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Mashable: Latest 9 News Updates - including “Foursquare Gets Translated into 5 New Languages”

Mashable: Latest 9 News Updates - including “Foursquare Gets Translated into 5 New Languages”


Foursquare Gets Translated into 5 New Languages

Posted: 14 Feb 2011 02:27 AM PST


Opening a keynote at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Foursquare co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley announced that Foursquare is now translated into 5 new languages: Spanish, French, German, Italian and Japanese.

Crowley also shared the latest stats from Foursquare: 6,500,000 users, 2 million checkins per day, 420,000,000 checkins altogether, and 3400% growth during 2010.

Explaining the concept of Foursquare to the auditorium, Crowley emphasized the importance of the gaming element, which makes the service “almost like a game in the real world”.

“Badges drive people go out and have new types of experiences,” said Crowley. “The gym rat badge is hard to get, but users are changing their real-world behavior to get the badge (…) we’re rewarding people for doing things in the physical world,” said Crowley.

The new version of Foursquare (2.2.5) is available now in the iTunes App Store.

More About: Mobile World Congress, MWC, MWC2011

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10 iPod Touch 4G Cases That Stand Out From the Crowd [PICS]

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 03:18 PM PST


Getting a case for your iPod touch is win-win. It lets you add a bit of personal style to your music device and protects it at the same time. However, finding the right case can be a challenge — there are thousands out there and most of them are about as inspiring as a warm cup of flat Coke.

Luckily for you, we’ve done the legwork and have found 10 cases (all of which boast a well-placed opening for the 4G’s camera) that stand out from the crowd with cool patterns or customizable designs.

If you’re in the market for a swanky new case, take a walk past our virtual shop shelves below to see the 10 cases we’d be happy to see enveloping our iPods. Let us know which ones you like in the comments.


1. Griffin + Threadless Solar System




It's "a typographic model of the Solar System," explains Atmostheory, the Threadless designer of this cool case. We bet poor old Pluto has never felt so left out.

Cost: $34.99


2. Roxy Hard Shell Case




This case, with its bold, bright flowers, will bring out the surfer in you. It's from Quiksilver's girlie surf'n'snow sub-brand Roxy.

Cost: $39.95


3. Marware FlexiShell Dash




This clear case from Marware comes complete with a bag of colorful "dashes" so that you can create your own retro number-style design. The dashes are removable so you can change the pattern as often as you'd like. If you're more of a dot than a dash person, then Marware offers a Dot version too -- or skip to the next slide for an alternative.

Cost: $24.99


4. Incipio Dotties




Here's another option to customize your case with these pop-out dots that let you mix it up however you see fit.

Cost: $24.99


5. Case-Mate Waddler




We challenge you not to smile a little inside. Quite possibly the cutest case ever made, Case-Mate's "Waddler" is inspired by everyone's favorite flightless black and white bird.

Cost: $24.99


6. Burton Edition Fitted Case




With a design described as "not your grandmother's china pattern," this fabric-backed hard shell case brings some serious quirkiness.

Cost: $39.95


7. Kate Spade New York Cases




Available from the Apple Store, Kate Spade's silicone cases offer your iPod some ditsy dots or sassy stripes.

Cost: $34.95


8. Uncommon "A is for Apple" Capsule Case




Just one of a huge selection of designs available from Uncommon, we particularly like this fruit-themed option that is plum perfect for an Apple product.

Cost: $39.95


9. Agent18 HeartVest




Rainbow-hued hearts on a black background make this case super trendy. On the practical side, a black metal table stand is included for propping up your iPod

Cost: $29.95


10. GEAR4 Angry Birds Cases




With a choice between the red bird, the yellow bird or the green porcine king, "Angry Birds" fans will be like pigs in clover with GEAR4's official clip-on cases.

Cost: $34.99


More iOS Device Resources from Mashable


- 5 Clever iPhone Accessories That Make Gaming More Fun
- 5 Fun Products to Personalize Your iPhone
- 10 Ridiculous iPhone Accessories [PICS]
- 10 Fun iPod Speakers for Listening in Style
- Top 5 DIY iPhone Stands [PICS]

More About: accessories, cases, gallery, ipod accessories, ipod cases, ipod touch 4g, List, Lists

For more Tech & Gadgets coverage:


HANDS ON: MiMedia Backup Now Shares With Facebook, More

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 02:52 PM PST


Storage and backup service MiMedia has added the ability to link to backed-up photos, music and videos from 16 different social networks. At the same time, it lets you send photos directly to Facebook from their backup location in the cloud. I had a chance to try out the new features, and here’s my review.

I’ve realized over the past couple of months I’ve been testing MiMedia that this is more than a mere automated backup service, saving a copy of all of my important files every night. It also lets me access my backed up data and play music, view photos and use it from where it sits in the cloud.

MiMedia has an unusual approach to getting your files from home to cloud, first mailing you a hard drive on which you put all the files you’d like backed up (unfortunately, it’s PC-only for now). After an easy transfer routine of about 25GB of my most important files, I simply placed MiMedia’s hard drive back into its postage-paid packing case and returned it to the company. A few days later, I went to my portal on the MiMedia site, and there were my files, backed up in the cloud with no lengthy transfer necessary. That would’ve taken a long time even with relatively fast broadband service.

Once the files resided on my portal on MiMedia’s servers, I noticed how easy it was to view photos and listen to music I had stored there. MiMedia it doesn’t break digital rights management (DRM), so you won’t have much luck with protected content, but for MP3s, the web-based music player works beautifully. It wasn’t as good for viewing videos, many of which were so large it was hard to view them in a practical amount of time.

So what’s new about it? The latest innovation has a “Share” button that lets you select an item and then share it directly to your Facebook account. It’s a simple matter of logging into Facebook from the MiMedia portal, giving MiMedia the necessary permissions, and then sending your photos directly from the cloud onto a new or existing Facebook album. You can’t do that with video yet, but MiMedia says that’s on the way. (Update: The company says that feature is now implemented.)

For other social media services, MiMedia lets you connect to them and share a link. For example, if you’d like to share photos on Twitter, select a photo or album, and MiMedia helpfully inserts a link into a tweet for you, linking visitors to a slideshow inside your MiMedia portal. It’s efficient — I like the way there’s no need to transfer photos anywhere else after you’ve already placed them on your backup drive.

The company has set up 16 different social media sites for sharing: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Buzz, StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, Newsvine, Friendfeed, Mixx, Delicious, Bebo, AOL Lifestream, Blogger, Yahoo Buzz, and MySpace.

With these refinements, MiMedia moves closer to an ideal cloud-based media viewing and backup space. Make it Mac-friendly and give it Dropbox-like undelete and versioning features, and it’ll be practical for a lot more users. For now, the service is a good value for $5 per month for 25GB of storage, $10 for 100GB, $20 for 250GB and $35 a month for 500GB.


Facebook Sharing




Create a new album on Facebook, or put photos into an existing one.


Send it to Facebook




Here are three photos on their way to a Facebook gallery.


On Facebook




Your photos end up on Facebook.


Share using a link




Picvk your service, and share a link back to your MiMedia portal for a photo or video.


Link to a Video




To share a video? Place a link on a social feed, and your viewers vcan watch the clip on your MiMedia portal. This doesn't work well with large clips yet.

More About: backup, cloud, facebook, media player, MiMedia, review, social networks, twitter

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4 Ways to Do Good This Valentine’s Day

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 01:54 PM PST

hearts image

Valentine’s Day is everyone’s favorite holiday. Unless you’re in a relationship and you have to plan a whole big thing for your significant other. Or if you’re single and the day just reminds you of what you don’t have. Or maybe you just don’t like holidays in general? Okay, Valentine’s Day sucks.

Even if you can’t stand February 14, we can all agree that it’s good to give back. That’s why we’ve pulled together a short collection of ways you can do good this Valentine’s Day — from charitable donations to advocacy to cards for your loved one(s).

Of course, there are probably even more possibilities out there, so please share — in the comments below — other ways to give back and do good this Valentine’s Day.

  • Causes.com: This site will donate $10 of any purchase to one of five charities, including the Campaign for Cancer Prevention, Support the National Parks and TPRF: Food for People. You can buy Valentine’s staples like flowers, e-cards, or even chocolate-dipped strawberries from online vendors.
  • Change.org: Rather than donating money to a cause, Change.org is asking for your advocacy this Valentine’s. This campaign asks your support in stopping the use of forced or child labor to mine for diamonds. It might not be as “romantic” as actually giving your sweetie a real diamond but that won’t matter when you’re trying to make someone else’s life better.
  • Charity: Water: charity: water is becoming known for its Valentine’s day productions, as can be seen in its Western love-duel clip above. The charity has also made sure to include some options for consumers like a diamond waterdrop bracelet from Kwiat jewelers. All proceeds go directly to charity: water. You can also give the “gift of clean water in someone’s name, and notify that person via a Valentine’s card.
  • Charity Cards: If you want something that’s simple but says it all, try Charity Gift Certificates. Once you send your e-card, the recipient can then choose a charity to benefit from your gift. It’s a win-win-win.

Image courtesy of Flickr, ♥myu

More About: charity, Gifts, non-profit, social good, trending, valentine's day, Valentines

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12 Ways to Use Quora For Your Job Search

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 12:40 PM PST


Looking for a job in social media or the tech space? You probably already have a LinkedIn account and maybe even Twitter. If you’re really serious about personal branding, you might even have your own Facebook Page. Where else can you build your personal profile and showcase your expertise? Why not Quora, the online question and answer community?

Here are twelve ways to use Quora as a platform to build your reputation, establish your expertise and get on the radar of recruiters and company execs for potential employment.


1. Fill Out Your Bios


Quora provides plenty of places where you can summarize your expertise including your main bio and Topic Bios, based on your experiences around a particular topic. When you first sign up, Quora feeds you some initial topics on your profile page where you can elaborate on your expertise, but you can add a topic bio for yourself on any topic page. Craft your topic bios keeping in mind that only the first handful of words will show up next to your name and only when you participate in conversations under that particular topic.


2. Invite Your Networks


When you join Quora, the site populates your account with some suggested followers to get you started, based partly on your own contacts if you access the site through Facebook, Twitter or e-mail. Quora rotates suggestions of additional people to invite from your network. Inviting people you already know sets a level of quality to your following. Your participation on Quora can show people who already know you in one venue a different side of you – and your expertise – that can lead to new opportunities.


3. Follow Company Execs


Identify the key players connected with companies you’ve targeted as places where you’d like to work. In some cases, the CEOs and other executives of tech companies, particularly startups, are already on Quora. The same goes with leaders of social media agencies, as well as social media directors of brands and organizations. Review their bios and peruse their participation on Quora via their profile pages. Follow anyone relevant to your job search. Don’t forget recruiters. You can also find people to follow on Quora through the Trending Topics and People entries on your Quora home page although this may be a little less fruitful than searching directly for company or industry mentions.


4. Follow Relevant Questions and Topics


Start searching Quora for the topics and questions that already exist on the site that could be relevant to your job search. In fact, start by following job search-related topics such as: jobs, job hunting, job search, employment, hiring, careers, career advice, career choices, career transitions. The topics and questions you follow are published on your Quora profile page and can help suggest to others that you are seeking employment while also providing you with advice during your job hunt.

Next, search for keywords pertinent to your target industry. For example, if you’re looking for a job in social media, search for social, social media, social media marketing, social networks, and even specific social media tools by name.

Finally, if you’ve identified companies where you’d like to work, search for those company names and follow both topics and related questions. Keep in mind whatever you follow appears on your profile page.


5. Comment Thoughtfully


Before jumping in to answer questions on Quora, start by commenting on other people’s answers. Use comments to add to someone’s answers or ask for clarification. More seasoned Quora users use comments to warn people that their answers aren’t relevant, but if you are looking to build your Quora profile for a job search, keep your comments positive and appropriate. You can also comment on actual questions to ask for additional information. Comments aren’t prominent on question pages, however, the person who asked or answered are notified about your comments. Don’t comment gratuitously.


6. Vote Up Others’ Answers


Read through the answers that questions have received in areas where you have an expertise. If someone has already provided a thorough answer that you feel is a quality response, vote it up. Up votes should be given after careful consideration, not indiscriminately. Your name appears next to the voting buttons when you up vote an answer and remains visible until several more people vote. Up-voting is a nice gesture – when well-deserved – that can bring you to someone’s attention. Refrain from down-voting answers while in job search mode to keep your Quora ranking high.


7. Pick Questions to Answer


Searching by topic or keywords related to your knowledge, skills and abilities can lead you to questions that may be advantageous for you to answer. Assess any existing responses to those questions. Have all the bases been covered, or is there value you can add to the conversation? Do you have a response that is significantly different from what is already there? "Me, too" responses are generally frowned upon, especially if you don’t elaborate and provide additional information that hasn’t yet been shared. Sometimes you can have a greater impact by responding to questions that don’t yet have answers. You can find unanswered questions by clicking on the “Answer Open Questions” tab on your Quora home page.


8. Answer Questions With Care


Quora gives you the ability to save drafts of your answer before you actually publish them. Take advantage of the draft mode to organize your thoughts. If appropriate, reference other answers that have been given if you are elaborating on them. If you are the first to answer, look to set the bar by being organized, thorough and direct. Don’t give an opinion as an answer unless the question is asking for opinions.

Temper self-promotion in your responses. Reference yourself only if relevant to the question being asked, not because you want to draw attention to yourself in every answer you give. You’ll get far better attention from answering questions well than tooting your own horn.


9. Ask Strategic Questions


Some people ask questions that they can answer themselves as a way of showing what they know. Instead of answering your own questions, ask questions that really matter to you and where getting answers from others can open up a dialogue for networking.

Since you’re on a job search, ask questions about honing your search, how you can leverage your network, how you can put your best foot forward in social networks, even who’s hiring in the industries or geographic regions you’ve pinpointed for your search.

Ask questions about companies. Identify prospective companies to pursue for employment by asking questions about the types of companies where you’d like to work. If you’re narrowing down your target list for employment, ask direct questions about each company’s corporate culture or other questions that will give you insights into those companies.


10. Tag Your Questions


Asking questions on Quora can sometimes feel like talking into a void. If you haven’t built up a following or profile, getting your questions answered can take time or not happen at all. Be patient but also make sure you tag your questions with appropriate topics. Be thorough and strategic, but don’t overdo it. If you discover a topic that is relevant to a question you’ve already asked, you can add it to your question at any time.


11. Post to Your Following


On your Quora profile page, you can post content, and your followers will see a notification in their feed. Some Quora members use posts like a blog, while others repurpose or reference blog posts they’ve published elsewhere. Make sure what you post sets you up in a positive light to potential recruiters or employers. Your posts can be voted up by others, increasing your visibility.


12. Endorse Others


In the same way that voting up someone’s answer can put you on their radar, endorsing them can do the same. Don’t go overboard. Use this tactic sparingly and give kudos to people who you trust as experts in particular areas. There can be a bit of reciprocity if you endorse someone who knows you and knows your strengths – they may in turn endorse you which can’t hurt in terms of credibiilty on Quora.

Many of the above suggestions are based on best practices for interacting within any online community, and they can prove effective on Quora over time. Participating thoughtfully on Quora can make a good impression on both the Quora community and potential employers who are using Quora to identify worthy job candidates.


Social Media Job Listings


Every week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post 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 Job Search Resources from Mashable:


- HOW TO: Land a Job at 9 Hot Startups
- Top 5 Online Communities for Starting Your Career
- HOW TO: Land a Business Development Job
- Top 5 Tips for Creating Impressive Video Resumes
- 19 Resources to Help You Land a Job in 2011

More About: career, career guidance, careers, job hunt, job search, job search series, jobs, q&a, quora

For more Social Media coverage:


More Clues Point to iPhone Nano Debut [REPORT]

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 11:57 AM PST


Is there a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone on the way? Rumors abound, but now the Wall Street Journal has found “people familiar with the matter” who have actually laid hands and eyes upon it:

“One of the people, who saw a prototype of a new iPhone several months ago, said the new device is intended to be sold alongside the current line of iPhones and would be about half the size of the iPhone 4. The phone, one of its codenames is N97, would be available to mobile carriers at about half the price of Apple’s main line of iPhones, the person said.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple’s also considering making its MobileMe online storage service free, allowing users to store their data in the cloud rather than on a small device such as an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. This move could facilitate a smaller iPhone, which could store most of its data elsewhere rather than within its tiny confines.

When will we see such a tiny iPhone, reportedly one-third smaller than its bigger brother, and costing $200 with no contract? The WSJ sources are saying this summer, which is right in line with the usual time new iPhones are unveiled.

More About: apple, free, iphone nano, mobileme, Smaller iPhone, trending

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Pre-Buzz: Social Media Predicts Grammy Winners? [INFOGRAPHIC]

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 11:00 AM PST


Who’s winning a Grammy Award tonight? We have the early buzz, gathered from social media sources since December 1. Will the pre-show buzz predict who brings home the hardware tonight?

Here’s an infographic from Meltwater Group, using its own Meltwater Buzz tool to track social media conversations about the top three Grammy Award categories: Best Album, Song and New Artist.

Meltwater determined its pre-buzz winners “based on the volume of mentions and sentiment of the social media community across blogs, microblogs, social networks, comments, message boards, videos and Wikipedia.”

How correct are these predictions? Tell us in the comments, or find out for sure by checking out the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards broadcast tonight at 8 EST on CBS.

More About: 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, grammys, infographic, Meltwater, Pre-show buzz, social media

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Tron Light Cycle Now Street Legal [PICS]

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 10:13 AM PST


If you’ve been lusting after one of those light cycles from Tron: Legacy ever since you saw that movie last year, now there’s a street-legal version available for purchase.

This won’t be exactly like those light cycles you saw on the silver screen, though. Hammacher Schlemmer says the bike is “designed for casual cruising and slow ride-bys at shows.” Looking at its specs, it’s not inherently slow. After all, it’s packing a 996cc Suzuki four-stroke engine, not the biggest motorcycle engine in the world, but if it were properly modified like the Ducati 996, it could still power this crotch rocket to some impressive speeds.

That driving position might take a little getting used to. It’s similar to what you saw in the movie where you’ll be lying down almost horizontally, controlling its six-speed manual transmission with foot pegs and handlebar controls, each residing on opposite ends of its electroluminescent fiberglass body.

Look at its rimless wheel, originally built for a truck but modified for its new role as a huge, futuristic-looking motorcycle wheel:

Want one of these bikes? Each is built to order, so you’ll probably have to wait a while, but you might need the extra time to save up your money — it retails for $55,000. Or you could settle for a Tron: Legacy light-cycle-like mouse, considerably cheaper but still overpriced at $100.

More About: futuristic vehicles, motorcycles, trending, tron legacy, Tron Light cycle

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Leaked Images Of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1″ & Galaxy S II [PICS]

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 09:10 AM PST


Shortly after that leak of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1″ specs, now there are new pictures of the new tablet and the Galaxy S2 smartphone, too.

Along with these pics comes confirmation of those specs we reported on earlier — the 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab has an 8-megapixel camera with HD recording and playback, 1200 x 800 resolution, and runs the Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) OS.

The 8.49mm-thin Samsung Galaxy S II Smartphone doesn’t have the 1.2 GHz dual-core processor rumored before, but according to Samsung Hub it has a 1GHz dual core processor, weighs just over 4 ounces, and has a a 4.27-inch AMOLED WVGA display.

We have the pics, we have the numbers, and now we have boots on the ground in Barcelona — Mashable’s Chris Taylor and Stan Schroeder will have first-hand reports about these two devices and many more from Barcelona all week.


Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1"





Samsung Galaxy S II





Samsung Galaxy Tab, Shot 2





Samsung Galaxy S II, Leaked Pic





Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and S II Smartphone




Images courtesy of Samsung Hub

More About: barcelona, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 10.1, gallery, leaked images, Mobile World Congress, trending

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37 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

Posted: 13 Feb 2011 07:30 AM PST

icon heads image

Notice something different in the air? No, it’s not hordes of people rushing out to buy Valentine’s Day presents — we’ve added a section to our weekly roundup.

We’re still bringing you all the tools and resources from the past week or so, but we’ve also combed through to pull out some of the best, most useful, or most interesting reads as collected by our editors. These include stories on the smart grid, a guide to Facebook privacy, and a break down of how 3D technology actually works.

Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.


Editors’ Picks



Social Media


For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.


Tech & Mobile


For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.


Business


For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Rosaura Ochoa

More About: business, Features Week In Review, gadgets, List, Lists, Mobile 2.0, social media, tech, technology, trending

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