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Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Evernote Raises $20 Million and Plans Aggressive International Expansion”

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Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Evernote Raises $20 Million and Plans Aggressive International Expansion”

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Evernote Raises $20 Million and Plans Aggressive International Expansion

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 05:00 AM PDT


Evernote is today announcing that it has raised $20 million in a Series C round led by Sequoia Capital. The funding news comes as the startup celebrates 4.7 million users worldwide, and follows the $10 million Series B round raised less than one year ago.

“We originally didn’t plan on raising additional money … but we started looking for opportunities to scale faster and Sequoia made us an offer that got us excited,” CEO Phil Libin shared in an interview with Mashable.

Libin disclosed that Evernote still has roughly $9.5 million in funding left over from the previous round, and is operating almost entirely off of premium subscriptions.

The funds, then, will applied to aggressive international expansion that will include both product rollouts in languages beyond the 14 the company already supports and physical offices in additional countries, he says.

Internationalization is a huge priority for the two-and-half-year-old company, which is seeing fast uptake in Japan. The startup released a Japanese version of its product just six months ago, and already Japan makes up almost 20% of the user base, according to Libin. Evernote now operates an office in Japan to support the rapid growth and its many API partners in that country.

Evernote will also likely develop a ground presence somewhere in Europe and Southeast Asia, as well as release versions of its product in Latin American languages.

Libin anticipates that by this time next year, Evernote will almost double in employee size. The company currently has 45 employees, but is in “full on hiring mode, hiring in the Bay Area as fast as we can get excellent people, hiring overseas and staffing up our Japanese office,” he says.

The startup will also use the financing to make a push at becoming an even more indispensable memory tool. Libin designs to go after the education and business verticals to make that happen.

As part of the investment deal, Sequoia Capital’s Roelof Botha will join Evernote as an adviser and board observer.

Image courtesy of Flickr, whatleydude

More About: evernote, funding, sequoia capital, series c

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LivingSocial Acquires Adventure Company to Improve Daily Deals

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 04:13 AM PDT


In 2010, daily deals site LivingSocial has raised a staggering $44 million from repeat investors looking to capitalize on the group buying phenomena. Today, the Groupon competitor is announcing that it’s used some of that venture capital to purchase group adventure site Urban Escapes for an undisclosed sum.

Urban Escapes currently operates in Boston, Washington D.C., New York and Philadelphia. The service is targeted towards young professionals interested in participating in guided outdoor adventures such as day trips to go snow tubing or longer getaways to Mexico.

LivingSocial designs to leverage the acquisition to introduce Urban Escapes’ curated trips to its 10 million e-mail subscriber base. The two companies will start by bringing Urban Escapes adventures to LivingSocial customers in five introductory markets.

LivingSocial currently operates daily deal sites in 95 cities across the U.S., U.K. and Canada. LivingSocial projects that it will pull in $100 million in revenue for 2010, which would be a remarkable improvement from the estimated $5 to $10 million the startup made in 2009, according to a previous Inc. report.

Image courtesy of Peter McManus, Facebook

More About: acquisition, daily deals, LivingSocial, urban escapes

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Dell Shows Off Inspiron 15R Alloy Edition Laptop

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 03:08 AM PDT


Dell has put up a product page for Dell Inspiron 15R Alloy Edition, a new 15.6-inch laptop with laser-etched waves on the body and a matching palmrest. The wavy, aluminum finish should give this Inspiron an air of luxury, but it’s hard to judge whether it worked from pictures alone.

The laptop comes with a choice of Intel’s Core i3, i5 or i7 CPUs, up to 8 gigabytes of DDR memory, a choice between ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphics or an Intel integrated solution, and a hard drive with up to 750 GB capacity.

The screen is glossy and widescreen with a 1366×768 pixel resolution. Other specs include a 7-in-1 media card reader, a 1.3MP webcam, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 eSATA/USB2.0 port, HDMI and VGA ports and an optional 9-cell battery. Price and availability are unknown at this point.

[via Engadget]

More About: Alloy Edition, aluminum, dell, Inspiron, laptop

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5 Reasons Your Online Chat Pals May Block You

Posted: 19 Oct 2010 12:40 AM PDT


Ever since the early days of AOL Instant Messenger (and ICQ for all you diehard chatters out there), the Internet has provided us with splendid ways to reach out to others, connect with them across the channels of humanity, and completely and utterly waste their time.

Picture this, if you will: Whilst clicking dejectedly through your Gmail, waiting for those Facebook invites to come pouring in (can’t spend Saturday night watching My So-Called Life and crying — you did that last weekend), you decide to send a chat to your friend, interrupting her glassy-eyed computer monitor staring contest.

A blinking window title. A little bloop sound. And, unlike with e-mail, Facebook messages, texts and even phone calls, comes an expectation that she shall answer NOW.

And let me tell you something: More often than not, you’re likely annoying the hell out of her. Why? Well, according to recent research from Nielsen, Americans spend a collective total of about 160 million hours per month instant messaging — so the odds are pretty good.

Yes, chat is a wonderful way to pass the time during work (“I will cleverly fool my boss into thinking I’m hard at work by feverishly typing — a detailed account of how I crowd-surfed into the arms of the riot police when they came to break up that illegal show last night”), to make plans on the fly or to communicate with that dude one cubicle over (“My vocal chords are so weary… Let’s just have this meeting via iChat, mmk?”).

But it’s also the bane of many a computer-bound drone’s existence.

Read on for five ways you’re potentially leading your co-workers, friends and casual acquaintances to hit “Block.”

And so begins my Netiquette column — which I write with my Stuff Hipsters Hate co-blogger, Andrea Bartz — this week over at CNN.


Check out the column at CNN.com >>

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, YanC

Reviews: Facebook, Gmail, iStockphoto, picture

More About: cnn, netiquette, social media, Stuff Hipsters Hate

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Sanitize Your Cell Phone With Ultraviolet Light

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 09:55 PM PDT


You might use hand sanitizer every time you shake hands, touch a door knob or get off the subway, but it doesn’t matter. Your hands collect germs.

It’s a fact of life that germs are passed on to everything you touch. Since you’re currently reading this, it’s likely that you have touchscreen mobile device that gets touched a lot. No matter how hard you try, that touchscreen is a veritable cesspool of germs.

The solution? The Violight UV Cellphone Sanitizer. It uses two ultraviolet lamps powered by three AA batteries to mutate the DNA of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms (a.k.a. germs), rendering them unable to replicate (a.k.a. germicide.)

UV sterilization technology was once reserved for cleaning drinking water in developing nations and Sonicare toothbrushes, but now it’s here to make your mobile device 99.9% germ free — until you pick it back up.

The Violight UV Cellphone Sanitizer will be available this month for $50.

[via Uncrate]

More About: germs, mobile devices, mysophobes, sonicare, ultraviolet, uv, violight

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Buddy Media Raises $23 Million to Expand Its Facebook Brand Management System

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 09:04 PM PDT


Buddy Media, a company that provides a platform for brand marketing and management on Facebook, has raised a whopping $23 million in a Series C round led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and joined by existing investors Greycroft Partners, Bay Partners and Softbank Capital.

The funding, which was announced by CEO Michael Lazerow at a reception for its new offices in Manhattan, is intended to fuel the company’s expansion. Specifically, the company cited that it intends to triple its headcount from 100 to 300 people in the near future, “as well as fund other marketing and growth initiatives.” We bet that the company, which has never been shy of acquisitions, will be buying up some of its competitors in the social media brand management space.

Buddy Media serves seven out of the top 10 largest global advertisers for Facebook brand management; over 300 companies use its platform, triple the amount it had last year. The company also claims that it is profitable. Some of its new customers include Johnson & Johnson, Crate & Barrel and Ford.

$23 million isn’t a small chunk of change; the company’s going to be able to acquire a lot of companies and hire a lot of people, plus it has raised over $10 million since its inception in 2007. Almost all of that is going to its efforts on the world’s largest social network. Several months ago, Buddy Media launched integration with Facebook’s Open Graph, helping brands utilize the power of the Like Button in their campaigns.

Facebook marketing has gone from a nice thing to have to an essential component of any major marketing campaign in just a few years. We’ve covered countless Facebook marketing campaigns because they’re pushing new and interesting innovations not just in social marketing, but in the entire marketing and advertising business.

Buddy Media hopes to be the platform that brands use to manage and track their rapidly-growing Facebook Pages and engagement campaigns. With a $23 million war chest, it’s got a good shot at succeeding.

Disclosure: Buddy Media is a sponsor of Mashable

Reviews: Facebook, Mashable

More About: Buddy Media, facebook, funding, Institutional Venutre Partners, softbank

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Dyson Makes No Sacrifices With Miniaturized Vacuum

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 08:02 PM PDT


Vacuums aren’t the sexiest piece of technology, but Dyson has a way of making them seem awesome. Problem is, its vacuums are often big, bulky machines for which city dwellers seldom have space.

Sensing this market gap, Dyson has created the DC26 Multi-floor Vacuum, otherwise known as the Dyson City. The City vacuum is small enough to fit on a sheet of paper, but still packs the same Root Cyclone technology that vaulted Dyson to the top of the vacuum ladder by never losing suction power.

Also included are other Dyson standards like a quick-release bag-less canister and exhaust filtration. It can handle any floor type and it’s rocking that I-came-from-the-future look even better than some of its bigger brothers.

The Dyson City has floated around the U.K. for a few months, but it will be available in the U.S. this November at Best Buy and on Dyson.com for $400.

More About: d26, dyson, gear, household, vacuum

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How Massive Was the Chilean Miners’ Rescue Online? [STATS]

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 07:10 PM PDT


Broadcasts of the Chilean miners’ rescue broke television and online audience records between Tuesday afternoon (ET) on October 12 — when news first broke that the rescue was set to begin the following day — and midnight ET Wednesday, October 13, a few hours after the last victim was pulled from the mine.

Global news traffic hit a two-year high at 4,052,459 page viewers per minute at around 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, while TV viewership in the U.S. peaked during primetime (between 8 and 9 p.m., roughly) on Wednesday evening.

Social media buzz peaked at about the same time as T.V. viewership; approximately 104,000 messages per hour went sent via Twitter that contained one of the six top keywords related to the rescue, indicating that many turned to social media platforms to discuss the news they were watching on TV.

We’ve broken down the numbers a bit further below.

TV Viewership

Viewership more than doubled on several major broadcast networks as the last miner was rescued during primetime Wednesday evening, 69 days after becoming trapped in a collapsed gold and copper mine.

Between roughly 8:15 and 9 p.m., Fox News attracted a viewing audience of 7.1 million — nearly 2.4 times the audience it normally attracts during The O’Reilly Factor, which runs during that hour. 2.7 million viewers followed events on CNN during the same period. It was the greatest number of viewers the former had hooked since Election Day 2008.

More than 6.8 million people tuned in to BBC’s 24-hour news channel when the first of the miners reached the surface, The Guardian reports.

Online Traffic

Traffic to major online news outlets was bolstered by news of the rescue throughout Tuesday and Wednesday as well. At 5:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Akamai’s Net Usage News Index (which monitors real-time global news consumption from more than 100 major news portals) recorded the fifth largest spike in global news traffic — 4,052,459 page viewers per minute — since it began tracking in August 2005. The spike occurred shortly after officials said that rescue operations would begin the next day. The peak traffic number falls just below that seen on the day of Barack Obama’s election to the U.S. presidency on November 4, 2008, which amassed 4,286,021 page views per minute.

Liz Bradley, a spokesperson for Akamai, attributed the increased traffic to “significant improvements in the quality of online video and a growing level of activity on social networks,” among other things.

CNN alone delivered 5.5 million live video streams and 109.4 million page views between 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday until midnight ET the following day. On Wednesday, CNN.com served 4.6 million live streams — up 8000% from the daily average, and the highest day so far this year — and 82.5 million page views, the greatest number since Obama’s inauguration, and 50% above normal. 2.2 million viewers accessed CNN via their mobile devices, 32% higher than the average.

The BBC attracted a total online audience of roughly 8 million via its live video and blog feed, according to The Guardian. Spanish news portal Noticias Univision garnered 23.3 million page views across 3.7 visits to its online and mobile sites on Tuesday and Wednesday, shattering the previous site visit record set on November 4, 2008.

Elsewhere, news audiences turned to The Huffington Post, USA Today and CBS, each of which also hosted live video streams alongside live blogs (The Huffington Post ran its live blog for 36 hours). MSNBC, The Guardian and Reuters liveblogged the rescue as well, The New York Times continually updated its front page along with photos, and a team of volunteers kept Wikipedia updated in real time, along with a chart that listed the names, ages, nationalities and rescue times of each of the miners.

Social Media Buzz

Social media platforms were likewise ablaze with activity during the rescue. The word “chile,” was mentioned approximately 252,000 times on Tuesday and another 412,000 on Wednesday (for a total of 667,000), according to social media measurement platform Trendrr. Those numbers only represent a fraction of the total figure, as many mentions of the event used words like “miners,” “rescue” and “men” in hundreds of languages to refer to the incident.

A measurement taken of the top six terms (chile, miners, chilean, rescue, pinera and feurzamineros) in a 10-hour span beginning Wednesday afternoon recorded 647,000 mentions, peaking at 104,000 tweets per hour at around 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, as illustrated in the chart above.

The sentiment of tweets containing the word “chile” were slightly more negative than the average, which usually hovers around 12-15%, Trendrr told us. Some accused the miners of “cashing in” on their newfound publicity, while others complained about how the rescue dominated news cycles all week

On YouTube, 16,100 new videos tagged “chile” and “miners” appeared by Thursday.

There was a significant jump in Google search results for the top six terms — from approximately 243 million to a little more than 600 million from Tuesday through Friday — as well.

Bing yielded 173 million results, up from 60 million.

What’s perhaps most interesting is so many consumers went online even during TV’s biggest nightly hour — and that much of that audience went to social networking platforms like Twitter.

This observation correlates with a March study from Nielsen that found that 60% of TV viewers in the U.S. with Internet access (roughly 134 million people) use both mediums at the same time at least once per month. Increasingly, consumers are turning to the social web to discuss the news and shows they watch on TV, because it’s proven the most effective medium for them to do so.

Tell us: How did you follow and discuss news of the Chilean miners’ rescue?

Disclosure: CNN and USA Today are Mashable content partners.

Image courtesy of Twitpic, JCsNotebook

Reviews: Bing, Google, Internet, Mashable, Twitpic, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube

More About: chile, chilean miner rescue, chilean miners, cnn, live blog, livestream, media, social media, tv

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Google Puts the Emphasis on Location in Search

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 06:12 PM PDT


With a few tweaks and an interface change, Google has placed location and location-based search front-and-center in its search engine.

The big change, announced earlier today on Google Blog’s, is that Google has moved the user location setting to the left-hand panel of the search engine results page. This feature automatically detects your current location and tailors search results based on that. For example, searches for “pizza” or “gyms” will provide local business results near your location, which tend to be a lot more relevant than a Wikipedia article on everybody’s favorite cheesy snack.

