager, a Startup Making Websites Easy for Small Business Posted: 01 Jan 2012 01:00 PM PST   This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. OnePager is a New York City-based startup that provides a simple drag-and-drop program to create a website that looks professionally developed. The company’s co-founder and designer Matthew Moore explains that the main goal of the team, whose members largely came from small-business families, was to provide a tool for businesses that otherwise didn’t have the resources to create and maintain a full-blown website. “We got a lot of requests from small business owners and people who didn’t really have the budget to work with us,” Moore explains. “They wanted to have a nice website created for themselves, so we got to thinking about doing a product.” The objective of the website can be found in its name: It provides easy, one-page websites for small businesses to fill out their hours, provide information for social media, and even invite fans to sign up for a newsletter. All of this construction is done through the company’s modular content blocks, which can be organized into single or double column layouts. The result is a straightforward yet customizable page-builder that offers the brass tacks of the company’s business. “We originally chose this direction to not focus on a particular vertical, like photographers or restaurants,” Moore says. “We wanted to have the biggest market possible.”  Moore says that the company has been relatively successful since its formal launch in August of this year, with 20,000 websites created by a variety of businesses. While the site offers full customization, users are naturally drawn to the OnePager templates, which are designed by Moore and other members of the design team. Still, he says, it’s difficult to entice businesses who have been surviving without the draw of a digital footprint. “It’s such a fragmented part of the economy, and you can do anything from Google AdWords to local advertising, so that’s a challenge to get out there and get in front of people,” Moore explains. “Small business owners are so busy and so pre-occupied” Moore says that because the tool caters to nearly every kind of small business out there, the next phase of OnePager brings some challenges. There have been talks of expansion into menu offerings and ecommerce, but the open-ended nature of the company means that there are plenty of tailored features on the table. “We’re trying to bridge the gap between small businesses and technology that can help them better achieve their business goals and make it affordable and easy to understand,” Moore says. “We’re just trying to keep learning what people want.” Do you know of a business interested in helping small business? Let us know in the comments below. More About: features, mashable, onepager, Small Business, web design For more Business coverage:
      |
| 30 Best Google Doodles of 2011 Posted: 01 Jan 2012 12:30 PM PST This year, more than ever, visiting Google’s homepage became a bit of a surprise. Google Doodles have come a long way from the first one, which showed Burning Man’s iconic logo. It’s now become customary to the search engine’s homepage, and last year, we saw many that were colorful, interactive and crazy. Here are just some of the Google Doodles of 2011. Which is your favorite? Let us know in the comments. 1. Martin Luther King Jr.   This Google Doodle, displayed Jan. 17, features a group of children playing hopscotch — an homage to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Click here to view this gallery. More About: features, Google, google doodles, Tech, trending
      |
| Republican Candidates Take to the Web in the Battle for Iowa Posted: 01 Jan 2012 11:30 AM PST
On Jan. 3, Iowa Republican caucus-goers will pick their choice for presidential nominee. One of the seven remaining candidates will move a step closer to becoming the GOP’s choice to run against President Barack Obama in 2012. What online strategies are each of the candidates using to ensure that Iowa votes their way? Mitt RomneyMitt Romney’s digital team has been hard at work in the Hawkeye State. They released a YouTube video explaining the caucus, a process known to cause confusion for first-timers. Romney is using Storify to share information about campaign stops and post behind-the-scenes pictures as he tours Iowa. The campaign is using popular services like FourSquare and Tout to engage supporters. Zac Moffatt, Romney’s digital director, said that the campaign is using data collected over 6 months to coordinate their geolocation-based digital effort. According to Moffatt, they’re using pre-roll video footage — short advertisements placed before other video content — in an effort to show Iowians how and where to caucus. Moffatt understands how to use social media and digital advertising to generate offline action. The Romney campaign has identified supporters online, and gotten them in the door to volunteer in the real world. “It’s fine for people to talk about how great social is,” said Moffatt, “but you have