Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “With Augmented Reality, Wallit App Assigns Virtual Walls to Physical Places” |
- With Augmented Reality, Wallit App Assigns Virtual Walls to Physical Places
- Futulele Turns Your iPad and iPhone Into a Ukulele [VIDEO]
- 20 TV Shows With the Most Social Media Buzz This Week [CHART]
- Social Network Links Professionals With Free Lunch
- Police Drone Crash Raises Concerns Over Unmanned Aircraft [VIDEO]
- Watch This Robot Run Way Faster Than You [VIDEO]
- 10 Biggest Internet IPOs of the Last 10 Years [INFOGRAPHIC]
- Forget the iPad 3 — Apple is Launching the iPad HD
- Your Facebook ‘Like’ Can Fund Seeing Eye Dogs
- 10 Google Search Tricks You Might Not Know
- Is the Philadelphia Cell Phone Jammer a Hero or Pest?
- 5 Huge Digital Marketing Trends You Can’t Afford to Ignore
- SXSW Through Your Eyes: Show Us Your Photos and Videos
- 12 Essential Pinterest Boards for SXSW 2012
- Is a Retina Screen on the iPad 3 Overkill?
- Russians Tweet, Post Video of Anti-Putin Protests
- Take a First Look at ‘Halo 4′ [VIDEO]
- Basketball Coach’s Halftime Tweets a New Take on Mid-Game Interviews
- 10 Sad Substitutes for Hits You Can’t Stream on Netflix
- Power Pinterest User Chosen to ‘Live Pin’ Event for Fashion Label
- AOL’s Pulling Rush Limbaugh Ad Support
- Register Now for Mashable’s SXSWi House 2012
- Google+ Hangouts Get Furry: Now You Can Chat With Cat and Dog Masks [VIDEO]
- Apple’s iPad Event: What if Every Single Rumor Is Wrong?
- Social Media Challenge Leads to Surprise Visit From NBA Star [VIDEO]
- U.S. Offers Food Safety Alerts on Twitter, State by State [VIDEO]
- Delta Wants You to Shop Amazon While Flying
- Facebook Messenger for Windows Comes Out of Beta
- How the U.S. Military Shares Its Rich History With Facebook Timeline
- Startup Allows You to Stream Programs, Games Remotely From Your PC
| With Augmented Reality, Wallit App Assigns Virtual Walls to Physical Places Posted: 06 Mar 2012 04:45 AM PST      “People have wanted to leave their mark since the beginning of humanity,” says Veysel Berk, creator of the mobile app Wallit. “Now they are going to be able to do that digitally using their smartphones.” Released Tuesday for iPhone and iTouch, Wallit is hailed by Berk as the world’s first “social augmented reality app.” Like Facebook, it enables you to interact with your friends. Like Twitter, it only lets you write in short 140-character bursts. Like Foursquare, its digital benefits are based on where you go in the real world. But Wallit combines these features — and more — in an entirely new way. The app is essentially a virtual wall for physical locations. Here’s how it works: You go somewhere, for example a stadium or the Golden Gate Bridge. You view the the place through your smartphone camera screen, as if taking a photo. But with Wallit, a digital augmented reality-powered wall appears on the screen next to the landmark to show posts, photos, videos and other “marks” by people there at the same time or before you (see concept shot, above). Then you can add your own mark to the wall for others to see. Wallit “records the character of places,” Berk says. Most location-based apps actually focus on people, and locations are parameters, albeit highly significant ones. With Wallit, the place itself is actually the core, and people function as parameters. To ensure a focus on place without neglecting social interaction, the app has some distinctive rules. You can only post to a place if you’re actually there. (You can view a wall from anywhere, however.) You can only upload a media to a wall if it was created at that location. You can request walls, but only Wallit can actually create them — that way, each location has one definitive wall. Wallit has already created more than 700 walls around the world, including in London, Tokyo, New York and San Francisco. A “radar” function app points you to virtual walls near you. Post with an anonymous Wallit ID, or link Wallit activity to your Facebook or Twitter profiles. When viewing walls at different locations, screen-swipe between walls showing posts by everyone or just people who have linked to existing social profiles. Soon, as content proliferates, Berk says you’ll also be able to see only posts by friends. When the iPad 3 launches in the not-so-distant future, Berk says there will be Wallit walls in 326 Apple stores for people to post to as they wait in line. But their posts will also go to a “Super Wall” that compiles in one place posts from every store. That grouping concept is a key function for Wallit in the future. He also plans to link related sites, for example, different football stadiums. Berk says Wallit has already secured $1.2 milllion in funding by angel investors and venture capitalists. The app will be free (iPad and Android versions are due out soon) and initially focus on building user engagement. But Berk says it won’t be hard to monetize Wallit in the future. Virtual, interactive billboards will be one way. Allowing companies to customize their on-site walls will be another. Companies will also be able to buy subscriptions allowing them to access data about what people are saying and doing at their locations. From what we’ve seen, Wallit is cool and simple to use, with an easy user interface. The only question is whether people will want to add another social layer — even one centered around places — to their already-crowded virtual lives. Do you think Wallit will sink or swim? Let us know in the comments. More About: apps, Augmented Reality, Social Media, Startups, Tech
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| Futulele Turns Your iPad and iPhone Into a Ukulele [VIDEO] Posted: 06 Mar 2012 02:02 AM PST We’ve seen many gadgets that turn an iPad or an iPhone into a musical instrument or accessory, but we haven’t seen one that takes both these devices and connects them together to create a ukulele – until now. The Futulele can work solely as an iPad app, but it can also come with a guitar-shaped case that holds both an iPad and an iPhone. The two devices are connected via Bluetooth; the iPhone is used for holding the chords and the iPad for strumming the virtual strings. App creator Amidio claims you can use up to 12 chords for each song, and change chord sets on the fly. You can also record and share music through the company’s other app, OMGuitar. Is it better than a real ukulele? No, nothing is better than a real ukulele. But it’s definitely one of the awesomest gadgets we’ve seen. If you need app/gadget to show off the capabilities of the iPad and iPhone to your friends, this one will definitely cause the most laughs. Unfortunately, the device you’ve seen in the video above is just a prototype: Amidio is currently looking for manufacturers willing to produce Futulele cases. If you fit that description, you can contact them here. More About: Futulele, ipad, iphone, Music, Ukulele
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| 20 TV Shows With the Most Social Media Buzz This Week [CHART] Posted: 05 Mar 2012 09:04 PM PST We know that social media users had a strong reaction to Snooki’s rumored pregnancy, and it looks like Jersey Shore fans did too. The bun-in-the-oven buzz on top of Thursday’s episode earned Jersey Shore the top social TV spot in this week’s cable rankings. But the Daytona 500 on Feb. 27 took the top slot with 1.3 million social media mentions. NASCAR’s most prestigious racing event hosts some of the world’s most talented drivers, who speed 200 laps around Florida’s Daytona International Speedway, the equivalent of 500 miles. 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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| Social Network Links Professionals With Free Lunch Posted: 05 Mar 2012 08:57 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: GetLunched.com is a new way to make professional connections over lunch. Genius Idea: Everyone loves lunch, but free lunch is even harder to pass up. The idea behind this new social network is to help people connect with each other by introducing a lunchtime barter system to the mix. The creators of this London-based startup think elevator business pitches are more likely to be heard over a big plate of linguini alla vongole. GetLunched.com is social network that lets users extend lunch invitations to people they want to connect with. Individuals extending the offer can propose “I’m Buying,” “You’re Buying” or “50/50.” Users can choose to integrate LinkedIn connections to the system, so rekindling old connections is as easy as making new ones. “People like to help other people out,” Matt Bandy, co-founder of GetLunched.com told Mashable. “But, it’s not often easy to. There has to be a reason. To buy someone lunch is a nice value exchange — it could be as long or short as you like.” Bandy, who comes from a marketing background, says he learned the power of the lunch hour after years of socializing with clients. These professional relationships have even led to the successful launch of GetLunched.com. “It’s based around the idea that there are thousands of connections,” he said. “Get Lunched is about making the most of the connections. Lunch is kind of the old-school way of making that exchange.” Individuals in a variety of industries may join Get Lunched. Simply create a user profile to specify an industry of interest, headline, location and what you are looking for. Then wait for lunch proposals to roll in. Or, if you are avidly looking for advice, use the website’s search option to seek out relevant industry leaders. Invitations can be made through Linkedin, email or on the phone, says Bandy. The layout of the website is comprehensive and easy to use. Users can search profiles by city, postcode, keyword or cuisine. There is also a handy map that tracks where GetLunched.com users are and what people are looking for. As we search within London, across a five-mile radius, there’s someone “interested in meeting people with