Mashable: Latest 27 News Updates - including “Facebook to Update the Commenting System with Votes and More [REPORT]” |  |
- Facebook to Update the Commenting System with Votes and More [REPORT]
- Windows Phone 7 Syncing for Mac Coming Later This Year
- Create Automated Website Tests with Ease
- Facebook Dials Up Security with Temporary Passwords via Text
- Redbox Kiosks Now Testing Video Game Rentals Across U.S.
- Sony’s Google TV-Powered Devices Have Arrived
- Corona’s New Facebook Campaign Puts Your Face in Times Square
- Apple Publishes a Band’s Guide to Ping
- The Story Behind Sesame Street’s Viral Old Spice Spoof
- HOW TO: Export Your Illustrator Images to HTML5 Canvas
- Google Just Lost a Potential Ally in its Legal Tussle with Oracle
- The iPad Case for People Who Like Turtles
- Marissa Mayer’s New Job: Google’s Location and Local Services
- “Will It Blend?” Meets Old Spice [VIDEO]
- Is Mobile Video Chat Ready for Business Use?
- Internet Advertising Hits New Revenue Record
- Digg’s New CEO: Sorry We Disappointed You
- Battling Chimeras: Windows Phone 7
- 10 Unique Headphones for Listening in Style
- Nintendo Announces 25th Anniversary Mario Consoles for Europe
- How Has “The Social Network” Changed Facebook’s Brand Perception? [STATS]
- TRON Gets an IMAX Sneak Peek and a Facebook App
- 10 Memorable Viral Videos of 2010 [Mashable Awards]
- Amazon Eyes Different, Shorter Kinds of Content for the Kindle
- iOS Game Developer Behind “We Rule” Sold for $400 Million
- 4 Real Challenges to Crowdsourcing for Social Good
- This Morning’s Top Stories in Tech, Mobile and Social Media
- Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Expires on Halloween
| Facebook to Update the Commenting System with Votes and More [REPORT] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 02:02 AM PDT      Facebook may be looking to update its commenting system with a slew of very important features, including threaded comments, voting and a couple of others. All Facebook has a screenshot (below) which shows these features in action. We don’t know the origin of the screenshot, but Facebook may be testing the new features on a small subset of users, as it often does.  If the screenshot is genuine, it’s extremely interesting; the new features have the power to transform Facebook’s commenting platform – which is currently a very simple affair – into something far more advanced. Threaded comments are a great addition; many blogs, including Mashable, have switched from a single-threaded to a multi-threaded commenting system and never looked back. The ability to see some extra info about the user that left a comment, including his comment count, is obviously quite useful, too. But the really big news is the voting system, which gives users the ability to rate a comment positively or negatively, similar to Digg’s voting system. The votes result in a comment rating, which can be really useful if Facebook plans to introduce a comment moderation system based on the ratings later on. What do you think about these new features that may be coming to Facebook commenting system? Would you like to see any other improvements? Please, share your opinion in the comments. We’ve asked for Facebook’s comment on the screenshot above, but haven’t yet heard from them. Reviews: Digg, Facebook, Mashable More About: commenting, comments, facebook, social network, social networking For more Social Media coverage:
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| Windows Phone 7 Syncing for Mac Coming Later This Year Posted: 13 Oct 2010 12:28 AM PDT   Sometime in 2010, Mac users will get the ability to sync Windows Phone 7 devices with their Mac computer. Microsoft UK's head of Windows Phone marketing, Oded Ran, first tweeted that WP7/Zune syncing with Mac is coming “soon”, with Microsoft later confirming it’ll happen this year. “Later in 2010 Microsoft will make a public beta available of a tool that allows Windows Phone 7 to sync select content with Mac computers”, Microsoft’s statement said. While that doesn’t really sound like a full-fledged Zune client for Mac, it’s still nice to see Microsoft giving some love to Mac users who also happen to be interested in a Windows Phone 7 device. More About: apple, mac, microsoft, Mobile 2.0, smartphone, sync, synchronization, windows phone 7, wp7, zune For more Mobile coverage:
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| Create Automated Website Tests with Ease Posted: 12 Oct 2010 09:39 PM PDT   This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Quick Pitch: Fake is a new browser for Mac OS X that makes web automation and testing simple. Genius Idea: Inspired by Apple’s Automator, Fake is a tool that lets web designers and developers create graphical workflows that can be run again and again, without human interaction. These workflows can be saved, shared and edited at ease. Whereas Fluid is a great tool that can appeal to a wide array of users, Fake’s target audience consists of developers, web designers or people that have to perform the same automated tasks repeatedly. That is to say, if you aren’t doing a lot of website testing, unit tests or debugging, Fake might not be for you. However, if you are a web designer or developer, Fake is just awesome. I’ve been using this app for the last month or so and I have to say, the ability to create workflows to perform rudimentary tasks like capturing a screenshot or filling out a form or clicking on a link is just really remarkable. A common workflow I utilize is taking screenshots. Oftentimes when I’m writing a post, I’ll need a screenshot from lots of different sources. Rather than taking each screenshot individually, I can just enter in each URL into Fake and have it repeat the “capture screenshot” action for each site. That way, while I’m writing in the background, my screenshots are being captured and saved to a folder of my choice. For testing purposes especially, the fact that Fake has assertions, assertion failure handlers and error handlers makes it really powerful. It’s often hard to get a real sense of how a site or web app is going to perform under certain conditions. User testing is great, but it can be expensive and time consuming, especially if you need to test various alternating aspects of a site. The great thing about saving workflows is that you can modify or rerun the workflow against other content. So for people doing A/B testing, you can set up the same set of “fake” interactions for each version and compare results. Fake is $29.95 but you can download a free trial to see how you like the app. The trial doesn’t let you save workflows and limits you to 8 actions at a time, but it’s a great way to determine whether or not you need this kind of app. Check out this video to see Fake in action: Designers and developers — what types of tools do you use for unit or automated testing? Let us know. Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
Reviews: fluid More About: automator, fake, fluid, mac apps, single-site browser, software, unit testing For more Dev & Design coverage:
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| Facebook Dials Up Security with Temporary Passwords via Text Posted: 12 Oct 2010 08:29 PM PDT   Facebook has released a new feature to help users protect their accounts when they log into public computers: one-time passwords. The feature is simple: users that want to use a public computer but don’t want to risk using their sensitive passwords on it can text “opt” to 32665. If their phone is linked to their Facebook account, they’ll be texted back a temporary password that can only be used once and expires in 20 minutes. The feature “should be available to everyone in the coming weeks,” according to Facebook. One-use passwords make perfect sense; once you’re done with your Facebook session at an airport or a hotel computer and log out, nobody else can get in because the password will have expired. Even if someone installed a keylogger, it wouldn’t matter. You don’t have to worry about whether you need to change your password because you accidentally told Firefox to save it. The world’s largest social network has been focusing in on security recently. Last month, Facebook released a remote logout feature that also tracks your account activity, letting you know if someone is accessing your account without authorization. Will you take the extra step of texting to get a temporary password? Or is it too much of a hassle when you’re on the go? Let us know your thoughts on Facebook’s new security features in the comments. Reviews: Facebook, Firefox More About: facebook, Facebook security, passwords, security, SMS, text message For more Tech coverage:
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| Redbox Kiosks Now Testing Video Game Rentals Across U.S. Posted: 12 Oct 2010 07:13 PM PDT   Redbox will begin renting out video games at DVD rental kiosks around the U.S. this month, expanding on earlier tests in limited markets. Although there hasn’t been a formal announcement about the games, there’s already a section of Redbox’s website where you can search for games and locate nearby kiosks that offer them for rent. When we contacted Redbox for comment, a spokesperson told us that the company began testing video game rentals back in August 2009, but that this month, “Redbox will be expanding its video game rental test to include additional markets in the West, Midwest and Atlantic coast” as “part of an ongoing test designed to gauge consumer interest in video game rentals.” PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS games are included (no PSP games, apparently) in the inventory, which isn’t very large. It’s comprised mostly of recent, top-selling releases. You won’t find many classics in the mix. Each rental costs $2 per day — twice as much as a DVD movie and $0.50 more than a Blu-ray flick. It works just like the DVD and Blu-ray rentals apart from the price. You visit a kiosk, take your disc and return it whenever you’re done. Chief Redbox competitor Netflix doesn’t yet offer video games, but Redbox doesn’t yet offer online streaming, so the game is still afoot.  Image courtesy of Flickr, TheTruthAbout Reviews: Blu, Flickr More About: dvd, game rentals, games, gaming, kiosks, movie rental, Movies, nintendo ds, nintendo wii, playstation 3, redbox, video, video game rentals, video games, video rental, Xbox 360 For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Sony’s Google TV-Powered Devices Have Arrived Posted: 12 Oct 2010 06:06 PM PDT   Sony has unveiled its newest line of Internet-enabled TVs, complete with the highly-anticipated Google TV software. Sony’s new Internet HDTVs, unveiled earlier today at a press event in New York City, sport 1080p edge-lit LED screens, with the exception of the 24″ model. They come with four USB ports, four HDMI inputs and Wi-Fi capabilities. They are available in four sizes: 24″, 32″, 40″ and 46″. The 24″ model rings in at $599 while the 46″ will cost you a hefty $1,399. The big selling point of the new TVs is their inclusion of Google TV. The Internet TV software brings Hulu, Twitter, Netflix, YouTube and Pandora to your living room screen, not to mention search capabilities and a myriad of Android apps. Web surfing is powered by Google Chrome, while apps are powered by the Android OS. It integrates the web with your existing cable or satellite TV by making it simple to search your TV shows and your favorite websites at the same time. The service was revealed earlier this year at Google I/O.  One of the more controversial parts of Sony’s new Google TV-enabled devices is the remote, though. It looks like a combination of a PlayStation 3 controller and a QWERTY keyboard, complete with dozens and dozens of buttons. In fact, Sony says some of the remote’s design elements are borrowed from the PS3. Some people may love the extra functionality, but others might be turned off by all of the buttons. The new TVs become available this Saturday on SonyStyle.com and in Best Buy stores nationwide this Sunday, making this weekend the first indicator of whether consumers are demanding TVs that can also surf the web. Google desperately wants to dominate the living room screen and get people to use the web even more than they already do. Whether consumers will pony up the extra cash for Google TV devices is a question we’ll soon be able to answer.  Reviews: Android, Google, Google Chrome, Hulu, Internet, Pandora, Twitter, YouTube More About: android, google tv, internet tv, sony, Sony TV, trending For more Tech coverage:
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| Corona’s New Facebook Campaign Puts Your Face in Times Square Posted: 12 Oct 2010 05:38 PM PDT   Corona is betting that young adults want to see their faces tower over New York City’s Times Square; in order to make it happen though, the Mexican beer is turning to Facebook. Grupo Modelo, the company behind the popular Mexican beer, has launched a campaign to promote Corona Light to the young adult crowd. While it will contain traditional media advertising, it’s also placing Facebook front-and-center in its efforts to become the “most liked light beer in America.” Here’s how it works: you “like” the Corona Lite Facebook page. Once you do that, you get access to the Times Square app, which will let you upload a photo (at least 500×500) for use in a billboard the company will be running from November 8 to December 6. There will even be pictures from the other side of the square showing what your face looks like hovering over the crowds of people that traverse Times Square every day. This campaign, while simple, seems like an extremely smart move on Corona’s part. Not only does it get the benefit of a Times Square ad, but it gets thousands of people to “like” Corona Lite’s Facebook page, where the company can deliver even more marketing messages and news about its beers. Not only that, but we bet there will be a lot of happy people who share their moment in Times Square with their friends, complete with Corona’s advertising. Now if only liking their Facebook page resulted in free beer. Reviews: Facebook More About: Beer, Corona, Corona Light, facebook, MARKETING, social media marketing For more Social Media coverage:
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| Apple Publishes a Band’s Guide to Ping Posted: 12 Oct 2010 04:42 PM PDT   Apple has published an artists’ guide to Ping, its iTunes-linked, music-based social network. Ping has been something of a challenge for independent bands since the service launched along with iTunes 10 six weeks ago, when only a handful of internationally renowned artists were on the network — people like Lady Gaga and bands like U2. As it became apparent that Ping lacked a deep and wide network of artists, we found out that many artists were struggling to figure out how to create Ping profiles. Distribution services such as TuneCore and CDBaby have stepped in as third parties in this process, communicating with Apple and helping bands set up artist pages. Still, there were tons of unanswered questions regarding the types of content and terms of service that would be allowed on Ping, and most bands working through distribution services will still have to wait a while before their Ping pages go live because of Apple’s meticulous quality control processes. In the meantime though, Apple has published suggestions on how bands and other artists can use Ping. They include tips on uploading videos and images and lays out some key content policies, as well. What do you think of these guidelines for bands? Hat tip: TuneCore. Reviews: Ping More About: apple, artists, bands, itunes, Ping For more Entertainment coverage:
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| The Story Behind Sesame Street’s Viral Old Spice Spoof Posted: 12 Oct 2010 04:11 PM PDT   Sesame Street’s spoof of Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercials has reached 2.6 million views in just five days. Given the video’s rapid spread, we reached out to Miles Ludwig, Vice President and Executive Producer of Digital Media at Sesame Workshop, to find out how the concept was hatched. In case you haven’t seen it yet, the video (embedded below) stars the adorable blue Grover in the role originally filled by Isaiah Mustafa, spoofing lines and gimmicks from the now-famous (and continually spoofed — as recently as today) ad campaign in order to demonstrate the word “on” — for example, “I am on a horse.” The Grover video (titled “Smell Like a Monster”) is funny and adorable, of course, but we couldn’t help but notice that it’s making some references the small children who watch Sesame Street wouldn’t get. That’s normal; Sesame Street has referenced decidedly grown-up pop culture references like Mad Men and True Blood in the past. “Sesame Street has always used spoofs of popular culture to draw in and connect with its audience,” said Ludwig. “We use spoofs and celebrity appearances to draw in the adult because research shows that a child learns best when co-viewing with an adult.” Sesame Workshop team members watched the Old Spice videos roll out while they were “brainstorming ideas” for how to promote the show’s 41st season. “We thought that a fun, single-shot skit would be an ideal means for us to accomplish this promotion,” Ludwig explained. “We also thought that Grover would do a killer impression of Isaiah Mustafa. So, we set out to shoot the video in a single shot, just as they did it for the Old Spice commercial.” About 50 single-shot takes were recorded; the version you see on YouTube and around the web was take number 35. If you’re looking for clear advice on how to make your own YouTube campaign go viral, you won’t find it here though. Ludwig believes there’s “no secret formula for a guaranteed viral hit,” and that the Sesame Workshop was “fortunate that the online community has responded to this video.” Sesame Street – “Smell Like a Monster”Reviews: YouTube More About: advertising, grover, interview, MARKETING, old spice, sesame street, spoof, television, tv, viral videos For more Web Video coverage:
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| HOW TO: Export Your Illustrator Images to HTML5 Canvas Posted: 12 Oct 2010 03:17 PM PDT   We’ve just come across a free plugin that allows you to export your Adobe Illustrator files to HTML5 and JavaScript. AI to Canvas converts vectors to native canvas commands. It works for still images and for animations, too. Made by Mix Online, it’s Windows and Mac compatible, and it works with Illustrator CS3, CS4 and CS5. The exported code will function in IE9, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera. Best of all, it’s free. The plugin also allows you to add interactivity and sound, if you feel like writing a few lines of code. While working in Illustrator, simply click File > Export and choose the “canvas” option. This will generate your HTML/JavaScript and any additional files you might need. At this point, you can edit or extend the code in any way you like. AI to Canvas even includes a debugger. Adobe began offering initial support for HTML5 in Illustrator just last month. At that point, Adobe’s VP of Design and Engineering Paul Gubbay told us that, as a company focused on the creative side of technology, “this kind of movement in any direction is interesting to [Adobe] because of the opportunities it affords us." He noted that Adobe wanted to give designers and developers the tools they needed, and wanted to create modern, functional and exciting web and mobile applications. In other words, although others have framed Adobe’s position on web standards and development practices as a Flash-versus-HTML5 debate, the company sees plenty of room for both technologies and plans to fully support HTML5. For more information and tutorials, check out the documentation. You can also see some sample projects using the plugin at Mike Swanson’s blog. Reviews: Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Windows More About: adobe, AI to Canvas, HTML Canvas, HTML5, Illustrator For more Dev & Design coverage:
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| Google Just Lost a Potential Ally in its Legal Tussle with Oracle Posted: 12 Oct 2010 02:40 PM PDT   The battle between Oracle and Google over Android’s use of Java just got a lot more interesting. That’s because IBM has announced that it will be collaborating with Oracle to work on the OpenJDK project. This means that IBM will no longer be part of the Apache Software Foundation’s Project Harmony, the project that provides Android with the components it needs to run Java code. With IBM leaving the project, Harmony is basically dead in the water. Although Android wasn’t mentioned in the announcement, this is all interrelated to the Oracle lawsuit. Google responded to the lawsuit last week, claiming that Oracle, which got Java out of its purchase of Sun Microsystems, was acting in bad faith. For the non-Java savvy out there, here’s an abbreviated rundown of how and why all of this stuff matters: Apache Harmony is an open source implementation of Java. The goal in creating the project was to unite all of the various free software Java implementations together under one banner. The project had a lot of early support, the only problem was that Sun (and then Oracle) never offered the project with a Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK). The TCK is needed to prove that Harmony is compatible with the Java specification and can be seen as a certified Java independent version of Java. When Sun first open sourced aspects of Java in 2007, it said it would provide the Apache Foundation with the necessary TCK for certification. Sun never made good on those assurances and when Oracle took over Sun, the new company wasn’t interested in sharing the TCKs, instead wanting to focus all of its efforts on the officially sanctioned open source Java implementation, OpenJDK. IBM’s Bob Sutor discussed the decision on his blog, writing:
This is a big blow to the Harmony project and by extension, to the libraries and classes that Android implements from Harmony in Android. Without big backing like IBM behind the project, it’s not likely to survive. For now, the Harmony implementation of Java is fine. The problem will be when future versions of Java are released and Harmony can’t keep up in terms of features. In Java, staying compatible is key. Interestingly, InfoWorld notes that Google has more developers working on OpenJDK than Oracle. So why choose Harmony for Android? We think it’s because Google wanted to do an end-run around Sun’s licensing requirements. In essence, getting to take advantage of Java SE on mobile devices (something that Sun explicitly forbade without a license), but not having to pay for it. Long before Sun’s sale to Oracle, others pointed out the potential licensing and IP quagmire that Google was entering with Android. The reality was, Sun didn’t have the power, the funds or the industry clout to really do anything about it. Oracle does. In fact, Oracle’s clout and power is underscored by IBM’s decision to join up. IBM may be making its decisions for pragmatic reasons, but in the decision shows that IBM is not willing to side with Google in this elongated fight. At this point, Google’s only real recourse is to sensibly settle and pay Oracle, or countersue and drag the fight out even longer. By fighting back, Google risks alienating its Java-base of developers. While we question how important having a strong base of Java developers really is to Android’s success in the long term, it doesn’t mean it’s worth risking the future developments of the platform on a legal gamble. Oracle is out for blood and IBM just provided the syringe. Reviews: Android, Google More About: android, apache foundation, Google, harmony, IBM, java, lawsuits, legal, oracle For more Tech coverage:
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| The iPad Case for People Who Like Turtles Posted: 12 Oct 2010 02:37 PM PDT   We’ve seen our fair share of iPad cases lately, but the SwitchEasy Cara is the first we’ve come across that is made of hard plastic. It’s one of the thinnest cases on the market, but the size doesn’t come at the expense of features. Like other folio-style iPad Cases, the Cara has a dual-purpose stand that positions your iPad comfortably for typing and/or watching movies. The Cara goes a step beyond any case I’ve seen, though, by including a polycarbonate screen shield for added protection. It also has a distinct resemblance to a turtle shell, so if you like turtles, you’re unlikely to find a more turtle-like iPad case. The SwitchEasy Cara comes in black, white and red and is available now for $50. More About: accessories, ipad, iPad Cases For more Tech coverage:
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| Marissa Mayer’s New Job: Google’s Location and Local Services Posted: 12 Oct 2010 01:50 PM PDT   Marissa Mayer, Google’s current VP of Search Product and User Experience, has the geolocation bug. Mayer is set to change roles and oversee the location and local services within the company, according to a report published this afternoon by Bloomberg. Since joining Google in 1999, Mayer has become a crucial asset to the search giant. Under her tenure at search products, she oversaw the search interface and helped introduce more than 100 features and products to the site, most recently Google Instant. Mayer’s move to location and local services exemplifies the higher priority the company is placing on the space. In recent months, Google has broadened its location offerings, building out Google Places and taking a more active role in bridging location and mobile products and services together. Google’s success and revenue stems from its online ad sales. Google’s approach to advertising, to use contextual and targeted advertisements, has been hugely profitable for the company. Where advertising can go to the next level is when real-time geolocation targeting can take place. This is one reason why companies like Foursquare are becoming so attractive to advertisers and big brands: Location is the holy grail of targeted advertising. Mayer is known for being able to deliver results. Her move to location and local services tells us Google is looking to make bigger plays in this emerging space. Reviews: Foursquare, Google More About: geolocation, Google, google places, location, marissa mayer For more Business coverage:
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| “Will It Blend?” Meets Old Spice [VIDEO] Posted: 12 Oct 2010 01:16 PM PDT   Old Spice won an Emmy, doubled sales, and launched a film and TV career for its star with Wieden + Kennedy’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” marketing campaign. It was even imitated by Cisco, Conan and Elmo — but will it blend? This video has the answer. The YouTube clip is the blending of two successful digital marketing campaigns. We’ve already spouted the Old Spice campaign’s accomplishments, but the “Will It Blend?” campaign is no slouch either. The series of YouTube videos, featuring a dorky old scientist destroying trending gadgets like the iPhone 4 (or even a vuvuzela) in a Blendtec blender boosted Blendtec’s online sales five fold way back when. We’ve embedded the mashup below. The best line is arguably “I’m in a lab coat,” but if you disagree, be sure to let us know in the comments. Reviews: YouTube More About: MARKETING, Meme, old spice, video, viral videos, will it blend, youtube For more Web Video coverage:
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| Is Mobile Video Chat Ready for Business Use? Posted: 12 Oct 2010 12:58 PM PDT   Matthew Latkiewicz works at Zendesk.com, creators of web-based customer support software. He writes for and edits Zengage, Zendesk's blog about customer engagement. He also writes about wine and other stuff at his personal site, youwillnotbelieve.us. All the ads for Apple's FaceTime focus on personal relationships — a father talking to his son from a hotel room; a young woman showing off her new haircut to her boyfriend; grandparents looking at their grandchild's latest drawing. Is the future of mobile video chat — whether it's on your iPhone, Android, old Nokia, or (maybe someday) your BlackBerry — strictly a consumer story? Or can businesses find a way to leverage mobile video calls to help them better engage their customers and clients? Many businesses rely on video chat everyday, but for the most part they either use expensive video conferencing systems focused more on internal or business-to-business communication, or consumer-friendly tools like Skype or Google Talk. For businesses focused on client and customer relationships, the latter can become invaluable tools that allow the business to balance client face time with the realities of modern work — remote offices, consistent travel, and the need to be in two places at once. There has been a lot of talk since Apple released FaceTime for the iPhone 4 — about whether it threatens Skype and other consumer level desktop video chat clients. Skype has grown considerably in the past year, according to a recent report on GigaOM, and one of its growth strategies is to sign up small to medium sized businesses that rely more and more on video chat for collaboration and customer relationships. Will FaceTime cut into this business market? I mean, if it's "face time" that businesses want, maybe Apple's product — or one of the other mobile video chat applications out there like Fring and Qik — is the way to go. Because these applications are so consumer-focused, it seems possible they could affect how businesses and consumers relate as much as the phone itself originally did. I looked at how a few businesses are using video chat to see what benefits this technology might have for companies and their customers. How Businesses Might Leverage a Consumer TechnologyTo be fair, none of the mobile video chat services I looked at currently advertises itself to a business audience. On Apple's FaceTime page, for instance, it says that "With the tap of a button, you can wave hello to your kids, share a smile from across the globe, or watch your best friend laugh at your stories." Similarly, the website for Fring — one of Android's big video chat clients — looks like it might be a social network for toddlers. Qik touts its services with images of grandparents cooing at the grandkids over a mobile phone. It's clear that all these services are going after the consumer's heart more than the business person's bottom line. Putting their marketing campaigns aside, however, we can objectively point to at least two things that businesses might fight interesting when considering how to handle their video calls. As opposed to desktop video chat clients, mobile solutions offer:
In what ways could a business benefit from a mobile, two camera video chat? FaceTime is "Not Business Oriented" Search for "mobile video chat business" and you don't get many useful results. This is reflected in the experience Pablo Carrega, CEO of RelevanSí, a business solutions firm for green businesses. Video chat is the main way Carrega communicates with clients. "We are located in two countries," he told me. "In the States and in Argentina … It would be impossible to have face contact with [our clients] without Skype. It's a trust tool for us." Video chat is crucial for Carrega's business because, as he said, "We can see the face of our client — his opinions. Facial expressions for us [are] very important because we can really see if he likes what we are doing." Additionally, both sides can use the camera to better illustrate complex ideas. But, when asked whether he uses any mobile video chat services with his clients, Carrega responded that even though he owns an iPhone 4 (along with an iPad) the technology is just not developed enough for him. FaceTime requires Wi-Fi and another iPhone 4, for instance; and while the quality of the video call itself might be quite good, it is awkward to use alongside his other business tools. The iPad allows him to communicate and share presentations away from his desk, for instance, but try to add video chat in to the mix and "[i]t's a little complicated," Carrega explained. "You have your iPhone in one hand and your iPad in the other trying to open your Keynote presentation… It's not business oriented." For Carrega and others like him, the business transacted with the customer more often than not requires more than just face-to-face chatting. FaceTime, Fring and other mobile chat clients don't integrate closely enough with the other tools he uses to engage his customers. Show the People, Show the RoomFor Eric Rice, CEO of LWI, a business management company for celebrities and professional athletes, mobile voice chat offers completely new and valuable ways to engage with his clientele. Video chat was already a big part of Rice's business. Dealing with his clients requires trying to get a lot of people together who, for all intents and purposes, live on the road. Having face-to-face conversations is important, but having them in the same room is very difficult. He calculated that video chat saves his company anywhere from 13 to 25 hours a month in e-mail writing and about $13,000 every 60 days in flights. With mobile video chat, he can connect with even more flexibility — people almost always have their phone, he said — and the dual camera on the iPhone allows him and his clients to basically share their respective spaces, which is helpful when looking at endorsement products, for instance. In those cases, the video chat client doesn't need to integrate with other business tools. It just needs to show the people and show the room. Rice described one situation where a client needed LWI's help throwing a charity event in San Diego, where LWI is based. The client lived in West Virginia, so they discussed how they should pick out the spot. "He said, 'Just send me pictures.' " Rice explained. "And instead of pictures, we were actually on the phone with him [using FaceTime] scoping around the entire venue, showing him 'This is about 15 feet from this, this is here.' " The client judged they had enough space and went with the spot. So for Rice, the mobility and dual camera actually approximate some of the most important parts of his client interaction. He can share the space he is in much more easily than one can do over a desktop client. And while the Wi-Fi-only aspect of FaceTime definitely creates obstacles for him, the ease of calling someone into a face-to-face conversation is vastly greater than when they relied on a laptop. Is FaceTime Right for Your Business?So looking at these two cases, it's clear that FaceTime and other mobile video chat services can be used for more than just, as Apple says, watching "your best friend laugh at your stories." But, it also will clearly have to grow quite a bit to become more ubiquitous in a business context. For now, with FaceTime, Fring and Qik all limited in some ways, it seems that the businesses best suited for mobile video chat are those with:
That being said, it is possible to imagine some customer-focused businesses innovating with mobile video chat and really taking advantage of the mobility and dual cameras. For instance, a wedding dress maker who offers the client video call updates to show progress, or to talk over details they can both look at. Or on the flip side, where a customer needs help setting up a grill and is able to show the customer service rep exactly what he or she is looking at. And as described above, Eric Rice from LWI highlights a great potential use for event planners who want to show customers the space they are thinking of booking. Have you seen any novel business uses of mobile video chat? Do you have thoughts on how a business might leverage mobile video chat to better engage with its customers and clients? Share your ideas in the comments below. More Business Resources from Mashable:
Reviews: Android, BlackBerry Rocks!, Fring, Skype, google talk, iPhone, video More About: apple, business, chat, facetime, fring, gadgets, iphone, iphone 4, Mobile 2.0, qik, Skype, small business, video, video chat For more Business coverage:
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| Internet Advertising Hits New Revenue Record Posted: 12 Oct 2010 12:02 PM PDT   Online advertising is thriving in the U.S., according to figures released in the latest IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report. Businesses and individuals spent approximately $12.1 billion on online advertising in the first six months of 2010, up 11.3% from the from the first half of 2009 and 13.9% from the second quarter of 2009. In fact, this was both the highest first-half and second-quarter revenue ever recorded. Search advertising continued to monopolize the greater share of online ad dollars, having attracted more than $5.7 billion in spending between January and June this year — a year-over-year increase of 11.6%. Display advertising, which includes banner ads, digital video, rich media and sponsorships, garnered more than $4.4 billion in the first half of 2010, a 16% increase over the same period in 2009. Digital video recorded the greatest growth of all. More was spent in video advertising from January to June than in any other half-year period before, an increase of 31% from the first half of 2009. IAB’s SVP of Industry Services Sherill Mane cited growing online advertising budgets among consumer packaged goods and pharmaceutical companies for the growth. “While the recession clearly affected short term growth in 2009, with double digit growth in both search and display during the first six month of 2010, the long term prospects continue to be strong,” added David Silverman, PwC Assurance partner.  Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tforgo Reviews: iStockphoto More About: advertising, MARKETING, online advertising For more Business coverage:
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| Digg’s New CEO: Sorry We Disappointed You Posted: 12 Oct 2010 11:43 AM PDT   In his first public blog post as the CEO of Digg, Matt Williams has apologized for the missteps that have characterized Digg version 4, saying that he is, "sorry that we disappointed our Digg community in the process," and promising to continue bringing back features that users miss. Among the returning features will be the "bury" button, profile data from earlier versions and an updated "Top News" algorithm – all of which have been high on the list of user complaints since the new version of Digg debuted back in August. Of course, whether appeasing Digg's most vocal critics is the right strategy is a subject that's open for debate. As we've noted, news consumption habits have shifted dramatically since Digg first appeared on the scene, and version 4 was in large part a response to that. But Digg’s diehard users have other ideas and continue to show their displeasure with the new site. Digg may be trying to have it both ways, however. As Williams writes, "Our top priority is to make Digg as good as it used to be. Then we plan to make it even better, through innovations in both Top News and My News." But even that might only get Digg back to where it started. Most third-party analytics data shows Digg's traffic significantly lower than at its peak, though Williams says the company is still seeing 23 million unique visitors per month. That gives the company some time to sort it out, but whether it can both appease those who have abandoned Digg and find new users to spur growth remains very much in question. Reviews: Digg, news More About: digg, digg version 4, matt williams For more Social Media coverage:
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| Battling Chimeras: Windows Phone 7 Posted: 12 Oct 2010 11:35 AM PDT   Windows Phone 7 is a sprawling mobile platform that, by year’s end, will power about a dozen devices, from four manufacturers, spanning 60 carriers through 30 countries. According to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Windows Phone 7 was created to be, “Always delightful and wonderfully mine.” It was a reactionary moment in the company's history — an answer to a question asked three years earlier. On January 7, 2007, Bill Gates, then Microsoft chairman, took the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held annually in Las Vegas. Although the keynote would focus heavily on Windows Vista, the overarching theme was the pervasive connected experience. Gates:
Robbie Bach, the former president of Entertainment & Devices at Microsoft, would explain then that delivering a connected experience was a collective ambition within Microsoft:
Two days later, on January 9, the press room in the Las Vegas Convention Center was near capacity, but attention wasn't on CES, which was now in full-swing, but rather a smaller event happening San Francisco. At the Moscone Center, Apple CEO Steve Jobs had just begun the the keynote for Macworld. Rumors surrounding an Apple phone had been spread with such fervor for so many years that the device had become a sort of chimera of gadgetry. In the months leading up to Macworld 2007, however, speculation had reached fever pitch. It was all but confirmed that Jobs would unveil the device, but a showman never leads with his best material. Jobs went on to describe how Apple had virtually conquered the digital music space through iTunes and iPods. He announced AppleTV, and though it didn't quite live up to initial expectations, it did bring iTunes directly to home theaters. And then he announced the first iPhone. The device came to define handheld connected entertainment, and it was the crucial link in the Apple connected experience chain. Back in Vegas, it was as though all the air had been sucked out of the press room. The most important device of the decade had just been announced and it wasn't from Microsoft or any other company at CES. Some 400 miles away, Steve Jobs was holding a weapon of mass destruction with built-in iPod and cell phone capabilities, and he was asking the the tech world what it planned to do. And so this week, on the morning of October 11, 2010, at a swank arts center in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, Steve Ballmer pulled back the curtain for the public reveal of Microsoft's answer to Apple's question. Windows Phone 7 didn’t suck the air out of the room like the iPhone did back in 2007, but it is a formidable adversary. Hardware regulations ensure that all devices running Windows Phone 7 will perform at a high level. Microsoft is also preparing to battle Apple on the music front with its Zune Music Pass, an all-you-can-eat subscription music service (which is all the more relevant in light of continuing talks of Apple's own subscription service). Microsoft has partnered heavily with AT&T to bring AT&T U-Verse content streaming to the devices, meaning subscribers can watch live TV for a monthly fee. There is deep Facebook integration built directly into the platform. It influences many functions of the Windows Phone 7 experience and feels as native as placing a call. Apple has played up its gaming capabilities in a major way over the past year, but it doesn't have Xbox 360. Microsoft does, and Xbox Live is on the Windows Phone 7 main screen. It won't play Halo: Reach, but expect to see plenty of Xbox Live Arcade games in the very near future. It might all be too little, too late, but it’s too early to decide with any authority. As Apple moves toward non-exclusive carrier arrangements, Microsoft has not only inked a prominent deal with AT&T, but will also be launching its devices on pretty much every other carrier you can think of. The iPhone was a revelation of a device and it caused a complete revolution in mobile, but that was the aughts. It's almost 2011, and anything is plausible, but what I saw yesterday left me with a number of doubts. Windows Phone 7 has likely the best user interface ever seen on a phone, but when it comes to devices that people depend on as heavily as their phones, function will always beat form. Every device that I handled had difficulty launching applications. The pervasiveness of this issue indicates something systemic (i.e. Windows Phone 7) and probably not hardware related. This was such a problem that when Windows Phone Program Manager Joe Belfiore was demonstrating games, he specifically used multiple devices to not eat up demonstration time with app loading. In such a heavily app driven mobile environment, difficulties in this area can quickly spell disaster. Then again, maybe it was just a fluke. There were enough positive features that I’m willing to give the platform the benefit of the doubt until it proves that I shouldn’t. [Photo by Jehangir Irani] Reviews: Facebook, Windows Phone 7, Windows Vista, iTunes More About: apple, bill gates, CES, iOS, iphone, Macworld, microsoft, Steve Ballmer, steve jobs, windows phone 7 For more Tech coverage:
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| 10 Unique Headphones for Listening in Style Posted: 12 Oct 2010 11:19 AM PDT Some people are no more likely to leave their home without a pair of headphones than they are to leave their home without a pair of pants. Yet they would never wear the same pair of pants every day… we hope. If you’re ready to mix your ‘phones up a bit and try something other than those ear buds, then we have 10 pairs that will be music to your ears. Urbanears  These classic headphones are available in about 14 different colors at any time, with two new collections released every year. A typical collection includes seven colors from the previous collection and five new ones. Two "supplementary drop" colors are released halfway through the cycle. Each model is named after a place in Stockholm, where the company is based. Price: $60 Neff Knitted Headphones Unless you have a very creative grandmother, you've likely faced the choice between warm knit earmuffs and effective headphones. Problem solved! Price: About $36 Ultrasone Edition 10 The Ultrasone Edition 10 is the Porsche of headphones. They probably border on a grossly extravagant purchase, but they're just so many ways to justify it! There's the Ethiopian sheepskin leather, the Zebrano wood, and the specifically designed Edition 10 headphone stand, for instance. Price: About $3,000 Oakley Split Thump MP3 Sunglasses Doubling up on sunglasses and clunky headphones might not be your style. But you'll look much cooler in this combination contraption, which can store between 512MB and 2GB of music depending on style. Trust us. Price: Starting at $150 Monster Butterfly These ear buds have more going for them than their pretty exterior. Multi-sized eartips are included with purchase so that you can customize them for you ear shape, and an on-cable remote lets you change songs with ease. Designer Vivienne Tam is responsible for their prettiness. Price: $200 MATADOR Series They may look like a toy, but the four designs in the MATADOR Series are still high quality headphones. Complete with swivel ear cups and a comfy adjustable headband, these are designed for stylin' DJs. Price: $50 Arriva's "Wireless" iPod Shuffle II Atereo Headphone These headphones are wireless, but not in the conventional way. After you plug your iPod Shuffle in, you wrap the adjustable zig-zag headphones around your head. The headphones come in two sizes, and according to Runner's World, they actually stay put. Price: $20 Music Ear Muff We know that there are a select few who can rock earmuffs like it's their business. They now have their pick from Landport's large selection of musical ear warmers. Makes the rest of us a little jealous... Price: About $30 Surge Waterproof Wrap Around Sports Headphones If you like to run with headphones in the rain, you likely have a couple of problems. One, of course, is the threat of electrocution. The other is keeping your headphones from slipping off of your ears and managing the chord. This pair of headphones not only solves these problems, but also allows you to go for a swim if you're so inclined (though probably best to invest in a waterproof MP3 player as well). Each pair is tested to ensure that it is 100% waterproof. Price: $60 Blinx Sound Responsive LED Headphones As their name suggests, these headphones have lights that pulse with your music. See them in action here, and you'll feel like that rave in 1998 never ended. Price: About $16 More Tech Resources from Mashable:
More About: accessories, gadgets, Headphones, music, tech, tunes For more Tech coverage:
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| Nintendo Announces 25th Anniversary Mario Consoles for Europe Posted: 12 Oct 2010 10:56 AM PDT   Nintendo will launch red-colored Wii and DSi XL game consoles in Europe later this month in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., the classic video game that marked the beginning of Nintendo’s journey to the top. The red Wii bundle pictured above will launch on October 29, and it will include both Wii Sports (which is bundled with every Wii console) and New Super Mario Bros., along with a pre-installed copy of the original Donkey Kong arcade game that introduced Mario to video game fans back in 1981. The DSi XL bundle below will arrive exactly one week earlier with a copy of the portable version of New Super Mario Bros. It’s adorned with icons representing famous Nintendo characters. Both of these were already announced for a Japanese launch in November, but we haven’t heard a peep about a North American launch yet. It seems likely though, so stay tuned.  Reviews: mario More About: 25th anniversary, consoles, ds, dsi, dsi xl, europe, games, Mario, mario 25th anniversary, Nintendo, nintendo ds, nintendo dsi, Nintendo DSi XL, nintendo wii, super mario, super mario bros, tech, video games, Wii For more Tech coverage:
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| How Has “The Social Network” Changed Facebook’s Brand Perception? [STATS] Posted: 12 Oct 2010 10:32 AM PDT   What effect has the film The Social Network had on the Facebook brand itself? YouGov BrandIndex, a daily consumer perception research service, compiled data to examine just that. An oft-discussed part of the film is its portrayal of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg himself doesn’t seem too worried about the film, but that doesn’t negate the overall impact the film will have on how Facebook is perceived now or in the future. As we noted in our film review, for better or worse, the story presented in The Social Network will become part of the historical lore for the company. The question is, has the film helped or hurt the brand? YouGov BrandIndex took at look at the general perception of Facebook among three different demographic groups between September 16, 2010 and October 6, 2010. Check out the chart of its results:  YouGov BrandIndex has scores ranging from 100 to -100 and are compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. This means that a score of zero is basically neutral — positive and negative feedback are equal. YouGov BrandIndex asked respondents: “Do you have a general positive feeling about the brand.” Some interesting notes:
The most notable data to us is just how much the perception has shifted in the 18 to 34 demographic. It could be that just having more of a historical context to how Facebook was founded — regardless of factual accuracy — has contributed to a better understanding, or at least a greater amount of respect for the brand. The 18 to 34 demo is still Facebook’s largest userbase, though the service continues to skew higher on the age scale than many other social networks. We can’t draw any clear cut conclusions and say that brand impressions were directly affected by the film, but it seems fair to say that the media buzz and discussion surrounding the film has certainly made Facebook a more prominent discussion point, at least from a branding perspective. What do you think about this data? Let us know. Reviews: Facebook More About: brand perception, brandindex, facebook, facebook movie, Film, Movies, the social network, trending For more Social Media coverage:
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| TRON Gets an IMAX Sneak Peek and a Facebook App Posted: 12 Oct 2010 10:03 AM PDT   At 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT, Walt Disney Studios is giving away free tickets to see 20+ minutes of new footage from TRON: Legacy at select IMAX locations in the U.S. and Canada. The ticket giveaway marks the start of TRON Tuesdays. Every Tuesday until the film’s release (December 17), Disney will give out exclusive content for fans, including footage, trailers and other goodies. Tickets are available for the event, called “TRON Night: An IMAX 3D Experience,” at all participating IMAX locations or online at Disney.com/TRON. Disney’s social media campaign for the film has already broken traditional borders with staged, in-character “press meetings,” geo-location badges, specialized phone and easter eggs for fans of the film and its prequel. Disney is tying the IMAX sneak peek into its latest campaign with a Facebook app designed to help fans discuss the film and connect in an interactive way. The new Facebook App is called the TRONiVerse. The application acts as a social media aggregator for all things Tron. It automatically pulls in posts, videos and photos from social networks like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr and displays it on an interactive “grid.” Users can modify what kind of content they see by network or geographical location. Right now, with more than 700,000 individual posts collected, Disney is gearing it up to become a go-to hub for Tron’s social media presence. There is no way to sort posts by country other than clicking on the map and hoping a post shows up, but this should be remedied as more posts are gathered to populate the entire map. Play around with the embedded app below or check it out on Facebook. What do you think: Does the app revolutionize how modern films can take control of their social media presence, or is it just another stale algorithm? Will you contribute or see the film? Share you thoughts in the comments below. Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, eXperience More About: disney, facebook, Film, movie, TRON, troniverse, walk disney, Walt Disney For more Entertainment coverage:
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| 10 Memorable Viral Videos of 2010 [Mashable Awards] Posted: 12 Oct 2010 09:53 AM PDT
This has been quite the year so far when it comes to viral vids — from off-the-wall jams, to adorable children, to grown men weeping over rainbows — and we at Mashable have been here through it all, watching the tiny comedies and tragedies play out on our computer screens. Below we have collected 10 of the most popular, most bizarre and most astounding vids of the year thus far. Check out our selections and let us know in the comments: What’s your web video pick for 2010? 1. Double RainbowThis little vid burst onto the scene back in July, when it won the hearts and minds of rainbow lovers the world over. 2. Insane Clown Posse, “Miracles”“Magnets, how do they work?” became an instant catchphrase after this bizarre music vid landed on the interwebs. 3. MertonChatroulette + Improvised Music – Genitalia = Viral Gold. Thanks for keepin’ it clean, Merton. 4. Ben Folds’s “Ode to Merton”Due to his striking resemblance to Merton, Ben Folds performed a few odes to the hooded one. 5. PS22 Chorus “LISZTOMANIA,” PhoenixThese Webby-winning kids can sing — and better than Phoenix, no less. 6. OK Go, “This Too Shall Pass”It’s been a big year for OK Go. They split from their label, won a Webby, and struck out on their own. And still had time to make a bunch of rad videos like our pick above. 7. Old Spice Guy Marriage ProposalThe ad campaign heard ’round the world, the Old Spice Guy’s personalized video responses were a stroke of genius. 8. The Fully Sick Rapper, “Life in Quarantine”Although Christiaan Van Vuuren is finally out of quarantine, this former TB patient’s rhymes will always be “fully sick.” 9. Auto-Tune the News, “BED INTRUDER SONG!!!”The Gregory Brothers made it to the Billboard Hot 100 for this jam. And you thought the news was boring. 10. American Idol, “Pants On The Ground”Everyone loves a good underdog story. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those moments. The Mashable Awards Gala at Cirque du Soleil Zumanity (Vegas)In partnership with Cirque du Soleil, The Mashable Awards Gala event will bring together the winners and nominees, the Mashable community, partners, media, the marketing community, consumer electronics and technology brands and attendees from the 2011 International CES Convention to Las Vegas on Thursday, January 6, 2011. Together, we will celebrate the winners and the community of the Mashable Awards at the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity stage in the beautiful New York New York Hotel. The event will include acts and performances from our partner Cirque du Soleil Zumanity. In addition, there will be special guest presenters and appearances. Date: Thursday, January 6th, 2011 (during International CES Convention week) ![Register for Mashable Awards Gala at Cirque du Soleil Zumanity stage (Las Vegas - 2011 International CES convention) [Ticketed Event] in Las Vegas, NV on Eventbrite](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ttNo0Cb2QdQ0heC9__bvePGmyXZeUHKQ6klc8Lmeb2n0ZW78V3TJEQHmVP8M_mrKoVaDCMmQvKEhJWLntN8iMAHWgNJR8GTklVQ81PB3Oe-zgwkaU0IJQYEQ=s0-d) Thanks to our sponsors: Mashable Awards Gala VIP Lounge sponsor: Influxis specializes in the deployment of creative streaming solutions. Services include large scale deployment, mobile streaming, turn-key applications, and enterprise support with custom network options. With the unique combination of a worldwide network, knowledgeable developer support and nearly a decade of streaming media experience, Influxis is an essential partner to businesses, advertisers, developers, educators, and others who seek expertise in innovative streaming. Sponsorships are available. Please contact sponsorships@mashable.com for more information. Image Courtesy of iStockphoto, timeflight Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Mashable, Twitter, iStockphoto More About: mashable awards, mashable awards 2010, video, viral, viral video, web video, youtube For more Web Video coverage:
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| Amazon Eyes Different, Shorter Kinds of Content for the Kindle Posted: 12 Oct 2010 09:36 AM PDT   Amazon issued a call today for “compelling ideas expressed at their natural length” for its e-book store. Specifically, per Amazon’s guidelines, that means non-fiction works in the 10,000-30,000-word (30 to 90-page) range that deliver a well-researched and thoughtfully executed argument related to business, politics, science, history, current events or other topics in the field of intellectual discourse. Qualifying works will be labeled as “Kindle Singles” and sold in a corresponding section in the Kindle Store for “much less than a typical book.” “Ideas and the words to deliver them should be crafted to their natural length, not to an artificial marketing length that justifies a particular price or a certain format,” said VP of Kindle Content Russ Grandinetti in a statement. “With Kindle Singles, we’re reaching out to publishers and accomplished writers and we’re excited to see what they create.” The Kindle Singles category seems like the perfect place to offer individual copies of works that typically wind up in anthologies — historical and contemporary essays on political theory and philosophy, for instance — that are simply too short to be bound individually, but too important not to be in circulation. The section could easily take aim at the education market by allowing students to forgo the purchase of course readers and unwieldy anthologies — often peppered with works that never become part of the course material — and provide additional visibility for “accomplished” self-published writers of non-fiction. It’s not entirely clear whether Amazon expects publishers or self-published authors to supply most of the content for the new section, nor the exact price range submissions will fall between; we’ve reached out to Amazon for comment on both, and will update this post with any further information. Update (5:45 p.m. ET): An Amazon rep says, “We expect to work directly with publishers and also for writers themselves to publish Kindle Singles. Any rights holder can use the already popular Kindle Digital Text Platform (DTP) to self-publish work in the Kindle Store, and this include Kindle Singles.” As for pricing, the company told us, “You’ll have to stay tuned.” More About: amazon, e-books, Kindle, media, publishing For more Tech coverage:
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| iOS Game Developer Behind “We Rule” Sold for $400 Million Posted: 12 Oct 2010 09:15 AM PDT   Ngmoco, the game-maker behind We Rule, Godfinger and several other hit iOS games, has been acquired by Japanese social gaming company DeNA for up to $400 million. Ngmoco says the deal will help DeNA expand its social network Mobage to Western markets. Mobage has “tens of millions of users in Japan,” according to ngmoco, and ngmoco’s own plus+ online gaming network has 13.5 million registered users in the West. Ngmoco recently announced that it will expand beyond iPhone, iPod touch and iPad games to support the Android platform with both old and new titles. As a result of the acquisition by DeNA, ngmoco will offer mobile game developers the “Open Mobage Smartphone SDK,” a set of tools that will allow simultaneous support for Android and iOS devices in both Japan and the West, utilizing the social platforms the companies have established in both regions. A developer beta program will reportedly begin in December. If you’re interested, you can sign up now. DeNA is paying ngmoco’s owners $300 million up front, with a $100 million additional payment should the company meet certain performance expectations. This is just the latest in a spate of big-dollar social gaming acquisitions; mega-publishing EA purchased Facebook game developer Playfish for $400 million, and Disney acquired a similar company called Playdom for up to $763.2 million. Reviews: Android, iPhone More About: acquisition, android, apps, business, dena, games, gaming, godfinger, iOS, ipad, iphone, japan, mobage, Mobile 2.0, mobile games, ngmoco, social games, video games, we rule For more Business coverage:
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| 4 Real Challenges to Crowdsourcing for Social Good Posted: 12 Oct 2010 07:49 AM PDT   Geoff Livingston co-founded Zoetica to focus on cause-related work, and released an award-winning book on new media Now is Gone in 2007. For its 40th anniversary, political non-profit Common Cause re-examined its core values and wrote almost 40 theses for the Internet era in the style of The Cluetrain Manifesto. The organization needed to know that these restated values were still in sync with its stake holders and needed its online community to provide feedback. For a month and half the organization tried to socialize the theses, getting lukewarm responses, but receiving thumbs-up on Facebook posts about individual theses, and the occasional comment. Finally, Common Cause turned the feedback exercise into a contest, creating an effort where the best suggestion from the community would become the 40th theses. Over the next two weeks, Common Cause received 1,200 responses to the contest, and the best five were voted on by the community.  Common Cause’s difficulties and eventual success reflect some truths about this harder-than-it-seems social media strategy. Working with a community to produce outcomes requires intense work and labor. While crowdsourcing may be all the rage, many online conversations and literature on the topic fail to delve into the real hardships an organization may face in its effort. Some of the hurdles may seem obvious. You need an active community in place before you can simply thrust your cause’s effort into the public for feedback. Additionally, the crowd has to at least be acknowledged if not rewarded for its participation, if the effort will be sustained for any length of time. Other hurdles require experience. Here’s a look at four areas that can benefit from the best practices: Disclosure: My company Zoetica provided Common Cause a social media strategy. 1. Will the Crowd Care? Many non-profits assume that their community will automatically care about the cause’s ongoing efforts. And while there is some common interest, to compel a community to act on an issue has to mean something to the individuals participating. The old, “what’s in it for me?” adage comes into play, especially now that contests with prizes are increasingly becoming the norm. Acknowledgment and recognition may not be enough, and not everyone can afford to offer a large cash prize. So the average crowdsourcing effort has to motivate people with real meaning in their lives. That means an organization not only has to know its purpose, but also has to know where the community’s passions lie so it can strike the right balance. The Extraordinaries, a micro-volunteering network that crowdsources for volunteers, finds many of its participating non-profits struggle because they haven’t written a compelling challenge for their community. That’s when the network’s community manager steps in to resolve these issues so that participants can maximize their exposure. Perhaps the largest crowdsourcing effort in history, Pepsi Refresh, has gone beyond grants to serve the community with topical events like Do Good for the Gulf extension, major league sports integration, and retail marketing programs. “We’ve got a community manager who is constantly dreaming up new weekly challenges … these are short things that you can do each week to volunteer in your spare time,” said Ben Rigby, CTO of The Extraordinaries. “She works with each nonprofit to resolve various issues so that non-profits can maximize their exposure. If all else fails, we do manual routing of challenges to people whom we feel would be most interested in them, on the basis of what they’ve written in their profile.” 2. Crowdsourcing Requires Time The Extraordinaries example demonstrates another major challenge with crowdsourcing. It takes time to crowdsource effectively. Indeed, although an organization might outsource innovation, it cannot outsource the labor necessary to be successful. Community management involves grassroots customer service. In spite of well-stated and published rules, an organization still needs to provide community management resources if it expects to sustain community interest. If there is a lack of structure, you can expect to invest even more time. The WeCanEndThis crowdsourcing initiative sought to use intellectual group exercises to come up with ways to end hunger at SXSW. Organizers opted for as little structure as possible to empower and inspire people to take on the challenge, and they believed there was real potential for impact. As a result, they spent more time. “When you don’t have systems and structures, and you try to do ambitious things, it takes time,” said Brian Reich, co-founder of WeCanEndThis. “That said, whatever time you spend feels very valuable — so the more you put in, the more you get out. We were breaking new ground every time we talked, put something on paper, engaged another participant. Our job was to harness, clean up, make connections, etc.” 3. Crowdsourcing Needs Structure In an altruistic world, all goes well. In reality, all hell can break loose. And while not every crowdsourcing effort goes awry, many do. Confusion about what to do can occur, and thus the need for rules and procedures. While the crowd craves freedom, people need to be told the rules of engagement and how to participate. These rules have to be clear, empowering for the crowd and directive in their end result. The Sunlight Foundation is one of the more experienced non-profits using crowdsourcing. In 2007, Sunlight started examining how Congress could make itself more open and transparent by making some technological upgrades and inviting experts from across the political spectrum to join them. The result was a series of recommendations that was lauded by both Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader John Boehner. Since then, Sunlight has been noted for its Apps for America and Design for America contests, and Twitter engagement techniques. “In regards to general app submissions, we assumed too much structure instead of encouraging more open-ended discussion,” said Gabriela Schneider, communications director at Sunlight Foundation. “People are going to use the tools (wikis, mailing lists, code hosting sites, etc.) that they are most comfortable using. Sunlight wants its role in this process to be that of matchmaker and knowledge commons.” 4. Enforcing the RulesNo one wants to police a community, but unfortunately even with rules in place, community management becomes necessary. Rules can be broken, the spirit of a contest can be thwarted, and unforeseen behaviors can necessitate action. If the larger community’s interests are to be encouraged and sustained, then community-centric behavior needs to be enforced. That means the organization will have to use some of its community management resources to enforce and even build new rules. Pepsi Refresh needed to adjust its official rules in June to address fraudulent voting that was taking place. And now, the project management team continuously monitors the community to ensure that the current rules are being met, quality levels are up to par, and votes are indeed authentic. “Throughout the duration of the program, we've worked with a number of organizations that ensure that voting processes adhere to the rules, grants are implemented according to budget and timelines, and we have a team that works each day to respond to consumer inquiries,” said Shiv Singh, head of digital for Pepsi. “In addition, a member of the Pepsi organization reviews every one of the thousand submissions each month to ensure the quality of ideas on the refresheverything.com site.” So you see, crowdsourcing isn’t as easy as it seems. But by identifying potential challenges, you’ll be well on your way to success. Let us know of any challenges you’ve face when crowdsourcing, or if you can offer any tips to make it easier for others in the comments below. More Social Good Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, oonal Reviews: Facebook, Internet, Twitter, iStockphoto More About: common cause, crowdsourcing, non-profit, pepsi refresh, social good, social media, sunlight foundation, the extraordinaries, wecanendthis For more Social Good coverage:
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| This Morning’s Top Stories in Tech, Mobile and Social Media Posted: 12 Oct 2010 06:47 AM PDT   Welcome to this morning's edition of "First To Know," a series in which we keep you in the know on what's happening in the digital world. We're keeping our eyes on three particular stories of interest today. Microsoft Unveils Windows 7 Phones Microsoft and its partners unveiled nine smartphones (and their accompanying ads) based on the new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7, at a press conference in New York Monday. Samsung and LG each announced two smartphones based on the OS: Samsung Omnia 7, Samsung Focus, LG Optimus 7 and LG Quantum; Dell unveiled one, the Dell Venue Pro; and HTC launched four: HTC 7 Surround, HTC HD7, HTC 7 Trophy and HTC 7 Mozart. Although none of the phones will have copy/paste capabilities until early 2011, there will be plenty of opportunities for gaming. The forthcoming devices will become available "in the holiday 2010 timeframe." Gap Reverts to Original Logo After Social Media Backlash Following widespread criticism of its new logo from fans via various social media channels, Gap announced on its Facebook Page that it is reverting back to its old logo. Last week, the company had promised that it would be holding a crowdsourcing competition to design an alternative, the plans for which have apparently been scrapped. "Ok. We've heard loud and clear that you don't like the new logo. We've learned a lot from the feedback," the company said on its Facebook page. "We only want what's best for the brand and our customers. So instead of crowdsourcing, we're bringing back the Blue Box tonight." According to Gap, the original logo will make its return "across all channels,” effective immediately. Gaming App Developer ngmoco:) Acquired by DeNA ngmoco:), a California-based company that designs games exclusively for the iPhone and iPod touch, announced that it is being acquired by DeNA, Japan’s largest mobile social gaming company. The price of the acquisition is a mix of $300 million in cash and stock, with up to $100 million more based on ongoing employee performance, CNet reports. Further News
Disclosure: Samsung and Microsoft are Mashable sponsors. Reviews: Facebook, Google, Mashable, Windows Phone 7, Yahoo!, iPhone More About: dena, gap, gap logo, microsoft, ngmoco, social gaming, windows phone 7 For more Tech coverage:
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| Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Expires on Halloween Posted: 12 Oct 2010 05:59 AM PDT   Here’s a reminder for all the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta users: It expires on Halloween, or Sunday, October 31, 2010. After that date, the Beta will stop working, but if you still want to try out Office software, you can download one of Microsoft’s trial versions, which will give you 60 more days to evaluate. If you decided to switch from the Beta to the final version of Office 2010, you’ll have to uninstall the Beta first, which you can do from the Windows Control Panel. If you run into problems, you can seek help over at Microsoft Answers forums. More About: Excel, microsoft, microsoft office 2010, office, powerpoint, word For more Tech coverage:
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