to leverage offline.” Ron PaulRon Paul has a huge online following, and his campaign is seeking to tap into that precious resource. Paul’s website, ronpaul2012.com, features a donation drive with the goal of raising $6 million “to win in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Nevada.” The campaign originally called for $4 million, but it upped the ante after surpassing that mark. The widget automatically shows recent donations along with donors’ names. For those in Iowa, Paul’s site provides a number to call to hit the streets and volunteer. Another system allows out-of-state Paul supporters to dial into Iowa to encourage caucus-goers to vote for Paul. Facebook users who “like” Paul’s page have been seeing an abundance of photos and links to live streams of Paul events in Iowa in their news feeds. According to The New York Times, the Paul campaign has been asking its volunteers not to tweet about their activities or share them on any other social networks, presumably for fear of providing other campaigns with sensitive insider info. Rick SantorumVisitors to Rick Santorum’s website, ricksantorum.com, will find his “Iowa Surprise Moneybomb” donation page, complete with a countdown to the Iowa caucus. Like Paul’s page, the widget also automatically increases and proudly displays the names of donors. It also offers a widget for supporters to embed on their own personal websites and encourages donors to post about their donation on social networks. His featured photos on Facebook are of a recent pheasant hunting trip in Adel, Iowa, a subtle appeal to Iowans. Santorum has been tweeting mentions of the word “Iowa” more often than other other candidate aside from Michelle Bachmann. Santorum’s digital team is still being haunted by his “Google problem.” The first hit when searching for “Santorum” isn’t a campaign website or WikiPedia article. Instead, it’s a crude joke started by columnist and gay rights activist Dan Savage in response to Santorum’s controversial comments about homosexuality made in 2003. Santorum asked Google to remove the search result this year, but Google has yet to do so. Newt GingrichNewt Gingrich’s campaign website, newt.org, asks visitors to donate and make calls. Blog posts written about campaigning in Iowa are featured on the main page, and visitors can find more about upcoming Gingrich appearances. Gingrich’s Facebook page offers many unique tabs and widgets. “Team 10,” a reference to the 10th amendment, is a unique crowdsourcing platform where users vote on which issues Gingrich should bring to the forefront of his campaign. Through these interactive features, Gingrich has built a vibrant online community of fans who interact with each other on his page. However, aside from the prompt for phone calls, blog posts and a few tweets, Newt’s online strategy doesn’t show an obvious Iowa-focused strategy. Rick PerryRick Perry’s website, rickperry.org, also opens with a donation drive and countdown to the Iowa caucus, but no tallying widget or donor shout-outs are to be found. Perry’s site offers a unique question to visitors: “Do you blog?” Bloggers who support Perry are encouraged to add Perry widgets and graphics to their personal site. The site has an “Iowa Action Center,” where visitors are greeted with a 30-second clip of Perry’s travels through the state and a call to action to get involved with the caucus. There’s a Google Map featuring Perry’s campaign bus stops, but it isn’t easily readable. Perry’s Facebook page has an “Iowa” tab, which shows users a simple “I will caucus for Rick Perry!” option along with Perry’s controversial “Strong” YouTube video. Twitter is where the Perry campaign has been fighting hardest to win support in Iowa. @TeamRickPerry started “#PizzaBomb” Thursday, asking supporters to donate slices of pizza to Perry’s “Iowa Strike Force HQ.” Michelle BachmannMichelle Bachmann’s website, michellebachmann.com, is chock-full of information about the Iowa caucus. Visitors can find out how and where to caucus and purchase a “caucus kit,” featuring campaign swag dedicated to Iowa. Bachmann is on an ambitious tour of all 99 counties in Iowa before the caucus, and she’s keeping a blog, posting videos and tweeting prolifically about the tour. Bachman’s Facebook fans have been receiving a steady stream of Iowa-related posts and can view a “Caucus Countdown” tab which lets fans sign up to caucus or volunteer for Bachmann in Iowa. Jon HuntsmanJon Huntsman is choosing largely to ignore Iowa and focus on New Hampshire instead, where a primary is scheduled for Jan. 10. Huntsman’s website and social media accounts reflect that decision. His site, jon2012.com, offers a “countdown to New Hampshire,” which encourages supporters to donate to his efforts there. The Huntsman website is unique in that it also calls on supporters to call in to talk radio shows broadcasting in New Hampshire to spread the Huntsman message. Huntsman is attempting an ongoing “Twitter Takeover,” which asks supporters to make sure Huntsman’s name is mentioned on the micro-blogging service at least 1,000 times each day. The widget on the page isn’t moderated, however, so plenty of negative tweets about Huntsman appear on his site. Will These Efforts Pay Off?Will the candidates’ online efforts make a major difference during the Iowa caucus on Jan. 3? We’ll be doing additional coverage featuring social media sentiment analysis, national polling data and caucus results early next week. More About: 2012 presidential campaign, Facebook, republicans, Twitter