retail sales experience” and another looking for “collaborations in innovation, branding and consumer insight.” The startup launched its networking site on Feb. 17. The service is currently only available in the U.K. and by invite only. The two founders are working to build up its U.K. network and support for its mobile apps on iPhone, Android and Blackberry. Mashable readers can use invite code GetLunched-Mashable to fully access the site for free. Contact the GetLunched.com team via the website’s comment box when the first 500 invites run out. Bandy hopes to bring the professional lunch social network to the U.S. and other parts of Europe by the end of the year. Pricing plans are as follows. There is a free plan that offers search options and access to lunch deals; a business plan that includes access to all network profiles, ability to invite people you are not connected to out to lunch, access to all lunch deals and access to top lunch deals for £9.50 per month. “It will be like a dating site,” Bandy said about the pricing plans. “You can connect with anyone you already have on your Linkedin, connect with emails and other existing networks for free, but if you want to connect with someone new then you’ll have to subscribe to a plan.” The GetLunched.com creators hope this new product helps individuals connect with the human resources they have around them. “Find out who is around you and be bold. It’s the one hour of the day when you can focus on yourself, step away from the desk and reach people to share your ideas with.” Image courtesy of Laissez Fare Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark  More About: bizspark, Business, social network For more Business coverage:
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| Police Drone Crash Raises Concerns Over Unmanned Aircraft [VIDEO] Posted: 05 Mar 2012 08:28 PM PST A police drone made to look like a mini-helicopter crashed into an armored SWAT vehicle after its test flight in Montgomery County, Texas, near Houston. The crash occurred last fall and was revealed on Friday by police officials and Vanguard Defense Industries, who made the drone. This crash adds fuels to the controversy of unmanned aerial vehicles in public spaces. The drone crashed 18 feet to the earth and slammed into the SWAT vehicle dubbed Bearcat. No one was hurt and the $300,000 drone only had a few scratches. The Examiner reported that the incident was basically a police-only photo op that went wrong when the drone stopped communicating with the console on the ground. The drone operated similarly to the one in the video above. The Montgomery incident was not caught on camera as far as we know. The website reported, “Vanguard CEO Michael Buscher said his company’s prototype drone was flying about 18-feet off the ground when it lost contact with the controller’s console on the ground. It’s designed to go into an auto shutdown mode, according to Buscher, but when it was coming down the drone crashed into the SWAT team’s armored vehicle.” Montgomery County Police was the first department in the U.S. to get to receive its own aerial drone. Could this crash cause law makers to be reluctant to fund the pricy and precarious drones in the future? Drones raise issues of privacy as well as safety for citizens on the ground. Organizations, like the ACLU, have been digging into the government’s plans to operate unmanned aircraft. The organization says these vehicles are capable of spying on American civilians and regulations should be established to prevent this possibility. Law makers better jump to it, since the President signed a reauthorization bill in mid-February opening the gateway for “integrated commercial and civil use of unmanned aerial drones in U.S. airspace.” Drone aircraft also gobble-up bandwidth needed to relay information. As far as safety goes, unmanned aircraft are still a work-in-progress and are able to be affected by human error. What’s your take on this? Do you support the development of unmanned aircraft? How about the government’s use of such aircraft? Tell us in the comments. Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, alxpin More About: drone, military, privacy
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| Watch This Robot Run Way Faster Than You [VIDEO] Posted: 05 Mar 2012 07:59 PM PST Just signed up for your first 5K? Feeling proud of that sprint you took around the block? For that matter, are you proud of your running ability at all? Then you may not want to watch this video, unless you’re an Olympic-level athlete. A robot designed by the boffins at DARPA — the Pentagon-based skunkworks that gave rise to the Internet and the driverless car, among other breakthroughs — has effortlessly set a new land-speed record for robots. Called the Cheetah, this metal speed demon can run at 18 miles an hour. The previous best for a robot? 13.1 mph, set in 1989. Humans have the Cheetah bested, but only a very tiny number of us. Even if you can run a four-minute mile, you’re still not cracking the 15 mph mark. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt can still hold his head up high — he holds the world record for the fastest sprint speed ever recorded, which is 27.79 mph, with a small assist from a tail wind. Then again, that was just over a 100-meter distance. Humans are remarkably slow runners compared to many four-legged mammals; what we excel at is endurance. As anyone who has read the barefoot running classic Born to Run knows, big cats like the cheetah (the non-metallic kind) will all stop when their bodies hit a certain temperature. Unlike us, they don’t cool themselves with sweat. This robotic Cheetah may face a similar overheating problem; we’d like to see it maintain that speed for 26.2 miles. And how far can it run on a single battery pack? We look forward to seeing where DARPA can take this machine next — and to the day it qualifies for the Boston Marathon. Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, amygdala_imagery More About: DARPA, robotics, robots For more Tech coverage:
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| 10 Biggest Internet IPOs of the Last 10 Years [INFOGRAPHIC] Posted: 05 Mar 2012 07:11 PM PST Until we hear otherwise, it’s assumed that Facebook is well on its way to the trading floor. The social networking behemoth filed paperwork to go public at the beginning of February, and is on track to be the most valuable public Internet company in the universe. But what of the web companies that hit the marketplace before Facebook’s rise to power? French tech blog Accessoweb added the big boys of the last decade to one handy chart. It lists their offering, valuation, stock performance and number of employees, then and now. Do you own stock in any of these Internet heavyweights? Are you satisfied by how they play in your portfolio?   Infographic courtesy of Accessoweb, design by Vincent Abry. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, woraput More About: Business, Facebook, Google, groupon, infographics, ipo, linkedin, Tech, Zynga For more Business coverage:
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| Forget the iPad 3 — Apple is Launching the iPad HD Posted: 05 Mar 2012 06:29 PM PST    As an editor, I’m pretty much contractually obliged to be cautious. So many rumors are constantly swirling around the next hot Apple gadget that one has to keep an open mind about all of them — every last one could be wrong. The company could teach the NSA a thing or two about secrecy, so there’s never any official denial or confirmation. But sometimes, just sometimes, you get a hot tip from a good source with an unblemished track record. It confirms something you’ve been feeling in your gut for days, and you start scribbling down all the reasons why it would make sense. That’s what happened Monday, and that’s why I’m prepared to cast caution aside and call it: the device we’ll be watching Apple unveil on Wednesday is called the iPad HD, not the iPad 3. The first clues on this trail came last week, when a Gizmodo tipster uncovered evidence that Griffin and Belkin — longtime Apple peripheral makers trusted by the company — had ‘iPad HD’ cases buried in acres of dry accessory listings like the ark of the covenant in a warehouse of boxes. The site added another, less appealing rumor from an app developer on a Romanian forum that claimed to see an iPad HD show up in the apparently un-spoofable usage stats for his app Tapatalk. Then Monday we got a heads-up from our source that the iPad HD name was a go. We started hunting for a second source. Shortly thereafter, CNET and VentureBeat got the same word from their sources. This matches the pattern of activity around the iPhone 4S launch — a couple of days beforehand, we saw a sudden flurry of rumors to the effect that everyone expecting an iPhone 5 had got the wrong name. Unfortunately, they were all but drowned in a sea of iPhone 5 rumors. This time, we’re paying closer attention to alternate names. Why It Makes SensePractically the only new feature that seems certain to arrive in the iPad HD is the retina display. Indeed, it was surprising that Apple didn’t include it last year in the iPad 2. (Retina technology had arrived the previous summer in the iPhone 4). But when was the last time you heard your friends or family — the non-geeky customers Apple is targeting — use the word “retina”? How many of us, outside the tech bubbles of Silicon Valley and Alley, gets what that means? It sounds cool, but it isn’t going to shift units. And if there’s one thing we understand about Apple CEO Tim Cook, it’s that he’s all about shifting units. HD is a different matter. We all understand the meaning of those two letters, thanks to your cable company and the inexorable rise of HDTV. We may not all get the difference between 720p and 1080i, but practically everyone on the planet understands that when something goes high-def, they’re in for a better visual experience. It’s not out of character for Apple to diverge from a numerical naming strategy, either. Remember its second-generation iPhone which touted its new technology — the iPhone 3G? If 4G connectivity is held over until the iPad after this one — which, given the battery-hogging, still-limited-to-some-cities nature of 4G, seems likely — then you have the perfect name for the fourth-generation iPad: the iPad 4G. It’s not outside the bounds of reason that Apple could unveil an “iPad 3 HD.” But that seems a little clunky for a company that has almost as many marketing brains as engineers. What should Apple call their next generation tablet? Would they sell more iPad HDs than iPad 3s? Share your thoughts in the comments. More About: apple, ipad, ipad HD, trending