The change rolls out starting today and will be available to users in 40+ languages sometime soon.

Now that the location setting will be on the right side of the search engine results page, users can easily change it if Google gets it wrong or if a user wants to find restaurants near a different location. Say you’re about to travel to New Orleans and you want to find the best gumbo near your hotel; all you have to do is type in the new city or zip code and Google will adjust search results based on that location.

While nothing has changed in the back-end of location-based search, the simple fact that Google has prominently placed it on the left-hand side, where millions of eyeballs will catch it, is not a small change. Google clearly understands that location plays a vital role in search, and with the rise of mobile and GPS, Google has been adding more and more location-based search features.

Today’s changes are just as much about promoting location in search as it is about giving users more control over their privacy. Do you think today’s change will get more users to utilize location in their searches? Let us know in the comments.

Reviews: Google, Wikipedia

More About: Google, google search, location

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Xbox Kinect’s Game Launch Lineup Revealed

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 05:09 PM PDT


Microsoft has just announced the 17 games that will be available on launch day with Kinect for Xbox 360, the tech giant’s highly anticipated controller-free gaming system.

Kinect, which launches on November 4, is Microsoft’s answer to the Nintendo Wii’s motion controllers, which helped turn that console into one of this generation’s most popular gaming devices. Both Sony and Microsoft have been playing catch-up with the PlayStation Move and Kinect, respectively.

17 Kinect-enabled games will be available when the device makes its debut next month. Here’s the full list:

  • Kinect Adventures: This is the game that is included with every Kinect device. It helps introduce gamers to the Kinect interface, letting them transverse the rapids, float around in space and challenge their friends to races, among other minigames.

  • Kinectimals: Think Nintendogs, but with no controller.
  • Game Party: In Motion: This includes a collection of party minigames like Darts.
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 The Videogame: You can now control Harry’s magic with your hands.
  • Your Shape: Fitness Evolved: A fitness game from Ubisoft that is similar to Wii Fit.

  • Dance Central: This game, made by the creators of Rock Band, tracks your dance moves. We’ve heard good things about this one.
  • The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout: A game from THQ based on the TV show.
  • DanceMasters: Konami’s version of getting your groove down.
  • EA SPORTS Active 2: A fitness game with body tracking, heart rate data and the ability to share workout data. EA has gone all-out with this game, which sort of explains its $100 price tag.
  • Zumba Fitness: See a pattern yet? This is a dance fitness game.
  • Kinect Sports: Microsoft’s version of Wii Sports.
  • MotionSports: This game from Ubisoft includes live in-game commentary and 40+ sports challenges.
  • DECA SPORTS FREEDOM: While this game only has 10 sporting events, there is a focus on making it feel as real as possible. Figure skating should be interesting.
  • Kinect Joy Ride: Controller-free kart racing.
  • ADRENALIN MISFITS: This racing/battle game focuses on fantasy worlds.
  • Fighters Uncaged: Fulfill your Fight Club fantasy without the bloody concussions and stitches.
  • SONIC FREE RIDERS: Yup, Sega is bringing Sonic the Hedgehog to Kinect.

What do you think of Kinect’s launch day lineup? Let us know in the comments.

Reviews: harry potter

More About: gaming, kinect, microsoft, Microsoft Kinect, project natal, xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Kinect

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Steve Jobs Speaks Candidly About the State of Apple and Its Competitors

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 04:25 PM PDT


Following Apple reporting its first-ever $20 billion quarter, CEO Steve Jobs made a surprise appearance on the company’s earnings call to not only field questions from analysts, but to also give his thoughts on Apple’s competitors in the smartphone and tablet market.

Steve Jobs rarely makes appearances on these conference calls, allowing Tim Cook and Peter Oppenheimer to hold court. When he does show up however, listeners are usually in for a treat. Unlike some CEOs, Steve Jobs isn’t afraid to mince words or shy away from tough questions.

The call, which will be available for replay on Apple’s site for approximately two weeks (beginning at 5:00pm PDT) and in iTunes as a podcast, shed lots of light on how Apple views its business and the overall technology market at large.

Before jumping into questions, Jobs read a prepared statement, summarizing Apple’s thoughts on its competitors — including RIM and Google — in the smartphone space, as well as the future of the tablet space.

In the context of RIM and the BlackBerry — which Apple and iPhone outsold in the last quarter — Jobs said, “I think it’s going to be a challenge for them to create a competitive marketplace.” He went on to discuss the difficulties he saw the company having with enticing competitors, while also noting that Apple has made major inroads in the corporate world with both the iPhone and the iPad.

When it came to Google, Jobs didn’t mince words. It’s clear he sees Android as a big competitor and admits that there’s a chance more Android-based units shipped than iOS units in the September quarter. Still, he notes that counting the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Apple activates 275,000 devices per day, as compared to the 200,000 activations per day data that Google has suggested for Android.

He also notes that he wishes that manufacturers would start reporting the number of Android phones shipped each quarter, so that keeping track of these figures wasn’t up to groups like Gartner or NPD.

“Open Systems Don’t Always Win”

During the Google section of his statement, Jobs discussed how “Google loves to characterize its platform as open and Apple as closed.” While taking some shots at how “open” Google really is, Jobs conceded that even if Google is right in that Google is open and Apple is closed, “Open systems don’t always win,” citing Microsoft’s open strategy for music players and PlaySure as an example.

Moreover, Jobs went on to say, “We think the open versus closed argument is just a smokescreen for what is best for the customer. Fragmented versus integrated.”

Frankly, we think he has a point. Ideology of open versus closed systems aside, when it comes down to the overall customer experience, there are ways when an integrated and “closed” approach can end up being more enjoyable. Obviously the trick is to find a balance of being open enough to allow third-party applications and accessories without being Opennmoko.

7″ Tablets: You’re Doing it Wrong

When discussing the upcoming onslaught of tablet competitors, Jobs classified the competition as merely “a handful of credible entrants, not exactly an avalanche.” Then Jobs moved in to discuss — and dis — the choice of many of the tablet competitors to use a 7″ screen as opposed to the 9.6″ size found with the iPad.

Jobs broke down exactly why he sees 7″ screens as missing the mark. This should seriously throw cold water on the rumors of a 7″ iPad. Jobs notes that if you are to split the iPad’s screen in half when it is in portrait mode horizontally, you get about the same screen size as the 7″ tablets.

Jobs also notes that Apple sees 10″ (or 9.6″ if we’re being technical) is as small as Apple thinks you can go to have a good touch screen experience on a tablet. Going smaller means making elements and objects too close together and less easy to target.

Jobs also blasted 7″ tablets as “tweeners” — too big to compete with a smartphone, too small to compete with an iPad. By positing that most tablet owners will also be smartphone owners, Jobs sees the idea of having a tablet that can almost fit in your pocket as nonsensical.

Apple TV and Other Hobbies

Apple never breaks out Apple TV sales numbers, but Jobs did note in response to an analyst question that the new Apple TV has sold more than 250,000 units. The device seems to be off to a faster start than the old model, though we still think Apple didn’t go far enough with its connectivity options.

Apple’s Vision v. Everyone Else

One of the more interesting aspects of the call was when an analyst tried to get Jobs to say that if the choice came between losing marketshare or selling a low-end product Apple didn’t have confidence he could execute on effectively, Jobs/Apple would choose to lower marketshare.

Not one to be pigeonholed, Jobs spoke about how Apple’s approach as a software-driven company differs from many of its competitors, which are hardware-driven. It’s a pretty fundamental difference; Apple’s focus, to quote Jobs, is about “making the best product at aggressive prices.” Because Apple looks at things from a software-driven standpoint first and then works to iterate and make the product better while keeping the price the same (or lowering the price), as it did with the iPod, the company doesn’t look at its line and make decisions based on features in order to lower the price, expecting the software to magically perform.

This was a really interesting discussion because it very clearly showcased how Apple’s strategy is different from most of its competitors. Although there are exceptions, you almost never see Apple remove features from a product. Instead the company iterates over and over again, working to lower its prices, get is manufacturing process better and offer more features and better performance.

This strategy clearly paid off in the MP3 player market, where Apple still has 70% marketshare and is probably cannibalizing itself with iPod touch and iPhone sales. It’s still to be determined if this is the sort of strategy will prevail in the long run with smartphones or tablets.

Transparency: Yeah, We Got It

As a company, Apple isn’t really known for being transparent and open. The company keeps it product plans shrouded and carefully plans its launches and campaigns. Apple has improved some of its transparency with developers, but the company is not usually very open about its strategies or surface plans.

What was interesting about today’s call was that Apple and Jobs were very transparent and very open about how the company sees itself and what strategies it wants to invest in.

No, we didn’t walk away from the call knowing if the iPhone is coming to Verizon in January or what Apple will announce on Wednesday, but listeners got a very clear vision of how the company sees itself and its position in the tech world.

Reviews: Android, Google

More About: android, apple, apple earnings call, iOS, ipad, quarterly earnings, steve jobs, tablets, trending

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New Location-Based App Makes Business Networking Smarter

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 03:25 PM PDT


Unsocial, a new startup, is hoping to help make location-based mobile apps useful for business communication.

Unsocial bills itself as LinkedIn meets Foursquare with a touch of Match.com on the side. That’s a pretty apt description. Basically, it’s a mobile app designed for business users so that they can network and meet with people they don’t know, but probably should.

The Unsocial beta launched today as the official conference app of the DiscoveryBeat conference in San Francisco. It also released mobile apps for iPhone and Android, and has BlackBerry and HTML5 variants in the works.

Users can sign up for a new account or log in using LinkedIn. If you use the LinkedIn option, it will pre-populate your name, photo and status information. You can then add additional info about your industry, role, URL, etc. You can also assign various tags to your profile that describe who you are and what you do.

These tags, along with your location, will help Unsocial show you who you should be connecting and networking with in a given location.

Unsocial is only available to San Francisco users right now, but the company plans to launch in additional cities shortly.

The app’s usefulness at conferences is clear. It makes locating people at the same event who share similar interests less of a hassle. You can also send notes via the app without having to give away any private info until you know you want to make a connection.

For general business networking, we think this has a lot of possibilities too — although we would love to see more integration with LinkedIn’s social graph. We understand the point of the app is to introduce users to new people, but oftentimes individuals share mutual connections and that can be a great jumping-off point for networking and business discussions.

Frankly, we’re just excited to see a new, business-focused, location-based social network tool. This is a potentially huge market for a lot of different kinds of companies and individuals.

Check out the video to see Unsocial in action below.

Reviews: Android, Foursquare, LinkedIn, iPhone

More About: Android apps, geolocation, iphone apps, linkedin, location-based apps, unsocial

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100+ Upcoming Social Media & Tech Events

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 03:25 PM PDT

social_media_events_guide1

Every week, Mashable puts together a calendar of upcoming social media and web events, parties and conferences. Would you like to have your conference or event listed here? If so, please contact us at least one month before your event to establish a media partnership. For more upcoming listings, check out Mashable’s Events section.

In the meantime, here are some tips on how to network, share your information and/or promote your event(s) using social media:

Mashable’s Weekly Social Media and Marketing Event Guide is proudly supported by Eventbrite, the Web’s Event Marketplace.

October 17-20, 2010, Scottsdale, AZ: SuperGlad describes the prosperous life of agencies on the right side of the digital marketing divide. The “have’s” have it. The “have nots” do not. For an agency, in-house digital marketing expertise is now a must, not a nice-to-have. And does the knowledge permeate the agency or rest with just one person operating as a stand-alone department (who, by the way, could leave you high and dry if something better comes along)? Digital marketing is a core competency of the “have” agencies. You might not need to execute on all of it but you need to understand it and drive the strategy upon which decisions are made surrounding it. BOLO 2010 takes on the big task at hand: explaining why digital media leads the charge in SuperGlad agencies. It is not an afterthought. It is dealt with using creative, media, traffic and account service employees who think traditionally first, then translate that thinking to a digital environment. This event will show you how. $799/person (or $599 for agencyside members). Use discount code mashable to save $125 (more than 15%) off full-price registration at any time.

October 18-22, 2010, Chicago, IL: Discover the tools of engagement at SES Chicago Conference and Expo on October 18-22, 2010. No longer just lecturing your customers, learn to listen and converse in a more social world. Our experts will show you how integrating search, social media, and video in even basic ways will transform both your sites visibility and profitability. Our program features 60+ sessions covering everything from marketing attribution, the business value of social media, brand reputation management and more. Save 15% with promo code MHCH15. Register now!

October 18-20, 2010, Washington, D.C.: As Social Media quickly emerges as more than a communication tool, the U.S. Government must proactively leverage this new "environment" to achieve organizational goals. IDGA's 3rd Social Media for Defense and Government provides a forum for senior Government and Military officials, industry partners and academic communities to align shared goals, showcase new technology and define the way forward. This conference will present advanced social media strategies that not only improve communication but actually utilize the tools to improve effectiveness. Register with code MASH4GOV and receive 20% off the standard three-day event fee!

October 18-19, 2010, Dallas, TX: The Restaurant & Hospitality Social Media Marketing Bootcamp event provides the practical knowledge and insights required by restaurant and hotel operators to establish objectives and strategies for your market, properly select the social media platforms to engage guests and monitor and measure the results of these efforts for a greater ROI. This event is presented by RestaurantWorx Consulting and Inside Hospitality. Use the code MASHABLE when registering and receive VIP pricing on “Day 1″ or “Day 1 & 2 Attendance” tickets. See complete event details on the event website at www.restaurantsocialmedia.com.

October 18-19, 2010, Singapore: Build your company's reputation and profits at Online Reputation Management Asia 2010. It only takes a few blog posts or YouTube videos or Facebook threads to destroy reputation and image. Don’t miss this opportunity to benefit from industry leaders' extensive experience, practical insights, and proven business-building tactics that you need to know. Be sure to secure your spot now! For more information, please visit our website or download the brochure. Mashable members/subscribers are entitled to a 10% discount off the registration fee!

October 18, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Join us for the third annual i-stage startup competition, featuring debuts from game-changing apps, products and services. Presented by CEA, i-stage gives tech startups the opportunity to compete for a share of $50,000 in prize money and a free booth at the 2011 International CES. Audience members get the first look at the industry's newest visionaries and network with high profile investors, media and industry leaders. Past winners include Boxee and Regen Inc's ReNu solar charging system. There is no entry fee for competing start-ups. Mashable readers save 10% on attendee tickets. Register now and use discount code IMASH.

October 18, 2010, Washington DC: Digital East 2010 will feature over 75 leading speakers addressing best practices and trends in Social Media, Mobile, Online Advertising, Ecommerce, Cloud Computing, Web Analytics, Search, Online Video, Email, ORM and more! Hear from brands such as ESPN, Google, Intel, Salesforce.com, AOL, Rosetta Stone, National Geographic and the US Dept of Energy just to name a few. When registering, use the code MASH1 for 20% off.