      |
| I Resolve: My Top 5 New Year Tech Resolutions Posted: 01 Jan 2012 10:50 AM PST    This year is going to be different. I resolve to change my ways — at least my tech ways — and make the world a better place for me and everyone who knows me. This is my goal. These are my 2012 New Year’s resolutions. 1) No More One-Word Email Responses Email is an overwhelming digital flood that washes over virtually every part of my life. This is because it's always with me: on my laptop, scrolling through my iPad and hiding in my pocket on my smartphone. It's unlikely I'll ever fully gain control of all my email, but I think I can cut it down by maybe 15% if I do one simple thing: Stop sending one-word responses. No more "Okay!" "Thanks!" "Yup!" I may even stop two-word responses. That would mean the end of "You bet." "Of course" and the double affirmative, "Yes, okay." Three-word responses will be held to one or two a week and only if I have no choice. For those who communicate with me via email, this could prove a bit confusing, since some of your email messages to me will be met with silence. I assure you, even if I do not email it, I am thinking, "Yup," "You bet," and "Okay!" 2) Look Up With all my gadgets I am constantly in touch with everyone and virtually anything I can know. There is always a new news story, email message, tweet, Facebook friend request or Google+ conversation to attend to. I typically attend to all of them — non-stop. This means my head is forever tipped forward at roughly a 45-degree angle. Most people I know are usually greeted by the top of my bald head. I therefore resolve to look up. Now, how I do this is still a puzzle to me. Should I schedule these upward glances? Every 5 minutes I will look up and straight ahead, whether or not someone is in front of me. This could make me look like I have a nervous twitch. Perhaps I can just make sure to look up when someone is in front of me. Even if they aren't talking to me, this upward glance could force them to do the same and engage in real conversation. I'm starting now, so I'll take a momentary break from writing this post to look at my wife….Hello, Linda. 3) Double My Twitter Audience I know some people think the quest for more Twitter followers is crass, but I really don't understand why. If your job is to communicate, wouldn't you want to communicate with the largest audience possible? I truly appreciate all 37,000 people who have chosen to follow my Twitter account's daily tech posts, space and science links, random musings and humor. I would like more people to know about the things that interest me. I have no idea how to grow my account more quickly. I do not want to run a contest or do anything that will change or somehow diminish the quality of my account. I guess I just have to do more of the same and hope for the best. So this is a resolution over which I have no control. Yet it stays on the list. 4) Finally Recover All My Old Data Look, I'm no archivist, but I love history and think I have a wicked-good memory. The reality, though, is that while I love the past, it is becoming a hazy memory, rapidly receding into the distance in my rear-view mirror. I cannot depend on myself to remember everything, to close my eyes and see my children as they were when they were two years old or recall that drawing I did on my first Mac in 1987 or a short story I wrote on an old Epson computer in 1990. My old storage media, though, remembers everything. Unfortunately, most of that media is about as useful as a coaster. I no longer have the old computers or drives to read the files. My old 8MM video tapes are trapped and can only be played back through an ancient Sony camcorder. In 2012, I will stop procrastinating and begin the arduous process of transferring everything to my computer and network-attached storage and media drive. Soon I'll be able to relive it all. That is as long as I can successfully read the data. That's a big if. Please wish me luck. 5) Fill in My Facebook Timeline I've been a big fan of Mark Zuckerberg's latest invention ever since Facebook unveiled Timeline in September of last year. I even set up my Timeline using the developers' instructions. That was fun. However, I have a confession to make: I'm really not a Facebook user. I've never tagged anyone in a post or photo, I never played a game on the service and, in all the years I've been a member, I have poked just one person (stop snickering). Yes, I'm on the service and have lots of friends and some subscribers, but virtually all of my Facebook posts come directly from Twitter. I am what you'd call a lazy Facebook user. That will change in 2012. I will become more active on the world's most popular social network and will do the legwork necessary to fill in my Timeline (the same kind of work I once did to fill in my LinkedIn profile). It shouldn't be too hard. In fact, it may even be fun. These are my resolutions and when we all look back a year from now, I hope to have accomplished them all. If not, send me a note telling me how I failed. I will surely reply, via email, "Of course." What about you? What have you resolved to make so in the new year? Share with me in the comments. More About: 2012, Apple iPad, email, Facebook, Google, trending, Twitter