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| Your Facebook ‘Like’ Can Fund Seeing Eye Dogs Posted: 05 Mar 2012 05:21 PM PST   Explore.org’s social media community Dog Bless You is running a Facebook campaign that converts “Likes” into donated seeing eye dogs. For every 5,000 new Likes Dog Bless You receives during the month of March, it will donate the funding required to train and gift a guide dog for the blind, as part of the Angel Eyes campaign. Dog Bless You, a 1-year-old network, hopes to hit 300,000 Likes as quickly as possible, which it’s very close to accomplishing. “The hope is that the campaign will shine a light on the incredible bond between guide dogs and their owners, as well as create better awareness to help streamline the dog donation process and better serve the blind,” an Explore.org representative wrote Mashable. Previous Dog Bless You campaigns have paired service dogs with military veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, brought search and rescue dogs to Japan after the earthquake and supported dogs belonging to people who are homeless. “[Dogs] improve the human experience in amazing ways,” Charlie Weingarten, founder and community curator of Dog Bless You says. “Seeing eye dogs are among the most dramatic examples of that.” The Dog Bless You campaign hopes it can both connect more visually impaired Americans with seeing eye dogs and build a stronger network of supporters through this campaign, as centers that train guide dogs are sparse. Do you think building a Facebook community is a worthy investment for Explore.org? Do you engage with animal loving communities on the social web? Let us know what you think in the comments. BONUS: Cats as Fonts |
| 10 Google Search Tricks You Might Not Know Posted: 05 Mar 2012 04:41 PM PST 1. Boolean Search Parameters To really master the art of Google search, you can follow certain terms and tricks. For instance, rather than simply asking Google a question in the search box, include specific items such as type of file or title name. Click here to view this gallery. Google is used by millions of people every single day to resolve any query you could possibly imagine. That being said, it seems there’s a hidden trick or two that even the most skilled in “Google Fu” might not know exists. Certain tools are built in to Google’s search mechanics to provide quick, reliable answers. For example, if you need to convert a measurement unit, you’ll receive a quick answer at the top of Google search. To improve your search experience, utilize this list of features to help refine what you’re looking for. We’ve collected 10 quick Google tricks that you might’ve not known existed. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Alija More About: features, Google, Search, tips and tricks
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| Is the Philadelphia Cell Phone Jammer a Hero or Pest? Posted: 05 Mar 2012 04:08 PM PST   No service? Maybe you’ve been zapped by a cell phone jammer. A Philadelphia man has stirred up controversy after he frequently used a device on a public bus to create a cell phone dead zone. A reporter for NBC10 in Philadelphia recently tracked down the man, who was using a cell phone jammer on the bus to block riders’ cell phone reception. His reason — he didn’t want to listen to other people’s phone conversations. He says he turns on the illegal device whenever other passengers talk too loud and bother him. The man, identified as Eric, told NBC reporters: "I guess I'm taking the law into my own hands, and quite frankly, I'm proud of it." A jammer typically looks similar to a walkie-talkie and has multiple antennae pointing out of the top of the device. Its job is to jam, block or interfere with wireless communication including Wi-Fi, cell phone reception, GPS and police radar. Section 302(b) of the Communication Act of 1934 [PDF] prohibits the “marketing, sale or use” of jammers. The federal government and companies contracted to do federal work, typically related to homeland security, are the only ones permitted to use jammers. Like many uninformed people who have jammers, Eric said he thought a jammer was legal to use. “We are troubled by the reported incident and are looking into it,” Michelle Ellison, Chief of the Federal Communication Commission Enforcement Bureau, said in an email regarding the Philadelphia incident. Although the device is illegal, bus riders aren’t the only ones who have wanted to shut people up using a jammer. The FCC has investigated the use of cell phone jammers in schools and theaters. Some administrators apparently think a cell phone jammer would be an easy way to stop students from using their cell phones during school hours. Theaters find cell phone jammers appealing to prevent people from using phones during shows. “While some people who use jammers may think they are only silencing loud conversations or disabling unwanted GPS tracking, they could also be preventing a scared teenager from calling 911, an elderly person from placing an urgent call to a doctor, or a rescue team from homing in on the location of a severely injured person,” Ellison said. “The price for one person’s moment of peace or privacy, could very well be the safety and well-being of others.” Jammers are a problem because they block licensing frequencies that are not owned by the jammer and it’s illegal to interfere with any licensing frequency. Jammers can block signals within a few dozen to hundreds of feet. The FCC is most concerned with jammers blocking emergency responders communication with callers. People in the U.S. typical buy jammers online. The FCC is trying hard to prevent other countries from selling and shipping jammers to America, but some jammers slip through the mail. The UK, Canada, Switzerland and Australia also don’t allow cell phone jammers. In October 2011, the FCC warned 20 online retailers about the illegality of selling and marketing signal jamming devices to Americans. But, with a quick Google search away, an American can order a cell phone jammer online. “Our actions should send a strong message to retailers of signal jamming devices in the U.S. is illegal and that the FCC will vigorously prosecute these violations,” Ellison said in a press release. The U.S. tries hard to keep jammers out, but, the network blockers can be manufactured and exported in the U.S. The FCC said it isn’t aware of any cell phone jammer manufacturing violations in the U.S. Photo courtesy of iStock, leminuit More About: cell phone, cell phone jammer, fcc, licensing, trending
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| 5 Huge Digital Marketing Trends You Can’t Afford to Ignore Posted: 05 Mar 2012 03:49 PM PST   Jonathan Gardner is director of communications at ad company Vibrant Media. He has spent his career as an innovator at the nexus of media and technology, having worked in communications leadership roles and as a journalist around the world. Digital marketing is a discipline in flux. We face an onslaught of shiny new technologies and platforms that promise to "change everything." Marketers are creating similarly breathless headlines, proclaiming the next revolutionary devices/apps/social networks. Yet, even smart marketers don't know what changes the future will bring; but they do need to be aware that their industry is changing every day. For instance, to reach consumers marketers need to be increasingly mobile, engaging, relevant and aware of the contexts in which we currently operate. I don't pretend to know the future. But the decisions and products of Apple, Amazon and other innovators will affect how we live in the years to come. As we anticipate our connected, Minority Report-style future, here are five big marketing ideas to embrace now to get ahead of the curve. 1. Location ServicesConsumers are out there and many want you to find them. Location features of social apps such as Foursquare, Ban.jo and Path are potential goldmines of important consumer data. The near field communication (NFC) technology in products like Google Wallet is just starting to show its potential. And while privacy issues surrounding location services will need to be resolved, consumers are still demanding that marketers understand all of their daily contexts and find ways to make their lives easier. If the rumors are true and the iPhone 5 has NFC embedded, expect these features to go from leading edge to mainstream. 2. New Ad FormatsWhile new online video and mobile platforms are — unsurprisingly — attracting a lot of heat, their marketing spend is still way out of whack, compared to the amount of time consumers spend there. Don't just throw money at these new channels. Instead of pre-roll video ads and other “forced view" options, look to user-initiated solutions that respect the user’s time and interests. Research new ad formats that help brands look beyond clutter and "banner blindness," such as in-image ads, which integrate brand messages elegantly within relevant content. 3. User-Generated CurationUser-generated curation (UGC) is powered by content discovery apps such as Pulse, Flipboard, Fancy and Foodspotting. Content producers and merchants provide the feeds, and consumers tweak them to suit their interests and contexts, filtering data and curating personalized information platforms. These models can help brands become relevant to consumers and provide the next great opportunities for marketers. For instance, Pinterest has received applause from consumers and marketers alike, and has demonstrated the power that personal curation and relevance can have for engagement. 4. Advertise by FormatEveryone is excited about mobile's potential, and tablets present appealing platforms or consumer engagement. If you've decided to advertise on mobile apps, what are you going to do with the user after you get him or her to tap? Will you use the platform to its full potential? Or will you roll out the same old display strategy you've been using online, praying that users will choose to interact with your ad? It's time to get creative and imagine the new possibilities. Media industry guru Ken Doctor points to innovative advertisers who take advantage of the iPad’s unique format. "What's better for an insurance company like Liberty Mutual than threatening you with disaster (tornado, earthquake, flood) and then, by simply tilting your iPad see the damage magically disappear," he poses. 5. Integrated MarketingBeing relevant to your customer in every context improves brand recall and enhances engagement. Ditch the silos in your advertising strategy (e.g. this is what consumers watch on TV vs. on their phones) and focus on the most important thing — your customer. In this increasingly interconnected world, consumers are not necessarily thinking in terms of silos. Research shows that 72% of consumers want to be engaged with an integrated marketing approach, but only 39% are receiving that. Google found that consumers had 74% brand recall when the advertiser’s integrated strategy carried across mobile, TV and online. While the world is not yet seamless, QR codes and "bridging" apps like Viggle deliver second screen relevance, and can help marketers unleash multiplatform, integrated relevance. Today’s profound advancement in tech and media is changing how we interact with and filter our world. Smart marketers can succeed by engaging with the trends that are resonating most with the emerging consumer of today. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tetsuomorita More About: Advertising, content curation, contributor, features, location-based service, Marketing, Mobile, predictions
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| SXSW Through Your Eyes: Show Us Your Photos and Videos Posted: 05 Mar 2012 03:30 PM PST
If you’ve never been, the conference and festival is split up into three parts — SXSW Interactive, SXSW Film, and SXSW Music. Each event attracts a certain audience, but there is plenty of overlap, and one thing that unites participants is a need to be connected. With so much going on, SXSW is one place that you don’t want your phone to die. Mashable will officially be there for SXSW Interactive, but we know that throughout the entire conference, people will be taking photos and videos of all their experiences: people you meet, things you see, stuff you eat. Together with CNN iReport, we want to see SXSW through your eyes. You can help us show your experience. All you have to do to get involved is upload your photos and videos through the widget below. You can also tweet them directly at Mashable using the hashtag #MashSXSW. Some of the best will be featured on Mashable and CNN iReport, and a select few will be on display at the CNN iReport booth at the SXSW Trade Show. We’re looking forward to seeing your South by Southwest! Photo courtesy of CNN iReporter Jason Travis  DetailsDate: Sunday, March 11, 2012 RSVP Policy  Presenting SponsorsMore About: ireport, sxsw, sxsw 2012 For more Social Media coverage:
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| 12 Essential Pinterest Boards for SXSW 2012 Posted: 05 Mar 2012 03:12 PM PST 1. Events/Parties User: ROCKTHOUGHT DOTCOM Board: SXSW 2012 Access this board to view SXSW event announcements, music gig posters and party news. Click here to view this gallery. Pinterest continues to present opportunities for inspiration, engagement and organization. But who would have thought it could act as an event calendar, too? When you’re traipsing around SXSW this March 9-18, pull up a few Pinterest boards for event happenings and Austin, TX attractions. We’ve collected 12 comprehensive Pinterest boards that’ll have you navigating like a local. What would you add to these boards? Do you have any SXSW or Austin, TX favorites on Pinterest? Let us know in the comments below. More About: Events, features, pinterest, Social Media, sxsw, sxsw 2012
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| Is a Retina Screen on the iPad 3 Overkill? Posted: 05 Mar 2012 02:51 PM PST   When Apple raises the curtain on its big show this Wednesday, it’ll unveil the iPad 3, which will almost certainly have a retina display that features a pixel count of 2,048 x 1,536 — a truly amazing spec for a tablet. But is such a high-resolution screen really necessary? Yes, per usual, Apple hasn’t said word one about what’s going on this week, whether it’ll unveil a new iPad or even if there is a new iPad. But there have been enough rumors, leaks, and logical predictions that the iPad 3 will have a retina display. A photographic analysis of Apple’s event invitation even appears to show a higher-resolution screen than the current iPad. How can we know the resolution so precisely? Besides the numerous reports, the spec exactly doubles the vertical and horizontal pixel counts of the current iPad, whose resolution is 1,028 x768 (producing four times the actual resolution, since area varies as the square of the dimensions). It makes a lot of sense Apple would aim for that spec, since it’s exactly what the company did when it increased the screen resolution of the iPhone when it unveiled the iPhone 4. Doubling the resolution makes it extremely simple to scale up apps an other software. However, it also makes many other things harder. Rendering that many pixels — 3,145,728 of them, in fact — puts more strain in the processor, the backlight and the battery. It also puts pressure on Apple’s display manufacturing partner to produce quality screens in the volumes that Apple demands. Extreme Screen MeasuresOn the eve of the iPad 3′s unveiling, it bears reminding what an ungodly number of pixels a 2,048 x 1,536 is for the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen. Most desktop monitors don’t go that high. A screen that dense would mean 1080p video — currently the highest-resolution video format in mass use — would use only two-thirds of the pixels available on the screen. “Have you ever used a 9.7-inch display with that high resolution?” asks Raymond Soneira, president of display-research company DisplayMate. “Most people don’t even have 1,600 x 1,200 on their desktop monitors. From a purely objective, practical point of view, yes, it’s visually an overkill.” So why would anyone want so many pixels in a mobile device? Simple answer: marketing. “I think 2,048 x 1,536 is a marketing reality,” says Soneira. “Marketing displays is like marketing megapixles in cameras. Consumers buy specs. But it also makes it a no-brainer to take legacy 1,024 x 768 [software] and make it run at 2,048 x 1,536.” Sea of PixelsAlthough developers will only need mastery of simple arithmetic to scale up their apps for the iPad 3, the huge leap in pixels will mean virtually ever aspect of the tablet will need an upgrade. “You’re pushing four times as many pixels,” says Soneira. “So you need for times as much processing power. You also have to devote four times as much memory to the display as before — and that’s not just a single screen. The processor keeps many more than a single display frame buffer inside its memory, as it does video, animation and all kinds of other caching. Then the display itself takes more power. The efficiency, the amount of light that goes through the display goes down, so your power has to go up to back-light the display.” By all reports, that’s exactly what Apple has done — completely re-engineer the iPad to run at the higher resolution, including a faster processor, bigger battery and all the other hardware the display will need. But did Apple have any other option but to double the resolution in both directions? Soneira thinks there was a less extreme solution: sub-pixel rendering. In a typical LCD, every pixel has an red, green and blue component — the sub-pixels. When a pixel gets visual data, it displays what it’s told with those three elements and nothing more. But with sub-pixel rendering, the display can task nearby sub-pixels to give better detail over what’s displayed. The technique is used in Microsoft ClearType. “There are very good quality scaling engines,” he says. “So if you made it, say, 1,600 x 1,200 and used sub-pixel rendering, it would do just fine. Actually, the current 1,024 x 768 display would look substantially better if you do sub-pixel rendering.” The Future of RetinaThe opportunity such a compromise appears to have passed, however, and Apple is poised to unveil a retina-display iPad. In fact, it could lead to retina displays becoming the norm on all Apple products, including the MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros. Although Apple can’t win on every spec, having retina screens across the board would give it an across-the-board differentiator. “Steve Jobs, with this whole retina display, really elevated the whole display business,” says Soneira. “It was a brilliant marketing move. It set up a ‘display race.’ I just hope we don’t keep going [higher] in resolution.” Do you think a retina display in the iPad 3 is overkill? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. BONUS: Could iPad 3 Cost More Than iPad 2?1. Retina Display All reports point to an iPad 3 with a screen that doubles the pixel resolution in both directions. While that would be an incredible amount of pixels (more than what's needed to even show 1080p video at full resolution), it's also going to be harder -- and more expensive -- to make such a large-size "retina display." And if Apple goes with a new kind of LCD tech (like Sharp's IGZO), all bets are off. Image courtesy moshy_moshy, Flickr Click here to view this gallery. More About: apple, ipad, ipad 3, retina display, trending
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| Russians Tweet, Post Video of Anti-Putin Protests Posted: 05 Mar 2012 02:24 PM PST   Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won his country’s presidential elections this weekend amid accusations by some Russians and outside observers that the voting process suffered from tampering and fraud. Russians protesting Putin’s win and the alleged voter fraud gathered in Moscow’s Pushkin square on Monday, chanting phrases like “Russia without Putin.” When riot police demanded the protesters disperse, some gathered near prominent opposition blogger Aleksei Navalny, according to The New York Times. By the end of the night, police detained Navalny (a picture of whom is included below) and 150 others in Moscow. In St. Petersburg, another 300 were taken into custody. Putin served two terms as president from 2000 until 2008, when he stepped down to become prime minister — but many observers speculated that he was still pulling at the strings of power during the presidency of Dimitri Medvedev. During that time, Russian lawmakers passed a constitutional amendment that changed the presidential term limit from two consecutive four-year terms to two eight-year non-consecutive terms, allowing Putin to run for president once more. Putin officially won more than 60% of the vote, awarding him the presidency until 2018. Russians caught in the thick of the anti-Putin rallies used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to send out news and video of the protests to the rest of the country and the world. Mashable has collected some of the best examples of social media use during the anti-Putin rallies, which you can view below:
Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, EdStock More About: moscow, russia, trending, Twitter, Vladimir Putin, YouTube
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| Take a First Look at ‘Halo 4′ [VIDEO] Posted: 05 Mar 2012 02:07 PM PST Prepare to indulge in some Halo 4 hotness. Fans are getting a closer look at the game, thanks to leaked screenshots and a brand new developer’s diary that shows glimpses at actual gameplay. Halo 4 is slated to hit the Xbox 360 in time for Holiday 2012. It’s also the first title developed under the auspices of 343 Industries. Bungie, the company that developed the original Halo trilogy (as well as Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach), split off from Microsoft in 2008. Thus, the challenge with Halo 4 isn’t just adding another title to a successful franchise, it is ensuring that Halo 4 still looks and feels like a Halo game. To that end, 343 Industries has committed a lot of time and energy in not just the graphics, but also the story. With the new trilogy of Halo titles, 343 Industries is taking a more expansive approach, weaving in aspects of the narrative from graphic novels and books into the gameplay itself. The first screenshots from Halo 4 leaked online via Gamerlive.TV (via NeoGAF) ahead of more formal announcements, including the developers diary video. Master Chief is Back   Welcome back, Master Chief. Halo fans are happy to see you again. Click here to view this gallery. On Twitter and in gamer forums, the team working on Halo 4 is clearly proud of its work. On Twitter, principle engine programmer of Halo 4 Corrine Yu laid down some bold claims about the games graphics:
Meanwhile on the NeoGAF forums, assistant director of photography at 343 Industries added some commentary to the leaked screenshots, adding that they were “100% untouched” and were taken with a “debug cam with in-engine Depth-of-field.” Just looking at the brief screenshots and game video definitely leaves us wanting more. Halo 4 is certainly going to be one of the biggest games of the holiday season. Are you pumped? Let us know in the comments. [via EGMNow] More About: 343 industries, halo, Halo 4, trending, Xbox 360 For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Basketball Coach’s Halftime Tweets a New Take on Mid-Game Interviews Posted: 05 Mar 2012 01:42 PM PST   Is the sideline TV sports reporter destined for extinction? Colorado State basketball coach Tim Miles recently took a big step toward eliminating the quick mid-game Q-and-A that’s a staple of hoops broadcasts. During halftime of a game against UNLV, Miles sent a public halftime Twitter update on his thoughts about the contest. With his Rams down by 16 points at the break to nationally ranked UNLV, Miles posted this message:
Miles is no stranger to social media, though. He has more than 5,000 Twitter followers despite coaching at a relatively under-the-radar school. He tweets frequently, and the school recently produced a series of videos that riff on his social media savviness. In one video, Miles jokingly rips his players for posting weak tweets. And maybe his tech emphasis is working beyond just marketing and public relations — after Miles’s halftime tweet against UNLV, Colorado State came back to win the game 66-59 and keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive. He’s also made halftime tweets during previous games this season. Mashable doesn’t know of any other notable pro or college coaches who have posted halftime Twitter updates, let alone made a habit of doing so. Two years ago, Louisiana State University football coach Les Miles said he planned to make a habit of tweeting mid-game, but he never followed through on that. So credit goes to Colorado State’s Tim Miles for making great use of social media in the often tradition-bound coaching world. The history of athletes posting Twitter updates during competition, however, is entertaining. NBA player Charlie Villanueva tweeted during halftime of a game in 2009 but was then banned from doing so by his coach. Last week, NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski tweeted on-track from inside his car during a hazard delay in the Daytona 500. He gained more than 100,000 followers in just a couple of hours and NASCAR publicly applauded his use of social media. What are the most visceral examples of sports and social media colliding mid-competition that you know of? Let us know in the comments. BONUS: March Madness Must-FollowsColorado State is poised for a possible berth in college basketball’s annual March Madness tournament this year. Here’s who you need to follow to keep up with all the action this month: 1. @GoodmanCBS Jeff Goodman is a CBSSports.com writer. His SiriusXM show, Inside College Basketball, regularly has interesting and timely guests as well. Follow his Twitter feed to find out who's on when. Click here to view this gallery. Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, melhi More About: march madness, Social Media, sports, Twitter For more Social Media coverage:
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| 10 Sad Substitutes for Hits You Can’t Stream on Netflix Posted: 05 Mar 2012 01:12 PM PST 1. X-Men 2 vs. Wolverine: Chasing the Phantom Although nature's wolverine may be pretty ferocious, he's probably not as swarthy as Hugh Jackman. Nature documentaries are great, but not when you are hankering for an action flick. (Though we think that wolverine might be just as cantankerous.) Click here to view this gallery. Last week, Netflix streaming said goodbye to Starz content, a loss that has significantly pared down its online offerings. While Starz movies only made up about 1,000 of the streaming options, they were anywhere from 2% to 8% of the content streamed by users. That’s still a pretty significant chunk, which means those looking for favorites like Toy Story 3 and other Pixar classics, horror movies like Scream, or series like Party Down will need to find something else to watch. When your favorite flick is not available, Netflix offers some suggestions. Not all of the alternatives quite hold a candle to the missing movies. So if you’re looking for something to watch this evening, check out our list of replacements in the gallery above. On the left you’ll see the movie that is no longer available on streaming, on the right the film that is still on Netflix. Note: Not all of these movies have been lost during the Starz deal’s evaporation, but are examples of streaming content that Netflix has struggled to hold onto licenses for. More About: Entertainment, features, Movies, netflix, starz, streaming movies For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Power Pinterest User Chosen to ‘Live Pin’ Event for Fashion Label Posted: 05 Mar 2012 12:55 PM PST   Fashion blogger Christine Martinez, the fourth most-followed Pinterest user in the world, has been busy packing for an island adventure and documenting on a Pinboard what she’s stuffing into her travel bags. But Martinez isn’t pinning to any of the 41 Pinboards on her profile, which nearly 1 million users follow. She’s posting on a board created on fashion label Calypso St. Barth’s page. Calypso is flying Martinez from California to St. Barth, a french island in the Caribbean, this week to “live pin” a photo shoot for the label’s 2012 summer look book. Pinterest can drive significant traffic to retailers' websites, and Calypso looks to capitalize on that behavior by piggybacking on Martinez’s success on the social network to attract more attention to its boards and website. Martinez, known as Chrisem on Pinterest, blogs about fashion, dogs and fashion for dogs on her Miles to Style site. She has established her personality on Pinterest as feminine and bright. Her boards, compared to other most-followed users‘ boards, are noticeably more infused with pink.
Hall devised the Pinterest initiative for Calypso after discovering increases in traffic and revenue referrals from Pinterest in the past six months. Martinez will spend March 7-8 in St. Barth, pinning items to Calypso’s “Packing for St. Barth” board and creating new Pinboards on her own profile. She says the opportunity fits well with her love for color and beautiful things. Other fashion brands on Pinterest include Ann Taylor, Bergdorf Goodman, Club Monaco, Kate Spade New York, Rent the Runway and Warby Parker, among others. However, Calypso appears to be the first brand to leverage a power user on Pinterest in a “live pin” manner. BONUS: Mashable Readers Hack Their Pinterest BoardsLast month, one clever Pinterest user helped us show Mashable readers how to hack a Pinboard to build a creative display. Many readers gave the hack a shot and submitted these gems. 1. Audrey Julienne Pinterest user Julienne captured Philadelphia's famous city hall building. It looks like she applied some Instagram filter magic too! Click here to view this gallery. More About: Business, fashion, Marketing, pinterest, Social Media
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| AOL’s Pulling Rush Limbaugh Ad Support Posted: 05 Mar 2012 12:39 PM PST   AOL is the latest company to pull ads for the Rush Limbaugh Show following the shock-jock’s recent controversial comments, which referred to a college student as a “slut” and “prostitute” for advocating contraception. Limbaugh came under fire last week for using derogatory comments toward third-year Georgetown Law student Susan Fluke after she argued for health care coverage for contraception during a Capitol Hill hearing. News surrounding Limbaugh’s comments has been widely criticized on Twitter, as members put big pressure on advertisers to yank their money. AOL responded on Monday to the events surrounding the incident and noted in a series of tweets that Limbaugh’s “comments are not in line with our values.”
AOL is the eighth company to suspend ads associated with Limbaugh. Others include Sleep Train, Quicken Loans and Pro Flowers. Although some people on social media sites have stepped forward to support Limbaugh, an overwhelming amount of the chatter has been against him. The news has also brought attention to an anti-Limbaugh movement on Facebook and a page called “Boycott Rush Limbaugh’s Sponsors to SHUT HIM DOWN”. The page — which was created in 2011 — has since attracted nearly 27,000 followers, many of which have posted comments over the past few days urging companies to pull advertising dollars that support his show. Meanwhile, representatives for musician Peter Gabriel — who’s song was used during the Rush Limbaugh Show — have taken to Facebook to ask that his track be removed from use by Limbaugh. Fluke had argued that employers should cover contraption as a part of health care coverage. “Without health care coverage, contraception — as you know — can cost over $3,000 during law school for a lot of students like me that are on public interest scholarships,” Fluke said. “That’s practically an entire summer’s salary.” Limbaugh responded by saying he doesn’t want to pay for “her to have sex.” “What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke who goes before congressional committee that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make it? It makes her a slut. It makes her a prostitute,” he said on the radio. “What does that make us? We’re the pimps.” Limbaugh said on his site he sincerely apologizes for his comments and noted that they were “uncalled for.” He also addressed the many advertisers that have pulled ads in light of the controversy. “Advertisers who have split the scene have done very well due to their access to you, my audience, from this program,” Limbaugh said. “To offer their products and services to you through this venue is the best opportunity that they have ever had to advertise their wares. Now they’ve chosen to deny themselves that access, and that’s a business decision, and it’s theirs alone to make. They’ve decided they don’t want you or your business anymore. So be it.” Image via RushLimbaugh.com More About: ads, Advertising, celebrities, Facebook, Social Media, Twitter
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| Register Now for Mashable’s SXSWi House 2012 Posted: 05 Mar 2012 12:27 PM PST
With only a few days before SXSW, one of the most memorable festivals in tech, now’s the time to populate your calendar with every event, panel and party you want to attend while visting Austin, TX. By popular demand, Mashable is bringing back one of the biggest parties in Austin: the Mashable SXSWi House, plus a few other fun surprises that we’ll be announcing soon. Join Mashable and our sponsors Dice.com, 3M and Nature Valley on Sunday, March 11 from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. for an exciting evening of music and networking, with an open bar. Joining us will be San Francisco-based DJ duo A Plus D of Bootie, who will be spinning their world famous mashups at the Mashable SXSWi House. Think Lady Gaga meets Bob Marley or Will Smith meets Daft Punk, mixed together under one roof. A Plus D, creators of Bootie, the biggest mashup bootleg party in the world, will rock the party with their musical concoctions and creative song combinations. A Plus D will be taking requests via Twitter at the Mashable SXSWi House. Follow @Bootiemashup so you can request your favorite mashups live, or tweet your favorite artists or songs, and Bootie's A Plus D will mash it up whenever possible. This week we’ll be announcing special surprises we’ve planned for the SXSWi community, and we’ll share where to find Mashable and its editorial team in Austin, so stay tuned! DetailsDate: Sunday, March 11, 2012 RSVP Policy Photo highlights from last year’s Mashable SXSWi HousePete Cashmore & Dennis Crowley Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore interviews Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley during a featured Q&A at SXSWi. Click here to view this gallery. Presenting SponsorsMore About: Conference, event, networking, Social Media, sxsw, sxsw 2012, sxswi For more Social Media coverage:
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| Google+ Hangouts Get Furry: Now You Can Chat With Cat and Dog Masks [VIDEO] Posted: 05 Mar 2012 12:11 PM PST Remember that time President Obama met Keyboard Cat during the first White House-hosted Google+ chat? That conversation may have been a spoof courtesy of Conan O’Brien — but cat-based hangouts are coming to Google+ anyway. Amit Fulay, Google Product Manager, announced in a public post that in addition to other fun chat effects already available — mustache, reindeer antlers, halo and devilish horns — Google’s fledgling social network is adding feline and canine mask options. The designers warn you won’t see the new masks straight away. “The effects are being rolled out, so if you don’t see it at first, give it a try in a few minutes,” Fulay said. These new changes come a couple days after Google+ was called a virtual “ghost town” by The Wall Street Journal by comparing the network’s activity stats with that of Facebook and Twitter. ComScore Inc. released a report that said Google+ may have garnered 90 million users, but these users haven’t done much after that initial setup. Critics of the network slam features like “Hangouts” for not offering anything different enough to lure users away from other sites. Are the masks for Hangouts enough? What do you think of Google+ Hangouts in general? Tell us in the comments. More About: Google, google plus hangouts, Social Media, social networking
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| Apple’s iPad Event: What if Every Single Rumor Is Wrong? Posted: 05 Mar 2012 11:52 AM PST  Here's something to chew over. Imagine if everything we all think we know about the next Apple iPad — even its name: "iPad 3" — is wrong. No one likes to be wrong, but all these "inside sources" and collected parts may not, in fact, add up to the sum of their parts—or to a product. I have little doubt that we'll see a new iPad. But I've noticed how the frenzy of rumors have led us all down more than a few rabbit holes in recent weeks. Most recently, CNBC reported that the big event would happen in New York. Apple has certainly held product launches in the Big Apple, most recently unveiling Apple Education Event (iBooks 2 and iBook Author) at the Guggenheim. When I heard that rumor, I almost instantly dismissed it. The Guggenheim space seemed too small for a hardware-focused event. Soon after CNBC made the guess, Apple sent invitations to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. There were similar miscalculations when it came to the timing of the actual event. Amazon posted some iPad 3 books (with an availability date of March 29th) and everyone decided that was the announcement date. That turned out to be March 27 — though March 29 could still, in theory, be the product ship date. There's also a widespread assumption that Apple will update the iPad's data service from speedy 3G to lightning fast 4G. The latest rumor, however, is that Apple may not go with 4G. This would make sense. Apple is hugely concerned about battery power and may not want to sacrifice it for speeds that may not always be consistent or available. 4G service is still not nationwide and, in my experience at least, you can't always depend on getting 4G even in areas where it should be available—which means you usually end up in 3G, anyway. True Hardware?M.I.C Gadget says it has iPad 3 parts: the glass, shell and even connectors. It has a nifty video where it puts all this together. The thing is, the hardware in the video looks a lot like a white iPad 2. Yet the video and link are being passed around like they're the real deal. They might not be. Consider this: Apple has not demanded that M.I.C. Gadget return the hardware. When the iPhone 4 fell into the wrong hands in 2009, Apple went federal on Gizmodo, doing everything in its power to get the product back. It's in Apple's DNA to care and care deeply about its products from cradle to grave. Would it really let some random blog fondle, photograph and video even pieces of a new, unreleased, unannounced product? I think not. So what does M.I.C. Gadget have? I have no idea, but it could be castoff parts that Apple is only too happy to see end up on a tech blog. Wouldn’t that be a genius bit of misdirection? It's also worth noting that the illicit hardware still features the standard iPad home button. That's notable because there's some speculation, based on the Apple invite email image, that the next iPad won't have a home button on the face. One of the longest held rumors, a high-definition retina screen, does seem like a good bet. Apple is a design-driven company; the way things look (both physically and in their interfaces) matters. The iPad's had the same resolution screen for two generations and the iPad 3 is the perfect moment to raise the resolution bar. Plus, if Apple doesn't do it, it will be the primary source of criticism for the new hardware. So even if all the rumors and innuendo weren't pointing in the direction of an iPad 3 retina display, good sense would demand it. Some Rumors Seem ObviousThat the iPad will be faster than its predecessors is a no-brainer. But you do not have to add a quad-core mobile CPU—as many have conjectured—to get there. If the iPad 3 features the fabled A6 CPU, that chip may still have two cores, but be re-architected for greater speed, graphics processing and, of course, Siri capabilities. This actually just sounds like the A5 chip the iPad 2 has, but with dormant Siri abilities enabled. Either way, quad core may not be a good guess, t's unclear if Apple sees quad-core performance as too much of a battery drain and therefore detrimental to the iPad 3 as a whole. Then there's the operating system. Is the iPad 3 running the fabled iOS 6? If you believe this report, absolutely. On the other hand, it seems unlikely Apple will roll out the iPad 3 with a new OS. Oh, they will eventually, but not when they ship the new tablet this spring. To do so would be akin to pulling out the rug from under thousands and thousands of developers, key partners who are likely unprepared for whatever new features exists in iOS 6. Here's how to approach a major Apple hardware announcement. First, take a very deep breath. Then exhale and imagine yourself releasing every ridiculous, unfounded and oddball rumor. Try to let go of some of the more well-founded suppositions. Do your best to have a clear and open mind. Then I walk into the Yerba Buena Hall, take my seat and prepare to finally learn the truth. As they always say, the truth will set us all free. If you want the truth, be sure to follow Mashable all day long on March 7. Chris Taylor and I will be live blogging from the Apple event and will have product reports and analysis throughout the afternoon. 8 Things That Could Make iPad 3 More Expensive Than iPad 21. Retina DisplayAll reports point to an iPad 3 with a screen that doubles the pixel resolution in both directions. While that would be an incredible amount of pixels (more than what's needed to even show 1080p video at full resolution), it's also going to be harder -- and more expensive -- to make such a large-size "retina display." And if Apple goes with a new kind of LCD tech (like Sharp's IGZO), all bets are off. Image courtesy moshy_moshy, Flickr Click here to view this gallery. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, 4FR More About: apple, iOS, iOS 6, ipad, ipad 3, siri, trending
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| Social Media Challenge Leads to Surprise Visit From NBA Star [VIDEO] Posted: 05 Mar 2012 11:38 AM PST It’s hard to imagine anything cooler for a 14-year-old hoops nut than a surprise visit and pizza party with an NBA star. But that’s exactly what happened last week for young Jeff Lorenz of Pennington, N.J. — thanks to an unexpected twist ending to a Facebook and Twitter contest by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry. “You could tell they were excited and enjoying it,” Curry told Mashable of Jeff and his buddies after the visit. In January, Curry held his monthly #SC30 promotion, in which he presents a challenge to fans on social media for a special prize. This iteration had people submit their best trick shots for the chance to have Curry record an outgoing voicemail for their phone. Fans submitted shots to Curry via Twitter, then he picked five finalists for a public vote on his Facebook Page. Lorenz’s shot, a long heave from a raised deck behind a hoop in his parents’ back yard, won the fan vote. Curry recorded an outgoing voice message telling callers “my man Jeff” is unavailable. But then Jeff and his buddies cooked up another plan: On March 2, the Warriors would play in Philadelphia, about 45 minutes away from Pennington. So why not challenge Curry to come by and try to make the shot for himself? “I was just kind of throwing it out there,” Jeff says. “I wasn’t expecting anyone as big as him to actually come to my house.” But, says Curry, “I thought about it and it actually made sense.” So the day before the Warriors played in Philadelphia, Curry drove out to New Jersey to take on the challenge of Jeff’s deck shot. Jeff invited more than a dozen friends over (“we were all pumped,” he says) and he and his parents laid out pizza and other party supplies. After hanging out for a bit, Curry sunk the trick shot on his ninth try . “Jeff said when he filmed it, it took him 10 times, so I beat him by one,” Curry said. “He beat me at ping pong though. He’s nice at ping pong.” Curry stuck around for a while to shoot around some more with Jeff and his friends, answer questions about his life in NBA and sign some autographs. Fittingly, after Curry left, Jeff showed his appreciation with a tweet:
More About: Facebook, sports, Twitter
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| U.S. Offers Food Safety Alerts on Twitter, State by State [VIDEO] Posted: 05 Mar 2012 11:27 AM PST The next time the U.S. government issues a food safety alert, you might hear about it straight from the horse’s mouth — on Twitter. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection serviced just launched Twitter accounts for specific states that can share news of recalls on poultry, meat and other food products for those specific regions. “These new Twitter feeds provide yet another mechanism for us to provide consumers with critical updates and relevant information they need to protect their families from foodborne illness,” USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen said in a statement. “The immediacy of information-sharing through social media is unparalleled, and we believe these timely, targeted updates will better protect public health.” Every state will now have its own Twitter alert handle using the state’s two-letter abbreviation followed by “_FSISAlert.” So for those of you in California, the handle is @CA_FSISAlert; New Yorkers should follow @NY_FSISAlert, etc. You can find the full list of Twitter feeds here. Previously FSIS alerts were issued through press releases and one main Twitter account, @USDAFoodSafety. The state-specific feeds will help consumers more easily identify which recalls are relevant to them. Check out the video above to learn more about the new Twitter feeds. Tell us in the comments: Will you follow your state’s feed? What do you think of the government’s use of Twitter to alert the public? Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, RomanOkopny More About: mashable video, recall, Twitter, usda
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| Delta Wants You to Shop Amazon While Flying Posted: 05 Mar 2012 11:16 AM PST   Delta Airlines announced on Monday that it’s offering free in-flight Wi-Fi for passengers — so long as they’re using it to access e-commerce giant Amazon. Travelers onboard all Delta and Delta Connection flights with Wi-Fi connectivity will be able to visit and shop at Amazon.com and Amazonwireless.com free of charge. The move is a part of Delta’s efforts to invest more than $2 billion in enhanced global products, services and airport facilities through 2013. To access the site, travelers can open their Internet browser on laptops and mobile devices to connect to the airline’s Wi-Fi portal, Delta Connect. The platform — powered by on-board wireless provider Gogo — also provides free access to real-time travel information, news content from The Wall Street Journal and People magazine, shopping deals and entertainment options. Passengers still have to pay to have full range of the Internet on flights. “Delta continues to offer new technology and innovation that delivers on our customer preferences while they travel with us,” said Bob Kupbens, Delta’s vice president of marketing and digital commerce, in a statement. “Our customers enjoy our free content options in-flight and free access to Amazon provides a convenient way to shop online at 30,000 feet for things they want on the ground.” Delta says it operates the world’s largest Wi-Fi-equipped fleet of aircraft, including its entire fleet of 550 domestic mainline aircraft. In total, more than 800 Delta aircraft are equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi service. Do you think more airlines will partner with retailers to offer access to their sites while flying? Let us know in the comments. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, youngvet More About: amazon, inflight wi-fi, smartphones, tablets For more Business coverage:
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| Facebook Messenger for Windows Comes Out of Beta Posted: 05 Mar 2012 11:02 AM PST   After three months of testing, Facebook Messenger is coming to a Windows desktop near you. The social network on Monday announced that Messenger for Windows, a standalone app that lets you IM friends via Windows 7, will be coming out of beta in a few weeks. “Millions of people log into Facebook every day to keep up with friends. They also browse other websites and run computer programs, so it's easy to miss important stuff,” reads a post on Facebook’s blog. “Maybe a cousin just posted about getting a new job, or a best friend wants to chat about dinner plans for tonight. You should be able to stay in touch anytime, no matter what you're doing.” Of course, you could do the same thing if you left Facebook open on your browser all day, but this is a way to keep in touch even if you close out of Facebook. The desktop sequel to Messenger has been a long time coming. Facebook introduced the Android and iOS-based mobile Messenger app last August. Based on technology from Beluga, a Facebook acquisition, Messenger provides seamless integration with SMS. In December, a version of Messenger for Windows 7 leaked. Hours later, Facebook released a version of the software. That, however, was a test, a Facebook rep says. The new iteration will be available to everyone. The rep added that Facebook designers are working on a Mac version. Facebook isn’t saying when that version will be out. When Facebook released the test version in December, we found that the Windows app looked almost identical to the chat bar on Facebook.com. As with that feature, users get notifications when friends want to chat. Friend activity is also shown, however clicking on these items will take you to a web browser. The same goes for messages in your Facebook inbox. As the pics provided by Facebook below show, this version looks the same: More About: Facebook, Facebook Messenger, trending
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| How the U.S. Military Shares Its Rich History With Facebook Timeline Posted: 05 Mar 2012 10:52 AM PST   Many brands are energizing their social media presences with Facebook Timeline, and the U.S. military has taken this opportunity to present its extensive history in a unique and engaging way. The Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines and Coast Guard have spent weeks preparing their individual Facebook Pages for the switch over to Timeline. Each branch has filled its Page with centuries worth of history, photos and interesting facts. The U.S. military has been especially proactive about social media after a policy lifted multiple bans in 2010, including the Marines’ complete ban on social media. Today, the Marines are active on almost all social media platforms — including a blog, YouTube (its channel shares video stories of the Corps) and Flickr. “A huge part of our social media community hasn’t had the Marine Corps experience. They don’t know our history as well,” says Greg Reeder, director of Marine Corps production. “With milestones [on Facebook Timeline], we can now share our rich history, share our respect for it, and contribute to our future legacy.” The military’s embrace of social media has connected service members and their families to the past and present. Photos of soldiers returning home after a yearlong deployment, or updates on current projects or missions keep thousands in touch with loved ones. Social media also appeals to the younger generation, which might lead to increased interest in the armed forces. Tanya Schusler, chief of social media for the U.S. Airforce, says that “social media enhances recruitment efforts.” However, none of the branches claim that is their goal with Timeline. “The overall intent of Air Force social media is to share the extraordinary stories of Airmen and One social hurdle the Army and Navy face with Timeline is that it only dates back to 1800. But both branches are optimistic about the platform.  “We are hopeful that we will eventually be able to go back to 1775, however, we are grateful for being able to use the platform as it is to show as much as we can for now,” says Maj. Juanita Chang, director of the U.S. Army's online and social media division. “There weren’t any photographs taken prior to 1800, so the material that is available is less visual and we can do a good job of telling it in other forms.” According to LCDR Chris Servello, the Navy’s director of emerging media, the branch “will adapt and overcome” the Timeline date limitation. “This year we are beginning the bicentennial commemoration of the War of 1812. The new timeline function offers us an opportunity to better connect Navy history and heritage with the current operations of today,” says LCDR Servello. Not only does Timeline allow each branch to archive images from the early 1800s, it also offers an opportunity to be creative with each milestone, war and historical event. “This feature allows more people to be able to explore our rich history, and to be able to visualize it in a way that they are more accustomed to seeing things, and then they are able to share that content, hopefully sharing the information and enthusiasm amongst their friends,” says Maj. Chang. 1. U.S. Army
Click here to view this gallery. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, AleksandarNakic More About: Facebook, facebook timeline, features, military, Social Media
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| Startup Allows You to Stream Programs, Games Remotely From Your PC Posted: 05 Mar 2012 10:38 AM PST   If you’re using Photoshop on your PC and need to access it over the weekend while visiting family out of town, the last thing you’d want to do is download expensive software to their computer. What if, however, you could still get the Photoshop work done on your aunt’s PC, without downloading a thing? That’s the thinking behind software startup Numecent’s new platform that will let consumers access programs, games and files remotely. Numecent announced on Monday a platform that allows applications to be streamed online, so no installation is needed. Thanks to what the company calls cloudpaging technology, you can start using applications in as little as 5% of the time it would have taken for the total download. And to boot, it can even run offline. “This concept transcends to any kind of software,” a Numecent spokesperson told Mashable. “It also allows platform-shifting, so you can access what’s on your smartphone via a PC or take what’s on your PC and use it on a tablet. It runs at the full native speed of your PC, just like regular software, and the performance quality is the same.” Here’s how it works: The service essentially chops each application into pieces and sends them to your PC from the cloud based on your need for that particular piece of code at that particular moment. A memory management unit on the PC does the exact same thing — except that it stores the pieces on your hard drive. Ultimately, the pages can be accessed and streamed. Software publishers will also have the ability to track how their products are being used by consumers. Although these vendors haven’t gone on the record with how this will change the game for them, Numecent said that they are aware of the new platform and are enthusiastic about its possibilities. “While I can’t go into specifics of the software publishers we are in contact with, I can say that we are in touch with major independent software vendors and all are extremely excited about the potential of Numecent technology, especially the ability to monitor how their software is being used ‘in the wild’ through cloudpaging.” "The industry is littered with customers who have tried legacy application virtualization, block-streaming or progressive download solutions and who became disenchanted," said Osman Kent, CEO of Numecent, in a statement. "Some of these approaches failed to live up to their original promise by delivering only 50% of the applications and managed to confuse the terminology of streaming along the way.” Numecent aims to simplify the process and make it more accessible for users. It’s also launched a spinoff company called Approxy, which focuses on providing the same technology to the cloud-gaming industry. This means that the Call of Duty game on your PC and be accessed remotely on a friends’s computer when you log in via another computer or mobile device. When done playing and logged out, the game disappears completely on the remote device. The service is already in beta with its instant HD game delivery service and will offering the platform to game developers and publishers. More About: cloud storage, computers, Gaming, Mobile, smartphones, tablets
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“The reason this program is primed for success is because Christine is an actual Calypso shopper and her boards embody the Calypso aesthetic,” 
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