October 19, 2010, New York, NY: Spend a day learning how to make social media an effective and repeatable part of an overall integrated marketing strategy. Established thought leaders and rising stars—including companies such as American Express, Arc Worldwide, Forrester, IMI International, Nokia, The Roger Smith Hotel and more — help you leverage social media to build your brands and businesses. Learn how social media impacts the path to purchase; the intersection of social and mobile; which social channels are most effective against which segments; and more! Non-members of PMA can register with promo code MASHABLE and save $65!

October 19, 2010, Dayton, OH: SummitUp is a one day conference dedicated to exploring the integration of creativity, communication, and technology. The event takes place on October 19, 2010, and it is being held at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. SummitUp features exceptional speakers, engaging breakout sessions, interesting panel discussions, and the opportunity to meet and make friends with some of the brightest, most influential minds in modern business. Speakers include John Moore, Pete Blackshaw, Steve Lance, Kevin Dugan, Artie Isaac, Michael Rubin, Brian Solis and many more. Ticket also includes parking, breakfast, and lunch at the event – all for well under $200. Event information can be found at www.summitup.org.

October 19, 2010, New York, NY: Create business value — and discover insight — in enterprise, web, and social content. Smart Content is the profitable future for media & publishing, advertising & on-line commerce, marketing and PR… and for content consumers. Register now for an unmatched opportunity to learn how.

October 20–22, 2010, Washington, D.C.: Come join us for the largest nonprofit technology conference in the world. The 2010 Blackbaud Conference for Nonprofits is coming to D.C. this year and will feature more than 170 sessions and four featured presentations focused on nonprofit technology. This year's conference will feature leading experts on social media for social good including technology keynote Allison Fine with a virtual appearance by Beth Kanter, (authors of The Networked Nonprofit) and leading social media experts from Causes, TwitPic, Twitter, and YouTube. The conference will provide nonprofit professionals with three days of specialized educational content and opportunities to network and interact with peers and nonprofit experts. Register at http://conference.blackbaud.com.

October 20-22, 2010, Las Vegas, NV: Every year, Stamats Integrated Marketing: Technology Conference brings together digital thought leaders from higher education and corporate America to offer fresh, innovative thinking and hands-on, practical strategies and tactics to take back to campus. The conference will cover the crucial building blocks of integrated digital marketing, including Social Media, mROI, Content and UX. Register with the promo code MASHTECH for $50 off the registration fee and a free pre-conference session.

October 20-21, 2010, Baltimore, MD: The Power of eMarketing Conference provides the perfect forum for actionable and relevant best practices, processes and case studies that will transform and improve your marketing programs. 35+ speakers – four dynamic modules – 12 breakout roundtables – 15 presentations – two keynote sessions – four panel sessions and one great networking party! The conference has several tracks and will cover social, search, email and emerging marketing technology. Register with the promo code linkedin and receive a special 10% discount off your registration.

October 20, 2010, Mumbai, India: Social media marketing is about fostering relationships with your end users to continue product and service excellence. Social media websites are also growing by almost 100% year after year in India. This multi-faceted conference will equip you with a holistic approach to social media marketing, providing you with fresh ideas on brand presence, social media tools, current market risks and innovative strategies to improve your organisation's products & services. The Social Media Summit 2010 will examine how social media culture and social networking platforms are having a major impact on business communication, practices and processes. Social Media Marketing is undergoing a lot of structural changes and is poised to grow and contribute greater revenues to the industry in years to come. Please visit our website for more information.

October 21-22, 2010, Princeton, NJ: IIR's 2nd Annual Value-Driven Pharma is not just another managed market event – it delves deeper than ever before to give you the tools to reconcile government, payer and patient perspectives on drug valuation to bring you closer to the patients you serve. Visit www.valuedrivenpharma.com for full program information. Please use the promo code XP1580MASH when registering.

October 21–22, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Influence People is hosting a one-day social media monitoring conference in San Francisco on October 21st, followed by a half-day training bootcamp on October 22. Monitoring Social Media (San Francisco) will bring together leading brands, PR and marketing experts to discuss the latest ideas, trends and techniques in social media monitoring and measurement. Through a series of presentations, panels and expert-led discussions, we will explore the critical issues that marketers and PR professionals are facing in their efforts to monitor their social media interactions. Register with code mashable to get a 10% discount.

October 21, 2010, Mountain View, CA: See “Super Angel” pioneer Mike Maples Jr. speak at the The Founder Showcase – Silicon Valley’s premier startup pitch and networking event. This quarterly event brings together over 300 investors, founders, and members of the press to hear talks from leading CEOs, and pitches from 10 hot technology start-ups. Over $1.5mm has been raised by presenting companies at previous Founder Showcase events. Tickets start at just $40 – to register or enter the free Pitch Competition, go to www.FounderShowcase.com. Mashable readers get 15% off by using discount code mashable_15.

October 22, 2010, Sonoma County, CA: SocialBizWorld is a Social Media and Web 2.0 business conference for private and public-sector business executives, leaders, managers, employees and consultants looking for insightful speakers, hands-on workshops, in-depth discussions and real-world examples to move their business forward with new media. With Basic, Intermediate and Advanced tracks, attendees will have full access to multiple sessions, have numerous networking opportunities, attend the evening Social Media Awards and Business Networking reception (with Special Guest "The TwitchHiker") and have access to experts gathering in Northern California from all over the country. Join us for this fantastic event in beautiful Sonoma County, at the foot of wine country, minutes from Sonoma and Napa, and just 30 minutes north of San Francisco. Mashable readers receive 15% off conference registration with promo code MASHED. Please visit www.SocialBizWorld.com for more information.

October 22-23, 2010, Atlanta, GA: Social Media Experts will be in high demand as social media becomes an integral part of PR and marketing campaigns. Will you be one? Designed specifically for marketing and PR professionals of all backgrounds, non-profit organizations and small business owners, the Integrating Social Media Conference goes beyond the buzz words to real-world and proven methods for successfully incorporating social media into your current marketing and PR strategies. You'll hear firsthand from social media experts including Shiv Singh of Pepsi Co., The Brand Builder's Olivier Blanchard, WholeFoods's Marla Erwin, HubSpot's Mike Volpe, Kellye Crane of Crane Communications and more. Register with promo code MASH and save 20%.

October 22, 2010, Nashville, TN: Social Media Marketing Workshops 101 & 201 — a full day, hands-on training for businesses who want to create a social media marketing campaign from the ground up. Featuring top 10+ networking sites with step-by-step setup guides on each application with strategies on how they all work together. Sessions include blogging strategy, social CRM, social monitoring, email & mobile marketing, best of Google Analytics, SEO tactics and special focus on Wordpress websites for businesses. These are no-nonsense, intensive learning workshops you wont find anywhere else! Register with the promo code MASH and save $100!

October 23, 2010, Seattle, WA: Looking to meet interesting people, learn the latest techniques in bringing profitable products to market, share experiences, and get re-invigorated to build bigger, better products? Join us at ProductCamp Seattle on October 23, 2010! ProductCamp Seattle is a self-organizing unconference, where product managers, marketers, business executives, project managers, and engineers get together to discuss challenges and explore the latest techniques, tools and innovative practices in building and bringing to market profitable products.

October 25-29, 2010, Boulder, CO: Web Marketing and Social Media One-Week Certificate Program – In this one-of-a-kind program, you will be immersed into the world of web marketing from one of the smartest and most experienced experts in the industry! In one week, you’ll be introduced to proven strategies for growing your online audience with qualified traffic. You’ll learn the fundamental principals and insider tips for search engine optimization, pay-for-placement advertising, social media marketing and other more. Gain the knowledge and skills necessary to provide these immensely valuable and in-demand services for all organizations who need to grow their online audiences.

October 25-26, 2010, Northborough, MA: The Restaurant & Hospitality Social Media Marketing Bootcamp event provides the practical knowledge and insights required by restaurant and hotel operators to establish objectives and strategies for your market, properly select the social media platforms to engage guests and monitor and measure the results of these efforts for a greater ROI. This event is presented by RestaurantWorx Consulting and Inside Hospitality. Use the code MASHABLE when registering and receive VIP pricing on “Day 1″ or “Day 1 & 2 Attendance” tickets. See complete event details on the event website at www.restaurantsocialmedia.com.

October 25, 2010, San Francisco, CA: It is inevitable that every startup will encounter failures: in idea development, teamwork, hiring, design, scaling, and countless unpredictable ways. Yet most conferences only seem to feature speakers telling you what they did right – something that can be hard to learn from and near-impossible to emulate. At FailCon, join over 400 founders, investors, executives, developers, service provides, and press as we share tips to avoid, prepare for, and recover from the most common startup mistakes. Register and use the promo code 10mashable to receive 10% off the ticket price. For more information, please visit www.failcon2010.com.

October 25, 2010, Orlando, FL: IIR presents CUSTOMER WORLD, the co-location of three unique customer-centric events (NACCM, Linkage Strategies & Customer UNinterrupted) under one roof. Where the Voice of Your Industry comes together to champion and celebrate CUSTOMERS 1ST. Customer World's flagship event, NACCM, is an industry favorite. It attracts top customer-centric leaders in North America to share new and best practices for strengthening customer relationships. Content areas include customer-centric social media strategies, loyalty, customer experience, innovation, culture, engagement, leadership and more. Register with code CWORLD10MASH and save 15% off the standard rates.

October 25, 2010, New York, NY: Produced by Mediabistro, Charles Hudson, and Social Times, the Freemium Summit explores best practices for succeeding under the Freemium business model. Across all segments of the media landscape, entrepreneurs and executives are pioneering online business models that combine a free offering with a premium, paid offering. This hybrid business model is one of the most exciting areas of business model innovation affecting the world of media and business, and the Freemium Summit will explore the most important topics on the minds of leading practitioners. Speakers include Ning’s Anne Driscoll, HootSuite’s Ryan Holmes, SurveyMonkey’s Brent Chudoba, Slideshare’s Rashmi Sinha, and more. For full details and registration, visit the site. Register with the promo code MASH and save 15%!

October 26-28, 2010, Frankfurt, Germany: The Enterprise 2.0 wave has spilled over the corporations' boundaries and creates a good deal of discussion about the way businesses will be managed in the future. "Setting the path towards an open and agile E 2.0 driven organization" is therefore the topic of this year's Enterprise 2.0 Summit, the gathering of European experts and practitioners discussing technology trends and adoption topics on Enterprise 2.0. The English-language conference consists of interactive workshops, seminars, expert talks and best practices from all over Europe, e. g. BMW, Hewlett Packard, SONY, Swiss Reinsurance Company, etc. Go to www.e20summit.com and register with the promo code MASH10 and save 10%!

October 26-27, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Define the Future of Money at PayPal X Innovate 2010. There's only one conference dedicated to empowering developers and innovators as they redefine how people conduct commerce – PayPal X Innovate 2010 Developer Conference. Learn how to seamlessly integrate payments into mobile apps, ecommerce sites, gaming, and digital goods – almost anywhere you can think of. Use code INVMASH and receive 20% off. Be part of defining the future of money. Register now at https://www.x.com/innovate

October 26, 2010, San Jose, CA: Get real about social media at SocialTech 2010 — the only conference dedicated to teaching B2B high-tech marketers how to harness the power of social media. You’ll learn from B2B marketing leaders at companies like IBM, Intel, SAP, HP, Adobe and Cisco how to use social media to achieve real, measurable business results. Enjoy networking and keynotes from Guy Kawasaki, Robert Scoble and Jeremiah Owyang. Can't make it to San Jose? You can join us online. Register today and save 10% with coupon code MASH10!

October 27-28, 2010: The Caribbean Media Conference & Expo have become the Caribbean's premier regional conference on television, cable and satellite, broadband, wireless, radio, magazines, news and print media, advertising and marketing. The 2010 Caribbean New Media Expo and Conference is unique in that it seeks to strengthen the relationships with new media companies, marketers and advertisers to further capitalize on the benefits of digital, social and mobile media. Presentations and panel discussions will help marketers understand concepts such as online-display advertising, search and social networking and how the impact of new technologies has wrought consumer behavior changes.

October 27-29, 2010, Washington, DC: This event will showcase 15 federal perspectives on different strategies government agencies can implement to comply with the Obama Administration's Open Government Directive. The social media realm will be a prevailing topic of discussion as it has been the prime means federal agencies have taken to achieve compliance, but problems with its use still persist. This event will provide ADVANCED solutions and ideas to the policy, security, monitoring and measuring struggles that many agencies face on a daily-basis. Mashable subscribers will enjoy a 10% discount when they mention MASHABLE in their follow-up email to the event contact listed here: event.

October 27, 2010, New York, NY: With millions of people participating on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, brands can no longer avoid social media as an effective research and marketing channel. Social Media Bootcamp: Social Media for Research and Marketing explores best practices for using social media as a research and marketing tool. Hear case studies that identify the best tools for listening to the consumer and the best ways to use social networks to listen to and engage your consumers. Speakers include: Chris Boudreaux – Converseon, Frank Cotignola – Kraft Foods, Jeff Rosenblum – Questus, Peter Fasano and The ARF's Lynne d Johnson and Steve Rappaport. $200 discount for ARF Industry Leader Forum registrants.

October 28-30, 2010, Toronto, Canada: Today, companies recognize that Social Media is an important part of an integrated strategy that is woven into every fiber of Sales, Marketing, PR, Advertising, Customer Relations and Branding campaigns. The second unGeeked Elite three-day Retreat brings together 10 keynotes and 16 presenters who'll provide you with examples of best practices, solutions and case studies in a forum where keynotes and presenters ask you to engage, poke them in the eye with questions and get one-on-one responses in this intimate learning environment. RSVP with the promo code unGeekedMashable and save 30% off regular ticket price!

October 28-29, 2010, Chicago, IL: Your customers are more empowered than ever before with social and mobile connections. The only defense you have is to empower your own employees to solve those customers' problems. Forrester's Consumer Forum 2010 connects you with analysts, peers, and industry leaders whose expertise will help you unleash your employees and transform your company. Register with promo code CFXMSH to save 15%. Discount applies to new registrations only and cannot be combined with other offers.

October 28-29, 2010, Exeter, UK: The Like Minds Conference – Autumn 2010 is a 2 day event attended by participants from across Europe focusing upon the subject of “Creativity and Curation”. This year, we have a range of workshops, keynotes and lunch time talks from leaders in marketing, communications and media from around the world. Then, you can relax on Thursday and Friday night with the Like Movies and Like Music festivals. Details and registration at www.wearelikeminds.com.

October 28, 2010, New York, NY: At The ARF Industry Leader Forum: Discovering Consumer Insights, the ARF will unveil its new "Insights Value Creation Model", preliminary results from executive interviews with leading marketing and business executives about research's impact. Industry leaders will share their visions, successes and plans to address the transformation of the research profession, and attendees will learn the skills they need to translate insights into actionable organizational change and how to sustain it. Headline speakers include: Donna Goldfarb – Unilever, Beth LaPierre – Eastman Kodak, Charles Mohs – Pfizer, Drew Westen – author of The Political Brain and Susan Whiting – The Nielsen Company. Register by September 24 to save $100 with our Early Bird rate.

October 28, 2010, London, UK: The International Search Summit will focus once again on international and multilingual search marketing topics and offer delegates insight and advice on how to effectively develop and manage international online campaigns. Speakers at the event will include Eugene Lomize from Russian search engine Yandex, Omar Khaled from Arabic search Engine Ayna, as well as well-known search marketers Mikkel deMib Svendsen, Marty Weintraub, Massimo Burgio and Barry Lloyd. The Summit will be held at The British Library in London and is a must for any marketer targeting multiple markets and/or languages online. Register now with the coupon code MASH20 to receive 20% discount.

October 28, 2010, New York, NY: Join a select group of senior communications professionals in helping you build an integrated PR and marketing engagement strategy that maximizes your impact with your targeted audiences and key influencers. PR+MKTG Camp™ East limits talking head powerpoint presentations. Executives from top agencies and some of the world’s largest brands will lead HIGHLY INTERACTIVE discussions on such topics as assessing the current media landscape, building a integrated strategic engagement vision, executing an action plan, and measuring your results. Mashable readers get a 10% discount with promo code MASHABLECAMPEAST.

November 1-2, 2010, New York, NY: Are you a health marketing and communications professional? Please join us at unNiched 2010, a unique collaborative boot camp where you will actively learn and use collaboration, strategic marketing and communications skills. Using our unNiched Innovation Model, gain the tools to create and drive marketing communications success within (and without) your organization. In addition, you’ll have access to a private online group and learn from a range of experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AIDS.gov, Edelman, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and the Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab. Use the discount code Mashable and get 10% off.

November 1-2, 2010, Dubai, UAE: Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Summit at Total Marketing Discuss and debate the opportunities and challenges faced by marketers in leveraging social media as a marketing tool. Hear from leading organizations on how they managed to turn Twitter and LinkedIn amongst others into powerful communication channels! Getting in at the top of any search remains a key focus for many organizations today. Hear from leading practitioners on how best practice strategies and innovative methods to get the most out of the internet. Register and save 15% when using code MASHABLE-TM. For more information, visit www.totalmarketing2010.com.

November 2-3, 2010, Ft. Lauderdale, FL: BlueGlass FL is an online marketing conference featuring today's leaders in the Social Media, Search Marketing & Venture Capital industries. BlueGlass combines cutting edge educational seminars where high profile industry experts discuss the latest trends and strategies along with impactful networking events where attendees will build contacts, gain resources and leave with a wealth of knowledge. Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino provides the perfect setting for this next generation conference where attendees will be treated to innovative seminars, networking events and forums optimal for building business relationships and exchanging new ideas and technologies that enable longevity in the marketplace. For more information, click here. Registration information can be found here.

November 3-5, 2010, San Francisco, CA: DevLearn|10 is the super-charged conference and expo for those involved in the design, development, or management of e-Learning. DevLearn|10 offers the industry's largest expo, over a hundred sessions covering the latest e-Learning tools, technologies, and strategies, plus exciting content stages like the Social Learning Camp, Mobile Learning Jam, Serious Games Zone, and Learning Media Studio . If you want to know what’s coming next in the world of e-Learning and what the top people in the field are thinking, this popular, cutting-edge conference is the place to be.

November 3-4, 2010, Scottsdale, AZ: If you’re a leading executive at your organization with questions about how social media can better optimize your customer response efforts and thus generate a higher ROI, then this year’s Social Media Customer Response Summit is a must attend. During this two-day seminar, attendees will be able to listen, learn and collaborate with prominent industry leaders such as John Belanger of Yahoo!, Steve Kaay of US Auto Parts, John Hernandez of Cisco, Craig Palmer of Cable & Wireless (UK), and Robert Lamb of AT&T,on the challenges/benefits with using a “social media customer response strategy,” and what Key Performance Indicators are being used to review effective social media customer response, plus much more. Senior VPs interested in attending can find more information about the summit’s agenda & registration at www.customerresponsesummit.com.

November 3, 2010, Frankfurt, Germany: The viscom tec.10 conference focuses upon how to create a customer focused experience with technology. Thanks to modern technologies, consumers are now more networked and better informed than ever before. Used to finding the ideal product by making comparisons and consulting with others on a wide range of webservices. In the future the challenge for marketing and technology providers will be to reach this “always on” generation in real life. The conference will highlight the perspectives and visions of the different sectors: from traditional advertising and out-of-home possibilities to web and mobile-based communication and digital signage. Use the early bird pricing and save 200 EUR.

November 4-6, 2010, New York, NY: IMM is the leading residential training course for the brightest executives working with international brands or within the international departments of agencies, media owners and client companies. Created in the UK in 1990, the course has now trained over 2,000 executives – many now working at senior levels within US-based organizations and across the world. The two and a half day course combines presentations from leading thinkers with practical group work and mentoring. Send your most promising people to the first IMM New York, designed to help train the next generation of American advertising talent.

November 4-6, 2010, Savannah, GA: Geekend is the interactive conference phenomenon you have been waiting your whole life for. Geekend is your chance to interact with people taking the tech and creative industries by storm. Join us this November as the brightest geeks, designers, developers, artists, and social media mavericks flock to Savannah for a weekend filled with cutting edge speakers, fun-filled after parties, and amazing networking opportunities. Speakers include Noah Everett of Twitpic, Scott Stratten of Unmarketing, Margaret Francis of Lithium, and many more.

November 4-5, 2010, New York, NY: Influence People is hosting a one-day social media monitoring conference in New York on November 4, followed by a half-day training bootcamp on November 5. Monitoring Social Media (New York) will bring together leading brands, PR and marketing experts to discuss the latest ideas, trends and techniques in social media monitoring and measurement. Though a series of presentations, panels and expert-led discussions, we will explore the critical issues that marketers and PR professionals are facing in their efforts to monitor their social media interactions. Register with code mashable to get a 10% discount. Limited tickets still available at www.socialmediamarketing.co.uk.

November 5-6, 2010, San Francisco, CA: The NNew Media Film Festival brings you the Best of New Media: What’s New & What’s Next…and honors stories worth telling. Join the Producers Guild of America-Northwest (PGA-NW), NATPE, Content First, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, WGA New Media, SAG New Media, International Academy of Web TV, Motorola, IndieGoGo and more as we bring together thought leaders and content creators from across film, TV, games, publishing, web, mobile & technology for forums, screenings and networking. Register and use the promo code GOLDENGATE30 to save 30%. More information can be found at www.newmediafilmfestival.com.

November 5, 2010, New York, NY: L2 is a think tank for digital innovation. On November 5th, L2 will host its second-annual Innovation Forum at The Morgan Library. The full-day event will address innovation in digital marketing and implications for prestige brands. Described as "TED for brand marketing," the Forum is the largest gathering of prestige executives in North America. The Forum is meant to inspire, educate and entertain. Speakers this year include CEOs of Bonobos, Polyvore, MINI, Rent the Runway, Foodspotting and the Business of Fashion. Register and use the promo code Mashable_friends for 25% off.

November 5, 2010, St. Petersburg, FL: During Poynter’s Social Media Day: Finding the Future of Journalism, we will tap into the broader creativity of influential thought leaders in social media and explore its future possibilities within journalism. Scheduled speakers include Lisa Stone, co-founder and CEO, BlogHer; Charlene Li, partner, Altimeter Group; Vadim Lavrusik, community manager, Mashable; Matt Thompson, editorial product manager, Project Argo/National Public Radio; Betsy Morgan, former CEO, Huffington Post, and many more. Purchase tickets to attend the in-person event, or RSVP to our Facebook event and watch a video stream of the event on Poynter.org.

November 6, 2010, Topeka, KS: PodCamp Topeka is Topeka’s annual low-cost “unconference” focused on social media, podcasting & videoblogging, blogging, Twitter, Facebook, photography, and web design, for starters. Our keynote speaker is Patrick O’Keefe, author of Managing Online Forums. Register now!

November 8-10, 2010, San Francisco, CA: The Open Mobile Summit & Appcelerate — The most anticipated mobile conference of the year. Meet the CEOs of Sprint, LightSquared, HTC USA, Loopt, Smule, Booyah, Shopkick and more. Explore the key mobile battlegrounds – OS wars, PC vs Phone, video, advertising, cloud – and see who is set to lead in the next phase of the open mobile revolution. Register now with VIP code MASHABLE and save $100

November 8-11, 2010, Las Vegas, NV: PubCon, the premier search and social media conference, features the industry’s biggest names and key players shaping the future of the Web. PubCon holds cutting edge panel sessions exploring tracks dedicated to search, social media and affiliate marketing, an intensive professional search and social media training program and some of the world's top keynote speakers. PubCon Las Vegas will also hold a one day two-track slate of intensive educational training programs led by some of the industry’s most respected search professionals. PubCon makes all of this available at some of the most affordable registration rates in the industry. Please use the code ma-8201210 for 10% off the registration price.

November 8-11, 2010, Santa Clara, CA: See the latest collaboration tools and technologies at Enterprise 2.0 Santa Clara’s comprehensive conference and expo. Gain thought leadership — from strategy to execution and performance monitoring — to bring the power of collaboration to your organization, accelerate information flow, drive revenue and increase productivity. Register with the promo code CNUJES04 to save $100 off the onsite price for passes or for a free expo pass.

November 8-9, Boston, MA: The eCommunications & Online Marketing Summit is a two day conference for the pharmaceutical industry. We will be showing how to revamp your eCommunications strategy to know, reach and interact with your customer. The event will feature 20+ pharmaceutical speakers and a key note from Citi Bank . The event’s agenda will feature 14 case studies that will give you knowledge on only the most critical business issues. For our event brochure, click here. Register and use the promo code MSH200 to save £200.

November 9-10, 2010, Toronto, Canada: Take back practical strategies for integrating social media tools and measure their ROI at your company – all in just 2 days! The Canadian Institute's 4th Annual Conference on Social Media will provide you with the right tools to integrate and measure the impact of social media in your organization. Learn how to increase the number of your followers, handle negative publicity and attacks in social media, strategically leverage social media as a key tool in crisis communications and much more. Enter Mashable discount code 207AX03 to get 15% off the conference.

November 9, 2010, Atlanta, GA: Small Biz Tech Tour – Want to learn how to leverage technology as a tool to GROW your business? Want to attend the Small Business Technology Tour? target=”_blank”>http://www.smallbiztechtour.com The tour is for business owners, entrepreneurs and business professionals who want to have fun, network and learn. Whether you know nothing about technology or know a lot, the Small Business Technology Tour is for you. Bring a friend! The first 10 attendees who register with the discount code MASHABLE will receive a complimentary ticket. Use the promo code MASHABLEDISCOUNT to get 50% off!

November 9, 2010, Philadelphia, PA: BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media features 8 great case studies on the best social media programs at large corporations. SAP, American Express, Johnson & Johnson, Scholastic, SunGard, The Hershey Company, Pfizer, and BlackRock share case studies in corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal. From GasPedal and the Social Media Business Council. Save $39 off registration by using the promo code ILoveMashable.

November 9, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Agencies and advertising brands are invited to The Bees Awards – 1st international social media competition for marketing professionals. 20 judges from 13 different countries will gather at the Legion of Honor to grant recognition to the best industry practices. Honor will be granted in 16 different categories including: best use of social media platform, best conversation with consumers, best campaign, agency of the year, client of the year, and others. You are invited to submit your work before October 1st and join the celebrations on November 9 at www.beesawards.com.

November 11, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Social Media Prom, presented by @FunnyOrDie, is for anyone and everyone who didn’t have a chance to go to prom. Or maybe you did, but you were the wallflower, someone poured punch down your dress, or gave you a wedgy and hung you from a locker. This is your chance to shine, and relive what you may not have been able to experience from the backseat of the car or behind the bleachers. Visit www.socialmediaprom.com to get your tickets! Don’t have a date? No big deal, go stag! Tickets are $20 for couples and $15 for singles.

November 11, 2010, London, UK: The first London Social Gaming Summit is a one day event focused on the intersection of games and the social web. The event focuses on helping social games developers build, monetize, and grow their social games. We’re bringing together the leaders in free-to-play games, social networking, and payments infrastructure for a full day of panels and talks.

November 11, 2010, Buenos Aires, Argentina: ElggCamp is an event that gathers people from the developing environment with social media entrepreneurs, marketing specialists, designers and anyone who is interested on knowing how developing a social network can help them achieving their goals. The main objective of this event is to discover new possibilities and solutions this platform has to bring to everyone, and to create an environment where ideas are able to became real. This is the second time this event take place in Buenos Aires, and it promises to be a success! Register now here, or visit ElggCampBA.com.

November 12, 2010, Mountain View, CA: The Under the Radar Conference is a one-day showcase of carefully selected innovative startups presenting to an audience of early-adopter customers. Key audience members are responsible for leveraging innovation to help their company compete in the fast-evolving digital landscape. Join 350 decision-makers from global carriers, brands, agencies, technology companies, startups, and investors to hear from the next wave of innovators. This year’s Under the Radar conference will hear from brands, agencies retailers and media companies who are looking to improve customer engagement. Key challenges are improving their decision process, making it easier for them to get what they want, at the best price, in real-time and closest to them. The Under the Radar conference will showcase the latest startups that are addressing these challenges and influencing this behavior. Areas of focus will be on Social Commerce, Loyalty/Rewards, Social Scanning and Payment. To register, go to www.undertheradarblog.com/register.

November 12, 2010, London, UK: The first London Virtual Goods Summit is a one day event focused on the emerging market opportunity for virtual goods and economies. Once restricted to the world of online gaming, virtual goods and currencies are beginning to influence the development of social networks, community sites, and many other new and exciting markets. The market for virtual goods continues to grow – join us for engaging talks and panels designed to highlight important trends in this fast growing market. This is a must-attend event for those in the games, social media, and entertainment markets. Register now with the promo code MASHABLE010 for 15% off!

November 12, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Gamification is the most powerful way to engage and grow your consumer base. Leverage the lessons of Foursquare, Farmville and Frequent Flyer Programs in this breakthrough full-day, hands-on workshop on Gamification in SF on November 12th taught by experts Amy Jo Kim and Gabe Zichermann. Bring your product/design concerns and emerge with actionable strategies, tactics and resources at the end of the day tailored to your business needs. Space is strictly limited – register today with this discount code to save 15% off admission: MASH15. For more information, please visit http://sf.gsummit.com.

November 15–18, 2010, London, UK: Europe's definitive customer strategy experience. Focusing on the strategy behind the concept of loyalty, Loyalty World will provide you with the insight and tools to develop the ultimate loyalty initiative to support your business goals and add measurable value to your bottom line. Loyalty World will examine the relationship between your brand and your customers, look at what drives consumer behaviour, and help you understand how you can identify and harness new trends and tools to really drive engagement. Loyalty World attracts participants from some of the world's most reputable brands. With speakers from retail, financial services, travel, leisure, utilities and telecoms, you will gain cross-transferable loyalty insights and experiences that will help rejuvenate your loyalty strategy, attract, engage and retain customers, and strengthen your market. Register here and SAVE 10%.

November 15, 2010, New York, NY: Gamification is the most powerful way to engage and grow your consumer base. Leverage the lessons of Foursquare, Farmville and Frequent Flyer Programs in this breakthrough full-day, hands-on workshop on Gamification in NYC on November 15th taught by experts Amy Jo Kim and Gabe Zichermann. Bring your product/design concerns and emerge with actionable strategies, tactics and resources at the end of the day tailored to your business needs. Space is strictly limited – register today with this discount code to save 15% off admission: MASH15. For more information, please visit http://nyc.gsummit.com

November 15, 2010, London, UK: The Social Technology Not for Profit Summit '10 caters specifically for those that work in or on behalf of charities and not-for-profit organizations. We're bringing you answers to the big questions across the industry, discussing how to make the most of little or no budget, and how to utilize social media to turn supporters into advocates. This event will bring you practical advice with a human perspective and tangible takeaways that you can implement seamlessly into your not for profit organization. Register and use the promo code mash80 for an additional 20% off the ticket price.

November 15, 2010, London, UK: The virtual goods model is the revenue-generating sensation that is taking the world by storm, from games publishers to media companies, from social-networking sites to consumer brands. The Virtual Goods World Europe 2010 promises to be the next step for your business! Major brands will come together to discuss the opportunities presented by the rise of virtual goods. Social networking sites will participate, to learn more from the brands and create business models for the future. Games publishers and developers will learn best practice customer acquisition strategies. All participants will learn new opportunities presented by advances in alternative payment systems. Register now with the promo code VGWMASH and save 10%!

November 17-19, 2010, Loudoun County, VA: Social Media Tourism Symposium. The symposium will be a combination of destination marketing organizations, hotels, resorts, attractions and any other tourism related entities sharing ideas and learning more about how social media is effecting promotion within the travel industry. What makes this conference unique is the involvement of attendees throughout the entire process. Attendees will have a voice in everything from the location to the session topics and presenters. Register now and become a Facebook fan.

November 17-19, 2010, Las Vegas, NV: The WOMMA Summit 2010 is the pinnacle of all we’ve learned this year as well as trends to watch in 2011 and beyond. WOMMA Summit 2010 showcases the NEXT and BEST practices from some of the innovative and forward thinking brands in word of mouth and social media marketing today. Register before October 1 and save $200 off the full ticket price. Use code WOMMASummitMASH.

November 17-18, Houston, TX: Are you a CEO, owner or marketing executive wondering how you should be using social media to promote your business? Come to our Free 90-minute Social Media Boot Camp for CEOs where you will learn proven techniques and valuable tips to drive customers to your website and generate new leads. Our expert speaker, Paul Slack, will offer abundant detailed strategies you can immediately put into action.

November 17-18, 2010, Raleigh, NC: The Internet Summit 2010 will feature over 100 speakers and an audience of over 1,500 internet execs, entrepreneurs and senior marketers. Join dozens of industry leaders and innovators in the conversation on topics such as Social Media, Mobile, Cloud Computing, Geolocation, Online Advertising, Analytics, Video, Ecommerce and more. This years, keynotes are Go Daddy’s CEO Bob Parsons and Ancestry.com’s CEO Tim Sullivan, and then hear thought leaders from Foursquare, Google, Salesforce.com, Yelp, eBay, StumbleUpon, Playboy, Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, Autotrader.com, Playdom, Travelocity and many more! Register and use the promotion code MASH for 20% off.

November 17-18, 2010, London, UK: The Corporate Social Media Summit is a two-day conference focused exclusively on how big businesses can use social media to enhance their marketing/comms strategy. The conference is tailored exclusively to a corporate – not a social media – audience. It features 20+ senior executives from European corporations speaking – including Vodafone, Honda, Nokia, Cadbury, PepsiCo and more. 14 in-depth, interactive workshops deliver best practice examples and practical next steps from companies that have already experienced marketing/comms success using social media. For our brochure, click here. Register and use the promo code MSH200 to save £200 off the ticket price .

November 17, 2010, Phoenix, AZ: Fifth Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference – In the current environment, some companies will still come out stronger than before. Has your business suffered? Have you been laid off? Are you trying to grow in difficult circumstances? Here at AZEC10, we’ve got your back. Local investors, local entrepreneurs and Silicon Valley veterans will spend the day discussing the realities of business today. You MUST meet these people and learn from them during the Great Re-Set of 2010. This is the premier entrepreneurship conference in Arizona, benefitting the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation.

November 18-19, 2010, New York, NY: Get your tickets now to attend NextGen:Charity, a conference on non-profit innovation being held in New York City. Learn and network with 500+ executive-level professionals of non-profits and foundations. Featured speakers include Seth Godin, Scott Harrison, Arianna Huffington, Nancy Lublin, Randi Zuckerberg. Visit our website for more information, to learn about all our presenters and get your tickets. Click here to register now!

November 18, 2010, New York, NY Financial Services Social Communications: Case Studies and Roundtables — Our Keynote Presenter will be Craig Pfeiffer, Chief Marketing Officer, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Case studies by MasterCard Worldwide, AllianceBernstein, and others will showcase how leading financial institutions are embracing social media and marketing to achieve business goals despite the regulated environment. The case studies will be followed by moderated interactive roundtables. Register and use promo code MASH for a discounted rate of $155.

November 18, 2010, Madrid, Spain: Stepping out of the comfort zone: Innovation & Social Media in Healthcare. Advertising in the new markets of conversations is the big challenge, and realizing that you no longer have the control of the brand is difficult to assume and scary. But wanted or not, the conversation is out there. HCPs are right now storytelling their opinions, experiences, unmet needs, therapeutic strategies and ideas via the Social Web. They are looking for connectivity and knowledge in these new ecosystems which are "common and global grounds". The word of mouth surpasses, in credibility, the traditional communication tools.

November 18, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Real-time tools are transforming business, government and non-profits. At TWTRCON SF 2010, you'll see case studies and learn best practices from leading organizations that are using the real-time web to deliver bottom-line results. Speakers from Ford, H&R Block, Wells Fargo, SAP, Southwest, Twitter, Google, stickybits, Roxy Theatre, StatusNet, OneRiot and more. New at TWTRCON SF: Hands-on workshops designed to let you learn the how-tos of real-time applications, tools and platforms. Register at http://twtrcon.com/sf10 use the promo code MASHABLE for 20% off.

November 18, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Calling all women in technology! Vator, a leading platform for innovators and entrepreneurs to connect and learn from one another, and Girls in Tech, a social network for women in technology, are holding their first event, Amplify, to recognize women-led startups. Silicon Valley legend Esther Dyson will be the keynote speaker, sharing advice on what it takes to build a company. Amplify is a day-long event and will be held on November 18 in San Francisco. To be among the 15 women-led startup presenters, be sure to enter the competition here. Register and use the promo code MashableAmplify for a 20% discount.

November 18, 2010, Kiev, Ukraine: Digital Communications of Ukraine International Conference is one of the main Ukrainian events that will feature the top professionals in the industry of Internet marketing. The main goal of the DCU is to exchange ideas and learn how to handle changes in media and marketing in day-to-day business using the latest knowledge, new technologies, best practice, and trends. Our speakers will share their experience and cases in digital communications. Companies represented by our speakers: Ukrainian Association of Internet Advertising, Yandex, Gemius, Digitas, Oxygen, Ukr.net, Brainberry and many more. Register with the promo code DCUMAS to save 15%!

November 18, 2010, San Francisco, CA: A hands-on social media and communications workshop produced by Richard Colback at BizSoMe and Robert Dickman at First Voice. This two-part workshop focuses on how to develop stories using the five elements of narrative and then guides attendees through how to adapt these stories to effectively leverage a variety of different social media platforms. The workshops have been developed for businesses and individuals who wish to move from experimenting with social media, into the development and implementation of highly effective social media communication. Register and use the discount code MASHABLE for 30% off.

November 20, 2010, Los Angeles, CA: At the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart) Social Media Training Seminars, we will clear the confusion surrounding social media marketing and give you all the information, coaching and hands-on tutoring you need to carry out an effective marketing campaign on social media – we cover Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Myspace, Blogging, scheduling and time-management, effective postings, linking, photo uploads, marketing and branding, growing your following and more! Register here: http://e-2productions.com/eventsseminar.html.

November 24, 2010, London, UK: The New Brand Rules: Capitalising On The Online & Social Media Space – Following the success of our inaugural social media event in July, we will explore the issues of control, measurement and understanding of your brand's reputation online that will drive ROI and business success. This event offers marketers an unrivalled opportunity to come face-to-face with experts from a variety of brands at various points of their social media and online strategies to thrash out these and other pressing questions. Please click here for more information.

November 25, 2010, London, UK: BrightLemon Drupal Training – Introducing Drupal (London): This Drupal course quickly gets you up to speed with building dynamic database-driven websites with Drupal. It begins with a basic introduction into the main concepts behind Content Management Systems (CMS) and the types of websites they are meant to help create. We then map these concepts onto Drupal as a CMS and take you through installation to creations of a series of websites – each one adding an additional layer of functionality. Buy tickets here.

November 25, 2010, London, UK: The media and marketing industry's Global GREEN Awards 2010 recognise and reward creative work that communicates the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility, sustainable development and ethical best practice in any sector and across any marketing discipline. Now in its fifth year the GREEN AWARDS™ are going Global, this year for the first time, all the categories are opened for entry from all over the world. The Awards illustrate the crucial role that needs to be played by green marketing and sustainability communications in informing people about green issues, products and lifestyle choices, and showcase examples of excellence and best practice in communicating sustainability and green issues. The Awards are now open for entry. For more information about the 16 categories and entry process, please visit http://www.greenawards.co.uk.

November 25, 2010, London, UK: The Digital Brand Strategy Summit is designed to create a unique showcase from leading brands and industry experts on how to create, launch and implement an effective Digital Marketing Strategy for your brand. During this one day event delegates will be presented with strategic information, case studies and hot tips enabling delegates to walk away with a clear understanding of the digital concept and the knowledge and tools necessary to deliver an effective strategy.

November 30 – December 2, 2010, Boston, MA: In Todays Business Climate, Companies are under great pressure to attract and keep more customers. Corporate websites are now the most important public face of an organization and the best way to communicate with a broader customer base. Successful sales and marketing now requires Web sites with supporting content management systems that can reach a global audience, a mobile audience, and an audience familiar with social media and used to richer media. Use the promo code MASHABLE to save $200. Visit www.gilbaneboston.com for conference details.

November 30, 2010 – Dec. 2, 2010, London, UK: Online Information is the largest UK event dedicated to the information industry. Taking place in the Grand Hall at London's Olympia, the exhibition attracts more than 9,000 visitors each year from around the world. This unique, free to attend event consists of an exhibition with more than 200 international exhibitors alongside an extensive seminar programme. Online Information covers 6 core segments: Content Resources, ePublishing Solutions, Library Management, Content Management, Search Solutions and Social Media, providing an annual meeting place for this global industry. Mashable readers may register to attend here.

November 30-December 1, 2010, London, UK: Apps World aims to address the entire app ecosystem and the challenge of delivery, development and design of apps across multiple platforms. The event will bring together leading operators and app stores worldwide, and draw in parallels between the mobile & TV app platforms. Register now to receive the early-bird discount.

November 30, 2010, London, UK: Social Recruiting Conference will gather together leading employers and recruitment industry professionals, to passionately discuss and practically demonstrate the power of Social Recruiting. The conference will be unlike any other Social Media Recruiting conferences you have attended. Our aim is to take the talk from theory to practice; and shift conversations from hype and hope to reality and results. #SRCONF will focus on Social Recruiting case studies, with measurable ROIs. Save 10% when you register with the code MASH10 at http://www.srconf.com.

November 30, 2010, London, UK: Hear how 21 heavyweight brands, including Facebook, Sainsbury’s, Google-YouTube, COI, King of Shaves, Motorola, JustGiving, BBC, Volvo, M&S, FT, Jaguar, Eurostar and Santander are demonstrating real results from social media at the Social Media Results For PR & Comms Conference. Tried and tested strategies to genuinely engage audiences, fully embed and integrate social media practices and clearly demonstrate real results. Mashable readers receive a £150 discount with the promo code MASHABLE if you book before August 19. Click here to download the conference brochure.

December 1-2, 2010, Berlin, Germany: Lead generation, lead nurturing, inbound marketing, B2B social media marketing, SEO, storytelling, mobile marketing and blogging, B2B marketers are facing new challenges in building profitable marketing strategies. The first BB2B Marketing Europe event features a keynote presentation by Chris Brogan and will bring together European B2B marketers to share knowledge through real-world case studies, best practices, lessons learned and offer networking opportunities with some of the biggest brands and businesses today – Forrester Research, Google, Philips, Dassault Systemes, Accenture, HP, Honeywell, Canon, Kodak, Symantec, HubSpot, iTive and more. Register by September 30th to receive an early bird discount.

December 1, 2010, London, UK: The Mobile Cloud Computing Forum will provide a full perspective of mobile cloud computing and SaaS from business value through integration and implementation and to the emergent trends in the industry. Meet some of the best known mobile cloud computing and SaaS professionals in person and exchange your experiences. Register with promo code MCMASH20 and save 20%!

December 1, 2010, Toronto, Canada: The Canadian New Media Awards recognize the highest standards of excellence in all areas of Canadian digital media and seek to honour individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievements over the past year. The CNMA gala will take place during nextMEDIA Toronto at the Design Exchange. Visit www.nextmediaevents.com/cnma for more information.

December 1, 2010, San Francisco, CA: The 3rd Annual Silicon Valley Rocks will take place on Weds., December 1, 2010 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. A fundraiser for Music in Schools Today, SVRocks will feature performances from the Valley's top tech talent from VCs and entrepreneurs to bloggers and software developers.

December 2-6, 2010, Departing from New Orleans, LA: When you attend Social Media Conferences do you get the most value out of the conversation in-between sessions? Check out the 2nd Annual Social Fresh Cruise, the best parts of a social media conference at sea. Cruise the Caribbean for four days with 90 other social media leaders and influencers. For about the same price as just the ticket to many conferences, the Social Fresh Cruise includes all meals, private cocktail parties, eight hours of high-level interactive social media sessions, unbeatable networking, and entertainment.

December 2-4, 2010, San Francisco, CA: unGeeked is a unique three-day Social Media, Marketing and Branding Retreat. During the retreat, attendees will engage in discussions involving every aspect of your internal and external branding efforts. The goal is to learn how to align the personal and corporate brands by involving, Sales, Marketing, PR, Advertising, Customer Relations, Human Resource and Legal into your SoMe integration efforts. unGeeked San Francisco includes Social Media authors, mavens and practitioners such as Brian Solis, Scott Stratten, Jason Falls, Amanda Hite Jeff Power and more. Keynotes and presenters are here to get you involved in the discussions by asking you to bring your challenges, obstacles or questions to this intimate (we limit attendance to 150 people) learning environment. Register with the promo code unGeekedMashable to save 10% off three-day ticket cost.

December 2-3, 2010, Berlin, Germany: Gone are the days of paper surveys or email questionnaires where you often get poor response rates. With the advancement of mobile technology, surveys can be seamlessly integrated into mobile apps, making it more fun for consumers to respond than traditional methods. The international conference on Market Research in the Mobile World: The Next Frontier will be held on the 2 & 3 December 2010 in Berlin. The aim of this conference is to bring together top researchers and practitioners to discuss the key challenges and opportunities of using mobile research applications for generating actionable insights. Mashable subscribers will enjoy a 20% discount off the full registration fee when they use the promo code mashable20 before November 15th.

December 6-9, 2010, Las Vegas, NV. Attend the Advanced Learning Institute's 22nd Updated Forum on Social Media for Government: How To Engage Your Employees And Citizens By Using The Latest Web 2.0 Technologies To Drive Communication Results, to learn how to incorporate social media into your communications and marketing plans, and leverage the latest interactive Web 2.0 tools and techniques to advance your organizational goals. Hear practical advice from: Department of State; City of Las Vegas; Army Public Affairs; Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; San Francisco Public Utilities Commission; Deloitte and more. Mention Mashable when registering to save $200!

December 6-8, 2010, New York, NY. Attend the Advanced Learning Institute's 2nd Updated Forum on Social Media for Pharma: How To Develop, Execute, And Evaluate Web 2.0 Strategies To Engage Your Audiences And Drive Business Results, to learn how to incorporate social media into your communications and marketing plans, and leverage the latest interactive Web 2.0 tools and techniques to advance your organizational goals. Hear practical advice, firsthand, from leading organizations such as: Novo Nordisk; FDA; Johnson & Johnson; Kaiser Permanente; Astellas Pharma; UCB; Vertex Pharmaceuticals; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals; Sanofi-Aventis; Millennium Pharmaceuticals; and more. Mention Mashable when registering to save $200!

December 6, 2010, San Francisco, CA: The SF MusicTech Summit brings together 700+ visionaries in the music and technology space, along with the brightest developers, entrepreneurs, investors, musicians, service providers, and journalists who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce. We meet to discuss the evolving music/business/technology ecosystem in a proactive environment. Register and use the promo code Mashable to receive a 10% discount off the ticket price. For more information, please visit www.sfmusictech.com.

December 6, 2010, Los Angeles, CA: The Mobile Excellence Awards offers invaluable exposure, PR, branding and networking with the who’s who in mobile entertainment, media, & technology. The event has become one of the most influential and prestigious in the industry, honoring the best in mobile entertainment, technology, marketing & media. Attendees represent the entire mobile ecosystem, including execs from all major studios, entertainment companies, brands, content providers, industry influencers & press. Deadline for submissions is September 20th!

December 7-9, 2010, Santa Clara, CA: Taking place in the heart of Silicon Valley, BIA/Kelsey's Interactive Local Media 2010 (ILM:10) is a unique, three-day mega-conference featuring the true innovators of local media, local directories, local search, local mobile, local social and local direct marketing. One highlight is a special Mobile Local SuperForum offering the deepest and most strategic dive ever presented in the mobile local space. Head's up: Local is hot, and this year's conference should be BIA/Kelsey's largest ever. Register with promo code ILMMASH and save $200!

December 7-8, 2010, Universal City, CA: The LA Mobile Entertainment Summit is brought to you by the producers of the widely acclaimed 3D Entertainment Summit, this high level strategy and networking event will explore all facets of the mobile entertainment industry. This event will be presented in association with Variety and in partnership with the Mobile Excellence Awards, the industry's most prestigious awards program for the mobile industry. Located in the heart of the entertainment industry, the summit will attract the brightest minds in the mobile ecosystem. Delivering two days of packed in-depth discussions, the summit will deliver strategies to capitalize on this rapidly changing landscape, attracting senior level decision makers, leading press and market analysts.

December 8-10, Reno, NV: Join professionals from marketing, tourism, gaming, service industries and nonprofits in Reno-Tahoe's amazing ski country for Social Media at Reno Tahoe (SM@RT), one of the best values of any similar national conference in 2010. Speakers, along with specialized breakout session presenters, include top authors, practitioners and strategist from media giant, Gannett, winter travel destinations, Vail Resorts, and many other experts in building business for professional service firms. Anchored by the University of Nevada, and its business and journalism schools, attendees get specialized instruction to return home with ways to immediately improve their social media marketing. Register now and save and an additional $100 online for the main conference with the discount code MASH.

December 9-10, 2010, Sydney, Australia: Crime and Legal Issues in Social Media II will advise and assist professionals on the utilisation of social networking without fear of the risks. Some organisations are still hesitant to maximise their use of online networking. Risks such as breach of privacy, fear of legal action, developing a negative reputation and lack of control have given way to avoidance of this important medium. The event will explore the legal implications of using social media and the policies that manage the risks. Register and use the promo code CrimeSocialMash to save 15%!

December 9, 2010, Springfield MO: Social Marketing Boot Camp with Sarah Evans: Limited tickets will be available for this unique boot camp style event with nationally renowned expert Sarah Evans. You’ll spend a full six hours of session time with Sarah, taking an in-depth look at the role of social media in marketing your business or organization. You wont just learn effective social media marketing techniques, but will look at how social media works in conjunction with traditional marketing and public relations and why that’s important, practical ways of engaging customers and prospects, case studies, help with creating a social media based marketing plan, hints and tips, ways to make your brand stand out online, effective engagement, latest trends, tools and resources, and plenty of opportunities for discussion and Q & A. This will be a very hands-on event designed to give you lots of practical experience and learning, and for you to leave with new ideas and tools you can implement in a very real way. Register and use the discount code MASHABLE to save $25 on each standard registration.

December 11, 2010, Amman, Jordan: For the past few years, the field of social media has evolved to become one of the most exciting areas of technology and business marketing. How is it different for MENA? The first Arab Social Media Forum will be the first event in the region to discuss exclusively social media topics customized to MENA. ASMF2010 will bring both clients and agencies together to share their experience in dealing with social media platforms, different social engagement approaches and case studies. Register with the promo code ASMF10MASH and save 20%.

December 13, 2010, Portland, OR: Portland State University’s Digital Marketing Conference 2010 showcases success stories in digital marketing, addressing the needs of individuals and companies as they use new technologies to engage their audiences, clients, and customers. With three tracks, a digital marketing bootcamp, speakers addressing hyperlocal to international business, two keynotes, Ignite DMC, and a post conference wrap event, attendees receive high-quality, hands on, and interactive experiences to enhance their digital marketing knowledge. Please click here to both learn more and register today using code DMCMASH10 to get the early bird price (ends November 7).

January 6-9, 2011, Lake Tahoe, NV: The worlds of digital storytelling, snowsports and technology will converge on Heavenly Mountain Resort January 6 – 9, 2011 for the Tahoe Snowcial, a winter festival celebrating the global community of enthusiasts who live their passion in the snow and tell their stories online. Snowcial ties these worlds together in a participative, collaborative intermingling of industry leaders that sparks new ideas for the future, linking networks, passions and turns. Speakers include CEOs of Gowalla, Path and Vail Resorts with performances by OK Go and MC Hammer. Register with the promo code founderfriend and get 10% off!

January 12-14, 2011, Washington, DC: Social Media Legal Risk & Strategy – Social media has proven to be a critical medium for companies who are looking to have their services and brands penetrate the public sphere. The use of social media, however, has not come with an absence of legal risk. Join 16 lead counsels from Coca-Cola North America, IBM Corporation, Wal-Mart, Chevron, T-Mobile, Capital One, Dell, Aon Corporation, CSC, Nationwide and other fortune 500 companies as they discuss strategies to address and overcome the legal risks posed by engaging in social media. Mashable subscribers will enjoy a 10% discount when they mention MASHABLE in their follow-up email to ddrey@marcusevansch.com.

January 20-22, 2011, Mumbai, India: Click Asia Summit 2011 is designed to be Asia's largest digital & mobile marketing conference and expo where industry thought leaders congregate to discuss online marketing, challenges faced by agencies, and the changing face of social media. Click Asia Summit 2011 is going to change the way you look at Digital and Mobile marketing. Please register by clicking here.

January 20-21, 2011, San Francisco, CA: The First Annual Gamification Summit brings together top thought leaders in game mechanics and engagement science for the first time. Hear what works and what doesn’t in this dynamic and fast-moving field through case studies, workshops, keynotes and panels delivered by experts such as Gabe Zichermann (author, Game-Based Marketing), Amy Jo Kim (gamification guru) and Jane McGonigal (TED fellow, debuting her new book) and network with other leaders in the space. Attend the Gamification Summit 2011 and learn how game mechanics and the new science of engagement are rewriting the rules of brand marketing, product design and customer acquisition. Know the score: Register now with the Mashable promo code GSMASH11 and save 10%.

February 7-10, 2011, Orlando, FL: ARC's 2011 World Industry Forum: Driving Innovation, Sustainability and Performance will take place at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld! This forum will focus on challenges that will help you develop winning strategies. It provides an ideal environment for industry executives to collaborate, share ideas, and find new ways to attack their most pressing problems. The event includes sessions on the major issues facing our industry, with multiple tracks that enable executives to explore these topics from different perspectives. Owner/operators, solution providers, & technical experts will all benefit while contributing to the community's body of knowledge.

February 7-9, 2011, New York, NY: Now in its 10th year, the ePharma Summit is going to be bigger than ever. We are looking ahead to new trends and opportunities in digital marketing with unparalleled insight from leading industry innovators. Join us for more novel mobile strategies, more regulatory insights, more customer perspectives, and more examples of what is really working now from the organizations you admire most. Join us February 7-9 in New York City at the most respected digital marketing event for the life sciences industry as we explore innovative e-strategies and proven techniques to drive business. Register with promo code XP1606MASH and save 10%.

February 28-March 1, 2011, Sydney, Australia: Social media marketing has rapidly evolved to the extent that it is no longer enough to just get on board the “social media marketing train.” Marketers are bombarded with tools and technologies without a real understanding of integrating social media effectively. Social Media Marketing – The Way Forward enables marketers develop and manage a sound strategy for your ongoing and future social media marketing projects, with practical and valuable insights shared by some of the most successful brands and campaign creators in both B2C & B2B social media marketing. Register with the promo code MPMASH and save 10%!

March 8-9, 2011, Brussels, Belgium: Are you looking to unleash the power of social media for CRM? As new channels and strategies emerge it is increasingly important to meet face-to-face to share knowledge, challenges and experiences. Enterprise Social 2.0: CRM will bring social media marketers and CRM experts together to share knowledge through real-world case studies, best practices, lessons learned and offering networking opportunities with some of the biggest brands and businesses today. Past speakers include: Google, Kodak, L'Oreal, Philips, Nokia, Lego, Siemens, Vodafone, SWIFT, SAP, Roger Smith Hotel, Dominos Pizza, Airbus and more. To receive a special discount, register now!

March 28-29, 2011, Paris, France: The Marketing 2.0 Conference features leading social media experts who will discuss and learn about the social media initiatives from brands, advertisers, researchers and analysts. Hear from leading people in social media about their strategies, revenue models and how they are approaching upcoming trends in the field. The event will also examine the current market conditions, future forecasts and predictions from leading researchers. Use the promo code mash2011 to receive a discount off the registration price.

April 13-15, 2011, Singapore: The Internet Show Asia 2011 is a series of seminars and a large end-to-end showcase of the latest internet technologies and solutions. More than 10,000 attendees will be at the exhibition and conference to find new ways of doing internet business and enhancing product offerings through the internet – through case study presentations and speaking directly with solution partners. The show will aim to increase your ROI, it's all about business, not a technology show. For more details and registrations, please visit www.theinternetshows.com/2010/Singapore.

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Facebook Unblocks Game-Maker LOLapps

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 03:07 PM PDT


After a two-day blackout, Facebook game developer LOLapps has returned all of its games to service. Facebook blocked the company’s apps because they were inadvertently leaking private user data.

LOLapps was not the only Facebook Platform developer affected. Early this morning we learned that “technical details” caused many applications to leak Facebook users’ UIDs to third parties. In most cases this was accidental on the part of the developer, and LOLapps claims it’s among those cases, along with Zynga, developer of FarmVille and Mafia Wars.

A blog post from LOLapps CEO Arjun Sethi says, “When we were informed of the issue the relationship that put us into this category was immediately dissolved.” All of the LOLapps games have been restored, and in an effort to change the subject from the outage, Sethi announced that the company will add at least one new title to its portfolio in a few days.

Had the outage been sustained over a long period of time, it could have been lethal to Sethi’s business. And lethality for LOLapps would be bad for Facebook too, as the social network is trying to promote itself as an ideal platform for developers to host games and other applications. It looks like it has dodged the bullet for now.

Reviews: Facebook

More About: band of heroes, champions online, dante's inferno, diva life, facebook, facebook apps, facebook platform, gaming, garden life, lolapps, online games, privacy, social games, social media, social networking, supermodel the game, terms of service, TOS, yakuza lords

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SCVNGR Set to Surpass 500,000 Users on Tuesday

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 03:02 PM PDT


SCVNGR CEO and founder Seth Priebatsch tells Mashable that the location-based app that competes with the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla is set to hit 500,000 users Tuesday.

The milestone comes just five months after SCVNGR released its consumer-facing iPhone and Android apps in the U.S. By comparison, Gowalla reported 450,000 members in early September, and Foursquare will hit four million members this week.

In celebration of the milestone, the Google-backed SCVNGR will reward user number 500,000 with an Apple iPad.

Priebatsch also shares that SCVNGR should hit one million users by the end of the year, which would mean that the company is now signing on upwards of 150,000 new users per month — or 5,000 per day. That’s still significantly less than Foursquare’s estimated daily rate of 20,000 new users, but impressive considering the former startup’s youth.

On the enterprise side of things, Priebatsch details that SCVNGR’s enterprise clientele now includes 1,000 different businesses ranging from the likes of Sony and Warner Bros. to Harvard, Zip Car and the U.S. Navy using the service to encourage checkins and challenges. There’s also reportedly 10,000 plus locations offering rewards via SCVNGR.

This is the first time that SCVNGR has revealed the size of its user base. The startup is seeing significant traction thanks in part to its many brand partnerships and deep Facebook Places integration.

Reviews: Android, Google, Gowalla, foursquare

More About: location-based service, scvngr

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How Will Apple Take Us “Back to the Mac?” [OPEN THREAD]

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 02:35 PM PDT


On Wednesday, Apple will hold its second event in two months. Unlike the annual September iOS event, however, October 20 promises to bring us “Back to the Mac.”

Based on the invite, it’s virtually a sure thing that Apple will drop details on the next iteration of OS X — which will likely be called Lion. Since we’re going “back to the Mac,” though, some hardware updates are equally possible.

Will we see an overhaul of the MacBook Air? Is the MacBook going to get a Core i3 processor? Should we expect updates to the MacBook Pro lineup?

Mashable wants to know your predictions, so sound off in this special "Back to the Mac" open thread in the Facebook comments below.

Reviews: Facebook, Mashable

More About: apple, Back to the Mac, iOS, mac, macbook, macbook air, Macbook Pro, os x

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Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie Resigns

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 02:19 PM PDT


Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced Monday via an internal memo that the company’s chief software architect, Ray Ozzie, will be resigning from the company shortly.

Ozzie will shift his focus toward Microsoft’s entertainment properties “following the natural transition time with his teams but before he retires from Microsoft,” Ballmer said, without citing any dates. “The CSA role was unique and I won’t refill the role after Ray’s departure,” Ballmer added.

Ozzie became an employee of Microsoft in 2005, following its acquisition of Groove Networks. He became the company’s chief software architect in 2006, after Co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates stepped down from the role to spend more of his time on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — which he began doing full-time in 2008.

In October 2009, he founded the FUSE Labs (Future Social Experiences) division within Microsoft to develop more social, web-based products, such as social aggregation tool Spindex. He also been credited with driving many of Microsoft’s software products, such as Microsoft Office, to the cloud.

The full letter is below:

“From: Steveb
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010
To: Microsoft – All Employees
Subject: Ray Ozzie Transition

This past March marked a significant milestone for the company when, in a speech at the University of Washington, I sent a message to the world that we're 'all in' when it comes to the cloud. In that speech I noted that Ray's Internet Services Disruption memo nearly five years ago, and his work since, stimulated thinking across the company and helped catalyze our drive to the cloud.

As a company, we've accomplished much in the past five years as we look at the cloud and services. Windows Live now serves as a natural web-based services complement to both Windows and Office. SharePoint and Exchange have now decidedly embraced the cloud. And by conceiving, incubating and shepherding Windows Azure, Ray helped ensure we have a tremendously rich platform foundation that will enable app-level innovation across the company and by customers for years to come.

With our progress in services and the cloud now full speed ahead in all aspects of our business, Ray and I are announcing today Ray's intention to step down from his role as chief software architect. He will remain with the company as he transitions the teams and ongoing strategic projects within his organization – bringing the great innovations and great innovators he's assembled into the groups driving our business. Following the natural transition time with his teams but before he retires from Microsoft, Ray will be focusing his efforts in the broader area of entertainment where Microsoft has many ongoing investments. We have tremendous opportunities in the entertainment space overall, and I'm excited about what we can accomplish. Beyond that, Ray has no plans at this time. While he'll continue to report to me during the transition, the CSA role was unique and I won't refill the role after Ray's departure. We have a strong planning process, strong technical leaders in each business group and strong innovation heading to the market.

While Ray will be onboard for a while, I'd like to thank him today for his contributions to Microsoft, both as a leader and as a long-time Microsoft ISV. As an early ISV, Ray contributed significantly to the early success of Windows. Since being at Microsoft, both through inspiration and impact he's been instrumental in our transition toward a software world now centered on services. He's always been a 'maker' and a partner, and we look forward to our continuing collaboration as his future unfolds. Ray has played a critical role in helping us to assume the leadership position in the cloud, and positioned us well for future success.

Please join me in thanking Ray and wishing him well.

Steve”

Reviews: Windows

More About: microsoft, Ray Ozzie, Steve Ballmer

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“World of Warcraft: Cataclysm” Cinematic Goes Viral [VIDEO]

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 02:15 PM PDT


The cinematic introduction for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was released online this weekend and has gone viral, breaking 1 million views in just a day. We have the beautifully rendered trailer right here, along with the TV spot that aired during the Cowboys-Vikings NFL game.

World of Warcraft presently has more than 11 million monthly subscribers, making it one of the highest grossing games in history. Those millions of players are always hungry for Cataclysm teaser content before the expansion pack launches on December 7. The cinematic introduction has special appeal because developer Blizzard has a long history of rendering lavish cinematics.

The video depicts the rise of a monstrous dragon named Deathwing the Destroyer, whose return to the World of Warcraft results in cataclysmic changes to the landscape. Those changes include redesigns of many in-game regions where players quest and compete, so Blizzard can offer new opportunities and experiences to lower-level characters. The previous two World of Warcraft expansions focused instead on high-level content.

Check out both videos below:

Intro Cinematic

TV Spot

[Via Kotaku]

Reviews: world of warcraft gold

More About: ad, Blizzard, blizzard activision, cataclysm, cinematic, Commercial, expansion, gaming, intro, MMO, mmorpg, nfl, online games, online gaming, trailer, video, video games, viral videos, world of warcraft, world of warcraft cataclysm

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Apple’s Quarterly Revenue Tops $20 Billion

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 01:39 PM PDT


Days after shares of Apple eclipsed $300 a piece to hit an all-time high, the company is out with its latest earnings report, and with it, another milestone: $20 billion in quarterly revenue.

Specifically, the company brought in sales of $20.34 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter and a net profit of $4.31 billion, both best-ever quarterly performances. Breaking it down by product, Apple reports sales of:

  • 3.89 million Macs, up 27% from the same quarter last year
  • 14.1 million iPhones, up 91% from the same quarter last year
  • 9.05 million iPods, a decline of 11% from the same quarter last year
  • 4.19 million iPads (which wasn't available last year)

In a statement, CEO Steve Jobs noted that the company has moved past BlackBerry in terms of smartphone sales. "iPhone sales of 14.1 million were up 91 percent year-over-year, handily beating the 12.1 million phones RIM sold in their most recent quarter. We still have a few surprises left for the remainder of this calendar year," he said.

Among those surprises could be a Verizon iPhone, which looks increasingly likely given the company is set to start offering the iPad on Verizon later this month.

We'll be listening in to the company's conference call and providing further updates as they happen.

More About: apple, earnings

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Foursquare Will Hit 4 Million Members This Week

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 01:32 PM PDT


Foursquare is set to hit 4 million members this week, a source close to the company has revealed to Mashable. The milestone member metric comes roughly 50 days after the location-based mobile game signed on its 3 millionth user.

By our calculations, Foursquare is now adding close to 20,000 users per day, up significantly from the estimated 15,500 per day rate near the time the startup hit 3 million members. This comes in spite of the startup’s much publicized service hiccups earlier in the month.

About Foursquare previously reported that, judging by user IDs, Foursquare has already signed up its 4 millionth member. The user ID measurement is a close approximation, but the achievement will officially happen within the next few days, we hear.

Foursquare’s impressive growth can be attributed to a number of things, most notably the release of version 2.0 for iPhone and Android, a Symbian release and celebrity attention from the likes of Conan O’Brien and hip-hop artist Big Boi.

Foursquare’s biggest competition of late is coming from the social network behemoth Facebook, which has yet to reveal any stats around Facebook Places adoption. Gowalla, once neck-and-neck with Foursquare, was teetering around 450,000 users at the beginning of September.

Image courtesy of MariSheibley, Flickr

Reviews: Android, Facebook, Flickr, Gowalla, foursquare

More About: foursquare, trending

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New Dell LED Displays Target Heavy Multimedia Users

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 01:29 PM PDT


Dell has launched three new consumer-focused LED backlit displays. The 22-inch ST2220L, the 23-inch ST2320L and the 24-inch ST2420L are all available now.

According to Dell, the displays are “engineered to provide enhanced digital consumption,” meaning the company expects these things to be stared at endlessly, which isn’t necessarily a bad idea from a marketing perspective. According to comScore’s Andrew Lipsman, more than 80 million Americans watched TV video content online in September.

The entire line is eco-friendly with ENERGY STAR 5.0 compliance, but here are the specs you’ll likely most care about:

  • High-definition – Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, with an estimated 7,000,000 to 8,000,000:1 contrast ratio, fast response time of 5ms typical (black to white) and a 16:9 aspect ratio.
  • Aesthetics – It features a glossy black bezel with intuitive touch controls. The bottom front of the bezel lights up when the display is switched on.
  • Connectivity – Digital and analog connectivity features enable consumers to seamlessly connect the monitor with their desktop, laptop, gaming console and other peripherals with the VGA and DVI (HDCP) ports. The monitors also come with an HDMI port.

The lineup consists of: the ST2220L 22-inch for $200, the ST2320L 23-inch for $230 and the ST2420L 24-inch for $260. If you’re on the fence about which one you should buy, consider this: The 1920 x 1080 resolution is going to look incrementally better on each monitor, so just go with the 24-inch.

More About: dell, energy star, environment, led, monitors

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Cute Kids + Viral Videos = Internet Gold [VIDEO]

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 01:04 PM PDT

Viral video aficionados, The Fine Brothers, have just launched a new web series that combines two of the web’s favorite things: Cute kids and viral videos. Either it will be a roaring success, or the power of the two entities will cancel each other out, therefore divesting each of their agency.

The first episode of Kids React: Viral Videos launched this past weekend, featuring kids age 5 to 13 watching videos including “Double Rainbow,” “Snickers Halloween Commercial” and Barack Obama’s “Podium Fail.”

Future episodes will be crowdsourced, allowing fans of the comedy duo to submit videos for the kids to watch and react to.

Take a look at the premiere episode above and let us know what you think: Worthy of bookmarking or no?

More About: fine-brothers, humor, Kids, pop culture, viral video, youtube

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Apple Declared “Marketer of the Decade”

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 12:37 PM PDT


Ad Age has unveiled its very first Marketer of the Decade award recipient: Apple. Although the famous fruit has only won Marketer of the Year once in the past decade (but has been a contender or runner-up nearly every year), the Ad Age staff decided to pull the company out of the running for the 2010 Market of the Year Award and just give it the crown for the whole decade.

As Ad Age notes, the aughts were a pretty magical decade for Apple, starting with the launch of the iPod in October 2001, segueing into the iPhone in 2007 and ending the decade with the successful launch of the iPad.

For all the criticism — deserved and not — that Apple as a company gets, it would be hard to argue that marketing is an area it lacks. We can count at least three iconic ad campaigns from the past 10 years:

And that’s without even mentioning the 2002 “Switch” campaign featuring proto-meme Ellen Feiss.

Lee Clow: Visionary

Apple’s longtime advertising agency, TBWA has been a crucial part of Apple’s advertising success. An intrinsic part of TBWA is Lee Clow. Clow, the chairman and global director of TBWA\Worldwide and the former Chief Creative Officer at TBWA\Media Arts Lab — a division created first and foremost to serve Apple — is the man behind the iconic “1984″ Macintosh ad, the “Think Different” campaign and the “Get a Mac” ads.

In a recent interview with MAD (Media Arts and Disruption), Clow discusses some of the core elements of Apple’s marketing strategy.

“There isn’t a single thing Apple does that isn’t a message that confirms or reinforces how you feel about the company. I often tell people that the best ad we ever did was the Apple Store. We do great TV commercials, we do wonderful billboards, but you walk into an Apple store and you’re now immersed in a brand that’s going to change your life.”

He continues:

“The reality of the new media world is that if your brand does not have a belief, if it does not have a soul and does not correctly architect its messages everywhere it touches consumers, it can become irrelevant. It can be ignored, or even become a focal point for online contempt.”

Frankly, we cannot think of any company that has a more meticulous vision for its branding strategy than Apple. It’s also hard to argue that this strategy hasn’t been overwhelmingly successful.

Apple surpassed Microsoft in market valuation back in May and crossed the $300 a share mark last week. The company will release its fall quarterly earnings report later this afternoon.

As a company, Apple is certainly more than just branding and marketing, but the branding and marketing reinforces, as Clow states, every other aspect of the company.

What do you think of Apple being named Marketer of the Decade? Does any other brand come close? Let us know.

Reviews: Apple Store, iPhone

More About: ad age, advertising, apple, lee clow, MARKETING, media, tbwa

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How Social Search Will Transform the SEO Industry

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 12:13 PM PDT

SEO Image

Joe Devine is the Chief Executive Officer of The Search Engine Guys, LLC (TSEG), a full-service web marketing company based in Austin, Texas.

Facebook and Bing announced last week an agreement that would allow Microsoft's search engine to return results based on the Facebook "Likes" of the searcher's friends. Additionally, Google recently began including Twitter updates in its search returns. It's a natural innovation that fits into the business models of both companies and takes the trend of individualized search results to its next logical level: results tailored to the searcher's existing social footprint.

SEO insiders have wondered whether this new search innovation would affect placement strategies. And the simple answer is: yes. Yes, there will be changes to the way SEO professionals run their clients' campaigns. Yes, this will affect the industry as a whole. And yes, we believe SEO professionals will have to adapt to meet ever-evolving needs.

Changing the Method, Not the Mission

But to think that this development is rocking the SEO world is to misunderstand the realities of the industry. In its roughly 15 years of existence, SEO has grown from being a small wildcat operation run by webmasters and content services to being one of the most dynamic, fast-growing sectors of the tech market. The reason for this rapid growth is because — not in spite –- of the constantly evolving nature of search engines.

Of course, as with any complex question about a dynamically evolving industry, there is a caveat. While the Bing-Facebook agreement and the recent updates to Google will change elements of how we do our business, the fundamentals will remain the same. As much as innovation shapes the day-to-day processes of optimization, the core foundations of the industry remain unchanged. The goal was — and still is — putting clients at the top of results pages, whether this is through organic search, paid search or social media.

Social media is nothing new in the world of online marketing. Facebook alone has 500 million users. We have already seen certain Twitter feeds included in Google search results. Before long, results may integrate other social networking sites, like Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite and myriad other sites that haven't even been developed yet. For SEO professionals, this change highlights the need to integrate social networking if they haven't already.

The Bing-Facebook agreement is indicative of the many changes that have taken SEO from a small-time game to a major, innovative industry. SEO is not about counter-punching, and it's not about simply reacting to the changing search-engine landscape. Instead, it is about growing alongside search engines. It is about evolving with them to ensure that searchers get the results they need.

SEO Firms Must Become Digital Media Agencies

For years now, successful SEO firms have not been focusing their efforts strictly on organic search results. They've been steadily evolving along with changes in search engines: new Google algorithms, the emergence of Bing, the development of Google Local, instant searches, paid search, and searchable Twitter feeds. At my company, we believe that to be successful, SEO firms need to become something more advanced: Digital Media Agencies.

A modern DMA resembles an SEO firm from 2002 in the way that a Ferrari resembles a Model T. The basic elements remain the same, but sophistication and complexity have resulted in a better product. DMAs are about handling the many online representation needs of their clients. While top search engine placement remains the major goal, it is just one aspect of what they seek to do. A DMA also seeks to manage a client's online reputation, create and maintain their social presence, and handle the many other aspects of a client's online brand.

Will SEO professionals have to change their strategy in reaction to a new social media paradigm? The answer is yes. Their evolution into full-fledged Digital Media Agencies is imperative. And as the social and search industries continue to change, so too will DMAs need to innovate.

More Business Resources from Mashable:

- The Business Behind the Internet TV Revolution
- How Predictive Analytics Can Make Money for Social Networks
- HOW TO: Earn Some Inexpensive Online Exposure for Your Small Business
- HOW TO: Accept Credit Card Payments on Mobile Devices
- Is Mobile Video Chat Ready for Business Use?

Reviews: Bing, Brightkite, Facebook, Google, Gowalla, Twitter, foursquare

More About: bing, business, facebook, Google, Search, SEO, social media, social search, trending, twitter

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Google Wishes You a Happy Birthday with Special Doodle

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 11:54 AM PDT


Google is known to celebrate special occasions, such as the birthdays of John Lennon, Hans Christian Andersen and Agatha Christie by replacing its standard homepage logo with custom doodles. Now the search engine is commemorating every Google user’s birthday with a special birthday doodle and Google Profile flair.

Over the weekend, Google announced the birthday surprise, explaining that the special doodle will appear on google.com if you add your birthday to your Google Profile and are signed in to the service on the special day.

You can then click on the birthday logo to see your Google Profile, which will be decked out with virtual streamers, a cupcake and a “Happy Birthday” message from Google.

The personalized touch is a nice addition to the Google experience, but we also suspect less altruistic motivations behind the gesture — mainly, to encourage more Google users to claim and fill out their Google Profiles.

[hat tip: Search Engine Land]

Reviews: Google, Google Profiles

More About: Google, google doodle, google logo

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Ed Helms and Celebrity Friends Fight Malaria with Viral Videos

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 11:48 AM PDT

What if laughing with your favorite comedians could save a life in Africa?

That’s the question posed by “Comedy Fights Malaria,” a new campaign from Malaria No More, a non-profit that aims to end malaria deaths in Africa — where a child dies from the disease every 45 seconds — by 2015.

The organization’s latest campaign features PSA and viral videos from 25 comedians and celebrities including John Mayer, Orlando Bloom, Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Aziz Ansari, among others.

PSAs like the one above will be joined by more ridiculous takes like the below video from Ed Helms. In it, Helms plans to end malaria by recruiting a group of sexy female mosquitoes to kill off their disease-spreading counterparts. The code name? “La Femme Mosquita.”

Comedy Fights Malaria is part of a new brand of social good that relies more on awareness and raising public conversation around key issues. While pure awareness campaigns can be criticized for how much good they actually do, Comedy Fights Malaria looks like it will help bring important health issues into public conversation.

What do you think? Are campaigns like this actually effective? What vid are you most looking forward to? How will you contribute?

More About: aziz ansari, comedy fights malaria, ed helms, malaria, malaria no more, social good, social good campaign

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Secretary of Defense: WikiLeaks Hasn’t Compromised Intelligence Sources

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 11:29 AM PDT


This might change after WikiLeaks releases 400,000 new documents on the Iraq war this week, but the U.S. Department of Defense determined back in August that the previously leaked “Afghan War Reports” did not compromise any intelligence sources, which was the chief concern of those critical of WikiLeaks.

A letter [PDF] from Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates to Comittee of Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin dated August 16 but recently made available to the public says, “The initial assessment in no way discounts the risk to national security; however, the review to date has not revealed any sensitive intelligence sources and methods compromised by this disclosure.”

In other words, WikiLeaks didn’t expose any current U.S. intelligence operatives or operations. Gates says that this is in part because “most of the information contained in these documents relates to tactical military operations,” data about which is generally not sensitive after they’ve already occurred. But that doesn’t mean the leak didn’t make fighting for U.S. interests abroad more difficult.

Notably, “the documents do contain the names of cooperative Afghan nationals.” This concern has been raised before, and it’s the biggest problem with the “Afghan War Reports” as far as ethics are concerned.

Afghan nationals who aided U.S. intelligence or forces were named in the document, and the Taliban and affiliated organizations hostile to U.S. interests could use that information to target and punish the cooperative Afghans or their families.

The Pentagon threatened to take decisive action against WikiLeaks, but the organization did not take the threat seriously — at least publicly. On its Twitter account, WikiLeaks called the Pentagon’s threats “obnoxious,” adding, “What we didn't hear from the Pentagon last week: 'Killing all those innocent people is bad. Sorry. We will stop that.'”

What do you think: Is public access to the truth worth the “collateral damage” to U.S. sympathizers in war-torn regions?

[via FAS]

Reviews: Twitter, Wikileaks

More About: afghanistan, Department of Defense, dod, government, politics, robert gates, robert m gates, united states, war, wikileaks

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10 Mobile Apps for Movie Addicts

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 11:18 AM PDT


The Movie and Tech Series is supported by DVDVideoSoft. Discover Free Studio, a full collection of free software to process video, images and audio at DVDVideoSoft.com. Clean, free and user-friendly.

One of the greatest things about the burgeoning smartphone app market is all the apps, tools and games for movie lovers. Beyond just finding movie times and getting actor or director information, these apps can actually enhance the moviegoing experience itself by making it easier to manage your personal collections, rent movies online and even find out when it’s safe to skip out for a restroom break.

With several hundred thousand apps in the App Store and Android Market, it’s pretty tough to cover every app out there for movie fans. That’s why we’ve taken the time to try out and recommend 10 apps for movie addicts who want to get the most out of the movie watching experience.

We tried to stay as platform neutral as possible, picking apps (or alternatives) for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry users. Feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments below.

1. Movies/Movies HD – iPhone and iPad, Movie Collection for Android

How big is your personal DVD/Blu-ray/downloaded movie collection? If you’re anything like me, it’s pretty massive. My problem is, I often forget which movies or TV shows I actually own. This leads to me rebuying stuff I already have. I know, I know, First World Problem. Fortunately, with smartphones, there is a First World Solution, too. A number of apps help you manage and keep track of your personal library and access those libraries on the go.

Movies for iPhone [iTunes link] is $3.99 and it is as a great way to view your movie collection, plus it can use the iPhone camera to scan the UPC code from your DVD or Blu-ray discs. This will remind many Mac users of the fantastic Delicious Library app. You can even import your existing databases from movie collecting apps like Delicious Library, Collectorz or DVD Profiler.

At $4.99, Movies HD [iTunes link] is the iPad version of the app, which brings the feature set to a bigger device (sans UPC scanning, of course, due to the iPad’s lack of a camera) and makes it easy to add details or search your collection.

For Android owners, the $1.99 Movie Collection doesn’t have all the bells and whistles or database support types, but it’s a good start for movie collectors on the go.

2. Movies by Flixster – Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry

The Flixster movie community has apps for iPhone, Android, Palm Pre, BlackBerry and mobile web enabled phones.

If you’re not familiar with Flixster, it’s a great community for rating movies, getting showtimes, watching trailers, seeing what your friends think of movies, seeing the Rotten Tomatoes score and, on the iPhone and Android apps, managing your Netflix queue.

3. IMDb – Android, iPhone, iPad

The best movie database on the planet recently turned 20 years old, and it’s still just as young and spritely as ever before.

Last December, IMDb finally managed to release an official mobile app for iPhone, making the mobile browsing experience of finding “who was the guy in this episode of CSI: Miami” a little less painful.

When the iPad was released, IMDb made its iOS app universal [iTunes link], taking advantage of the new screen real estate on the iPad. This summer, IMDb for Android was released, completing the trifecta, so to speak.

The mobile apps offer a superior browsing experience while on a mobile device and also make it easy to get information about showtimes for movies or TV shows.

4. Turner Classic Movies – Android, iPhone, BlackBerry App World

When Turner Classic Movies released its iPhone app at the beginning of the year, we were really impressed by the $2.99 app.

In the ensuing months, TCM has managed to release the app for Android Market and BlackBerry App World as well. The app is $2.99 on each platform but offers the same solid experience of schedules, photos, trivia, movie history, photos and more. If you love classic movies, definitely add this one to your collection.

5. Get Glue – iPhone, iPad, Android

We’re big fans of GetGlue, the social sharing and recommendation service. Its mobile apps for iPhone, Android and iPad add to the overall experience by letting you check in to various types of media, including movies.

For movie fans, the great thing about the GetGlue apps is that you can get recommendations from the service based on your likes, see what your friends like and also earn points and stickers toward upcoming movies.

It’s a great way to augment the movie-watching experience.

6. LOVEFiLM UK for iPhone, droids LOVEFiLM for Android

In the United States, we have Netflix. In the UK, LOVEFiLM is the movie rental service of movie rental services.

If you’re looking for a way to manage your LOVEFiLM queue on an iPhone or Android phone, you’re in luck.

The iPhone has an official LOVEFiLM app [iTunes link] that lets you manage your queue, rate titles and watch trailers. The unofficial droids LOVEFiLM isn’t as pretty and it doesn’t let you manage your rentals unless you buy the paid version, but it still does the job.

7. iPhlix for iPhone, iPhlix HD for iPad, NetQ or PhoneFlicks for Android

Netflix’s Watch Instantly service is on practically every consumer electronics device on the market today — including Blu-ray players, TV sets, Apple TV, Roku, Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3. However, the queue management experience is not universally awesome. If you have a Roku, Apple TV or PS3, it’s pretty solid. The other systems make managing your queue and searching and adding movies less easy to do via the TV interface.

Fortunately, there are tons of Netflix queue management mobile apps on the market. I’ve tried most of them for iPhone and my favorite continues to be iPhlix [iTunes link]. At $2.99, this is just the most consistent app, in my experience, and it makes it easy to manage your discs or Instant Queue, while also letting you rate movies, see new releases and more.

The iPad version is $4.99 and really takes advantage of the larger screen size by making it easier to rate movies, view rating and add various films to your queue.

On the Android side, again, there are lots of options. PhoneFlicks (free) is pretty similar to its iOS counterpart and isn’t a bad app for basic management. NetQ is $0.99 for the ad-free version and it also lets you search YouTube for a movie trailer, which is a nice touch.

8. Redbox for iPhone, RedBoxer for Android

Closing out the DVD management apps is Redbox. Redbox is the uber-cheap kiosk rental service that has turned Hollywood on its head.

The official iPhone app [iTunes link] is free and actually quite awesome. You can see which movies are available in your area and where, and you can reserve a movie and access maps to nearby Redbox locations near you.

RedBoxer for Android is $1.99 but it lets you bookmark movies, locate kiosks on Google Maps and reserve movies from the app.

9. Scene it? Series for iPhone and iPad

The Scene it? series [iTunes link] of apps for iPhone and iPad are really fantastic. The apps feature tons of high-quality movie clips, are available in a variety of different categories and — at $1.99 for iPhone and $4.99 for iPad — are pretty inexpensive.

If you are familiar with the Scene it? board game, you’ll know how this game works. Get a question based on a movie clip and race to give the right answer. On the iPad especially, this is a great party game.

10. RunPee for iPhone and Android

RunPee is an interesting idea for an app. It alerts you when it is “safe” to run the bathroom during a movie. This is convenient for those times you down too much movie theater soda during the 40 minutes of commercials and previews and find yourself needing to use the facilities or play the waiting game.

I’m usually not a fan of leaving the movie theater during a movie, but sometimes the alternative can be equally unpleasant. You could wind up having to use the men’s room after seeing Sex and the City: The Movie (the first one, not the sequel) because the line for the ladies was around the corner. True story.

RunPee is frequently updated and is a free app for both iPhone [iTunes link] and Android. You can get alerts when it’s safe to run and when you need to be back, but be aware, the break descriptions can sometimes spoil elements of the movie, so try not to read too much in advance. Additionally, be a good movie goer and keep the iPhone or Droid time to a minimum so that your seatmates don’t get distracted.

Your Picks

What are some of your favorite apps to enhance the movie watching experience? Let us know in the comments!

Series Supported by DVDVideoSoft

The Movies and Tech Series is supported by DVDVideoSoft, which offers a collection of safe and reliable video, audio and image freeware programs. DVDVideoSoft Free Studio is a collection of more than thirty different utilities designed to go beyond the limitations of the standard Windows operating system and provide you with new ways to enjoy music and videos the way you choose. Learn more here.

More Movie Resources from Mashable:

- Using Film to Change the World
- 7 Services That Will Suggest Things You Like
- 5 Biggest Movie Trailers of Comic-Con 2010
- Top 10 LEGO Movie Tributes on YouTube
- 10 Best Geek Movies for a Cozy Night In

Reviews: Android, Android Market, App Store, BlackBerry Rocks!, Blu, Flixster, Google Maps, LOVEFiLM, Rotten Tomatoes, SEX, Windows, YouTube, iPhone, imdb

More About: blackberry apps, Film, flixster, getglue, IMDB, ipad apps, iphone apps, List, Lists, lovefilm, Mobile 2.0, mobile apps, Movies, Movies and Tech Series, netflix, redbox, runpee, scene it

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Skittles Asks Facebook Fans to Drown a Man in Candy

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 11:09 AM PDT

Skittles UK is rolling out an Old Spice Guy-esque campaign with the launch of “Dazzle the Rainbow,” a challenge in which fans are asked to bury a man named David Phoenix in a vat of the sugary candy.

The challenge — which kicked off today at 12 noon, UK time — features the ballsy Phoenix, who has announced his intention (via a series of videos) to survive being buried by more than 2 million Skittles.

Skittles fans can head to Facebook today and tune into the live stream, which will cause more and more candy to rain down on Phoenix every 15 minutes. Apparently, 3.7 million Skittles are lying in wait, and the only way to release them is to grab the eyeballs of more and more fans. (You have about 17 more hours to tune in.)

So who is David Phoenix? According to a Skittles rep, “David Phoenix is incredibly talented and dangerously handsome. He knows the meaning of life, but has told no one and he has read the Internet, his notes are what you call ‘Google.’ He is a man hell bent on victory against the Skittles fans.”

Okay… So basically no word on who he actually is, but he appears to be yet another addition to the Most Interesting Man on Earth/Old Spice Guy canon of tough guy spokesmen. Sample tweet: “Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, but I was the first man to walk on Neil Armstrong.” (Anyone else getting tired of macho rigmarole like this?)

We’re not sure exactly what Skittles aims to achieve by drowning a man in sugar, but it seems a clever way to engage Facebook fans and draw more attention to the brand. Will you join in?

Reviews: Facebook, Google, Internet

More About: facebook, MARKETING, old spice, pop culture, Skittles, social media, twitter

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Pandora Brings Mobile Advertising to Small Businesses

Posted: 18 Oct 2010 11:02 AM PDT


In a bid to further expand its local ad revenue, Pandora has opened up its mobile advertising platform to small to mid-sized businesses.

That means that advertisers can now run both banner and audio campaigns across Pandora's mobile applications, which the company says account for more than half of its 65 million users daily listening.

Those ads can be targeted by location, though at the moment, that targeting is based on the zipcode users provide to the service as opposed to a physical location shared by a GPS-enabled smartphone. Still, the format represents a new challenger to terrestrial radio stations, and Pandora is actively targeting local businesses – think car dealerships, banks and local universities — around the U.S. that currently advertise there.

"We do research into who's advertising in the radio and local newspapers and will give those advertisers a call and let them know what opportunities are available on Pandora," said Pandora's VP of Sales Brian Mikalis in an interview with Mashable. Pandora then works with the advertisers to develop campaigns, which come at no additional cost to the existing ads in Pandora's web and desktop apps.

Clearly, there's a huge opportunity for Pandora in the small business market. Consider the fact that the company is also starting to get itself into automobiles -– where much of terrestrial radio listening takes place –- and you can see the long-term competitive threat Pandora represents for the FM dial.

Reviews: Mashable, Pandora

More About: advertising, music, pandora, radio, small business

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