      |
| LG Releases Gorgeous New Pics of the World’s Largest OLED Screen Posted: 01 Jan 2012 09:48 AM PST   Korean electronics company LG caused a worldwide stir when it announced its 55-inch OLED panel last week, and now the company’s rolled out two more pictures that show you what kind of remarkable TV set this is going to be. How groundbreaking is this TV, anyway? If you’ve ever seen an OLED screen, all of which are much smaller than this one, you’ll know how outlandishly vibrant its colors are. And an OLED screen can be impossibly thin. For instance, the one you see here is only 4mm thick — take a look at the right side of the picture below and you’ll see the woman’s finger pointing at the edge of the screen. On its official LG UK Blog, LG says this screen’s color is even more vibrant because of its four-color pixels, making its picture more natural and accurate than other OLEDs. Each tiny pixel emits red, green, blue and white, instead of the red/green/blue used in the pixels of other OLED sets and most other TV sets manufactured today. Does that make a noticeable difference? We’ll take a close look at this screen and others like it at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next week and give you our first-hand impressions. The OLED screen (organic light-emitting diode, read more about OLED technology here) is nothing new, but here’s the innovation: Until now, it’s been difficult to create the screens in a size this big, at a reasonable cost and with a long-enough lifespan. The problem with this announcement is, LG is not saying when this screen will be available, how much it will cost, or how long it will last. So will this be yet another spectacular CES demo of a product that will never make it into the homes of real-world consumers? From what we’ve seen, LG is serious about its OLED manufacturing, where it invested $226 million in mid-2010 to create a new production facility, tripling its OLED capacity. Many other manufacturers are whispering about OLED screens. There are already smaller OLED screens available now, albeit at exorbitant prices. There are small OLED screens on millions of smartphones. This is not science fiction, folks. The promising fact: huge OLED screens can be printed onto razor-thin surfaces using a process akin to an inkjet printer, theoretically making them even cheaper to produce than today’s LCD and plasma screens. And the screens have much faster response time, with refresh rates that could (again, theoretically) reach 100,000 Hz. They’re brighter, lighter (this 55-inch screen weighs 16.5 lb), and can even be flexible. No question about it: You’re looking at the TV the future, and the question is not if we’ll see these screens available in large sizes and affordable prices, but when. More About: CES2012, HDTV, LG, OLED, trending
      |
| Starting a New Year’s Resolution? Gympact Makes You Keep It or Pay Posted: 01 Jan 2012 08:39 AM PST   Happy New Year! Now it’s time to drag yourself out of bed, pop some aspirin and get started on that New Year’s resolution that seemed like such a good idea last night. If that resolution happens to be fitness-related, the good news is there’s a new app that can help you out. Gympact, which launches its first iOS app today, employs tough love rather than rewards to keep its users visiting the gym. At the beginning of each week, users set a goal for the number of times they’ll visit the gym and name a price they’re willing to pay for not meeting that goal. If they miss their goal, they pay the price. If they make it, they receive a portion of the cash collected from all the people who missed their goals. Gympact collects a 3% fee on this transaction. If this sounds like an idea that might be cooked up in a Harvard behavioral economics class, that’s because it was. “People are lot more motivated by the thought of loss than the thought of reward,” Gym-Pact co-founder Yifan Zhang tells Mashable. “Everyone else is giving out points or badges or cash. But nobody’s really thinking about ways we can use negative motivation to help people meet their goals.” Zhang and her co-founder Geoff Oberhofer, both Harvard 2010 graduates, first implemented their idea for pairing negative motivation and exercise with codes users entered at the gym to verify attendance. They got a discount on their membership for signing up, and were charged a fee if they didn’t follow through. Zhang says people in the pilot went to the gym 80% to 90% of the time they pledged. The problem with that system? To scale up to a profitable size, the company needed to partner with gyms. Otherwise, users were restricted to one space. With the app launch on Sunday, verification will be accomplished through a check-in feature instead. Users need to stay at the gym for 30 minutes before their check-in counts, so they can’t cheat by checking in on the fly. Going mobile also opens up the possibility for integration with fitness tracking apps such as RunKeeper, including outdoor exercise activities in weekly goals. Badges are great for motivating us to go out and enjoy ourselves, but this is the first app we’ve seen that would be able to have an impact on our gym time. More About: fitness, gym, Gym-Pact, trending
      |
| 3 New Digital Tools For Making Connections Posted: 01 Jan 2012 07:19 AM PST   The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
This week we focused on three companies creating new ways to connect online and offline. Tutorspree connects students and tutors. Taap.it is a local Craigslist that connects buyers with listings nearby, and QR Living makes a bracelet that makes it easy for offline acquaintances to connect online. Tutorspree: A Peer-to-Peer Market for TutorsQuick Pitch: Tutorspree is an online marketplace for private tutors. Genius Idea: Screening tutors before listing them on the site. Mashable’s Take: Just like Airbnb is a peer-to-peer alternative to hotels and Getaround is a peer-to-peer alternative to car rentals, Tutorspree is a peer-to-peer alternative to tutoring agencies such as Sylvan Learning. Anybody can apply to offer tutoring services on the site. Tutorspree screens each applicant by hand, and all of its 3,500 tutors have (or are in the process of obtaining) at least a four-year degree. Once they’re approved, tutors get a profile page and become part of a searchable database through which students can hire them. They control their own schedules and rates, but pay a commission or fee to Tutorspree for each hour they bill. Eventually co-founder Aaron Harris says the startup will offer online tutoring in addition to its current in-person sessions. “It’s definitely part of the plan,” he says. “We see 1-on-1 learning as the goal, and enabling it in whatever way is most convenient for the student/teacher pair is a major concern — but we need to make sure that that experience is good enough. We don’t just want to throw a decent solution out and see what happens.” Tutorspree is more flexible than a traditional tutoring agency, and with its screening and transparent rating system, it’s more reliable than Craigslist listings — a smarter way to get smarter, if you will. Taap.it: An App for Local ShoppingQuick Pitch: Taap.it, formally “Social Listing,” is an Android and iOS app that lets users sell their stuff or search for specific items nearby. Genius Idea: Making Craigslist local and relevant to small businesses. Mashable’s Take: To post an item on Taap.it, just snap a photo and write a description. Other users nearby can now search for it and contact you if they’re interested. The company is hoping to appeal to not just individuals, but also small businesses that want to advertise individual items. QR Living: A QR BraceletQuick Pitch: QR Living makes wristbands with QR codes that link to social profiles. Genius Idea: Merging offline and online connections. Mashable’s Take: Instead of spelling out contact information when you meet someone in person, QR Living automatically connects you online through a wearable QR code. We’ve seen a similar concept that allows medical professionals to determine whether a patient has received medication by scanning a QR-code bracelet, but QR Living’s purpose is matched more closely with companies such as MagnetU, which uses a tiny gadget to automatically build you a proximity-based social network, or Bump, which exchanges contact information between tapping phones. As QR codes creep into fashion, they’re becoming a promising method for merging online and offline worlds. We are, however, a bit skeptical about the approach that QR Living has taken with its wristbands. Instead of connecting to existing social profiles, users fill out a separate QR Living profile to link with their QR codes. Because few people are eager to enlist in their 350th social network, this makes the product significantly less appealing. The company has also taken an odd approach to the design of the bracelet. It urges customers to “rub the symbols on your wristband for good luck and motivation…for instance, rub the ‘Cash Flow’ symbol when purchasing lottery tickets for good luck.” Competitor Skanz, with its simple bands and option to link with existing social media profiles, makes a better proposition. Images courtesy of iStockphoto, Wuka 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, QR Living, Skanz, Startup Weekend Roundup, Taap.it, trending, Tutorspree For more Business coverage:
      |
Each 
| You are subscribed to email updates from Mashable! To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment