Mashable: Latest 6 News Updates - including “More PlayStation Phone Details and Pics Emerge” |
- More PlayStation Phone Details and Pics Emerge
- 10 Fun Doodling Apps to Unleash Your Creativity
- 10 Essential Websites for iPhone Photographers
- Retaliation: Apple Sues Motorola Over Multi-Touch
- HOW TO: Score a Job Through Facebook
- Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]
- Weekend Gaming: “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II,” “Fable 3″ [OPEN THREAD]
| More PlayStation Phone Details and Pics Emerge Posted: 30 Oct 2010 08:00 PM PDT      More pictures of the rumored PlayStation Phone have shown up, and the device looks as sleek as ever. Details about the device’s software and Sony’s plans have also been revealed through an earnings call and sources close to the project. But first let’s deal with the question of the device’s authenticity. When we reported on the PlayStation Phone last week, it was the culmination of a long series or rumors about an Android-powered, Sony-designed gaming device. The source for this big development was gadget blog Engadget, which simply posted pictures and details under the headline “The PlayStation Phone.” When some gadget enthusiasts questioned whether or not the device was real, Engadget staked its reputation on the news and followed up with a claim that multiple, reliable sources very close to the project were behind the leak. Furthermore, Sony was asked about the leak in an earnings call and while its executives didn’t confirm it, they assured listeners that something similar was inevitable, and that prototypes exist. Engadget believes this is one of those prototypes, and it acquired new photos, some of which we’ve included here. It also reports that the device’s codename is “Zeus,” and that while it runs Android, different prototypes seem to be running different versions. One prototype carries an 8 GB SD card to supplement “at least” 512 MB of internal data storage. As we reported before, the device has a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, a touch pad, and a 5-megapixel camera. Those specs should be more than enough to play classic PlayStation games and new games alike. Here are the pics; head over to Engadget for more.    Reviews: Android More About: entertainment, gadgets, gaming, Mobile 2.0, playstation, PlayStation Phone, PSP, smartphone, sony, Sony Ericsson, tech, video games For more Mobile coverage:
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| 10 Fun Doodling Apps to Unleash Your Creativity Posted: 30 Oct 2010 05:01 PM PDT   Everybody needs a good doodle now and then. Maybe your hands get restless while you’re talking on the phone. Maybe you’re stuck in a boring meeting. Or maybe you just want to reconnect with your creative, playful self for a while (hey, if Google employees get nap pods, you can certainly justify a couple minutes of coloring). Besides, the worst part of art class was cleaning up the mess afterward. Now, the marvels of the Internet can let you doodle, draw or just play around online. No mess necessary! Pen and paper may be on a fast track to obsolescence, but the doodle will live on forever. These 10 web doodle sites are some of our favorites. Which are your favorites? What sites do you use to mess around with art? Let us know in the comments below. 1. Bomomo The bubbles trail colors while following your cursor. You can choose what patterns they move in, but you don't really have much control over what they paint. Still, it is oddly addicting. 2. Jackson Pollock This classic take from Miltos Manetas has been around since 2003, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. The URL opens to a blank page – until you move the mouse and start spilling ink. If you click, the ink changes color. If you linger in one place, ink collects and makes a bigger spot. The interactive artwork imitates the painting style of Jackson Pollock. As of last month, you can play with the Jackson Pollock site on your iPad or iPhone. 3. Fluid Painter 3D animator Peter Blaskovic created Fluid Painter as part of his "I Am Artist" project. His site allows you to paint on a surface that seemingly consists of water. You can smear the colors around or simply watch them blend. 4. Flame Painter Another component of Blaskovic's "I Am Artist" project is the equally awesome Flame Painter. It's a similar concept to Fluid Painter, only it allows you to paint with virtual fire. Adrian Tudor created the above image. 5. Flurrious Digital advertising agency Digitas created this site as a holiday fundraising project last year. For every snowflake created and sent through the tool, the agency donated $1 to UNICEF. The agency reached its $10,000 goal within the first four weeks. Since the snowflake creation site was so cool (ha!), the company decided to leave it up. Check out these great Flurrious flakes on Flickr. 6. Playdo Graffiti Drawing on this virtual wall is just like real graffiti. Except for the undo button. And the many available colors on demand. And the ability to share your work over Facebook without fear of arrest. OK, maybe it's not exactly like real graffiti, but you do get the satisfying sound of a spray can being fired or shaken. The creator, Andreas Rehnberg, is the founder and lead programmer of a Swedish creative gaming studio called Playdo, which is where the doodle site gets its name. 7. Picassohead For those of you who have ever spent time staring at a Picasso thinking, "I could do that," here's your chance. Place the provided shapes on the canvas to create your Picasso-esque drawing. 8. The Scribbler The Scribbler is a collaboration between you and the site's "Scribbler" tool. You provide the outline. When you start the Scribbler, it begins filling in your outline with random strokes. You can adjust the color, transparency, thickness and "scribbliness" of the lines, but otherwise the drawing is out of your hands. The algorithm inspired a robot that draws on paper. Look through the doodling possibilities at the Scribbler's Flickr gallery. 9. Scribbler Too Inspired by the original Scribbler, this site takes the "Scribbler" feature and applies it in real time. As you draw, your lines sprout extensions like they're crystallizing. You can adjust your brush, color and canvas as you see fit. 10. Artpad There are two things that elevate this simple paint website to "doodle" status. One is the fun drawing tool that actually looks like a paintbrush. The other is the option to frame and post your work in a gallery of your choosing. More Design Resources from Mashable:
Reviews: Internet More About: art, Artpad, Bomomo, Doodle, Draw, Fire Painter, Fluid Painter, Flurrious, Graffiti Playdo, Jackson Pollock, Picassohead, Scribbler Too, The Scribbler For more Entertainment coverage:
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| 10 Essential Websites for iPhone Photographers Posted: 30 Oct 2010 03:39 PM PDT   iPhone photography is a growing medium, akin to Lomography in its cult status and the way it champions light-hearted, lo-fi, everyday shooting and off-beat effects. Like any good burgeoning artistic movement there are already a bunch of brilliant online resources aimed at iPhone photographers offering great galleries, talent showcases, app reviews, exhibition news and more. Read on for 10 great sites from around the web that we’ve bookmarked for iPhone Photographers and photo-lovers alike. Your favorite not on this list? Please share any other great iPhotography sites you like in the comments below. 1. Pixels at an ExhibitionThis site describes itself as a “gallery of the most beautiful and ground-breaking iPhone art on the web and home to an ever-increasing number of visionary pioneers in the exploration and development of this nascent and vibrant new medium.” With a daily pic to inspire you, easy browsing by category or a tag word cloud, featured artists and exhibition news, iPhotographers will find lots to like on this site. 2. iPhoneogenicRun by Edgar Cuevas, an iPhotographer in his own right, iPhoneogenic is a lovely site to visit. Described as “a place for highlighting the iPhoneographer,” it offers enlightening interviews with iPhotographers from all over the world that sometimes include interesting how-tos on certain techniques. It’s always a fascinating read. 3. EYE’EMEYE’EM is about more than just iPhotography — it’s a hub dedicated to mobile photography as a whole, where “creative minds from all over the world unite to share their images and create a unique stream of mutual inspiration and creative expression.” You can browse through pics, follow photographers you like, search by location and tag words, comment on photos, and share images. You can also jump into the fray by creating your own stream. 4. iPhoneographyGlyn Evans’ great iPhoneography blog covers iPhone photography and videography with app news and reviews (including great info on app updates), photographer showcases, news from the iPhotography community around the world and more. There’s also a user forum for discussions on the topic where you can post questions and help others with answers. 5. The Best CameraChase “the-best-camera-is-the-one-that’s-with-you” Jarvis’ worldwide hub for mobile photography is the sister site to the app of the same name, with photos from iPhotographers globally uploaded via the app. Viewing a real-time stream of these images is great fun but you’ll get the most out of this site if you post your own content thanks to the great management and sharing options that are available. 6. Life in LoFiLife in Lo-Fi is the iPhoneography blog of Marty Yawnick, a freelance graphic designer and iPhotographer. Yawnick offers his readers app news and reviews, links to relevant articles of interest he spots around the web, curated Flickr showcases, some of his personal photography and regular promo code giveaways. 7. iPhoneArtA relative newcomer, iPhoneArt’s aim is “to build a grassroots mobile art community where professionals, beginners, and developers alike can share and discuss all forms of mobile art.” Despite being in its early days, user-generated content has helped create a huge gallery of more than 6,000 photos. The site includes a “Studio Talk” forum, a robust app review section and the option to sign up to create you own online gallery with a unique username-based URL. 8. The Big Hipstamatic ShowFans of the titular app should definitely look up its sister-site: The Big Hipstamatic Show. The guys behind Hipstamatic run regular contests for best photos under certain titles. The current contest, for example, is “Fields.” You can view the leaderboard to see the hot contenders or view past entries for a wonderful showcase of iPhotography. 9. iPhone Photo“Gently” curated by Caleb Kimbrough, iPhone Photo is a very simple site offering an online showcase of what Caleb considers “the best user submitted iPhone photography.” Dating back to July 2009, it’s an eclectic collection with some strong photography. 10. FlickrNo, we haven’t gone mad. We know everyone (and their dog) is well aware of the world’s largest photography site, but besides being a place to upload your own pics, it’s a really good resource for iPhotography inspiration, artist discovery and app research. Many iPhotographers will name the apps they’ve used for specific photos, giving you an idea of what the different photographic options can produce. Did you know there are more than 30 million iPhone photographs on Flickr? You can browse pics by camera model or head for one of the iPhoto groups — there are tons of them and some amazing photography to enjoy. More iPhone Photography Resources from Mashable:
Reviews: Flickr, iPhone More About: camera, gallery, iphone, iphoneography, iphonography, iphotography, List, Lists, photo, photography, website, websites For more Mobile coverage:
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| Retaliation: Apple Sues Motorola Over Multi-Touch Posted: 30 Oct 2010 02:07 PM PDT   Apple has sued Motorola, claiming smartphones like the Droid, Cliq, Backflip and others violate six of Apple’s patents related to multi-touch interfaces and mobile operating systems. You could say the lawsuit was made in retaliation against Motorola’s own lawsuit against Apple, in which Motorola claimed that Apple simply ignored Motorola’s patents on several mobile technologies instead of licensing them when it developed and released the iPhone. Technology companies like this often push the envelope when it comes to using technologies that might be patented by competitors, but since it happens so often, a sort of mutually-assured destruction prevents things from flaring up. Unfortunately, the nuclear holocaust of lawsuits seems to have begun. About a month ago, Microsoft sued Motorola over smartphone-related patents, too. And while we enjoy the multi-touch interface on the Droid, it’s arguably ripped straight from the iPhone experience, and that technology is patented by Apple. Whether that patent will hold up in court remains to be seen. These lawsuits often take months or even years to resolve so get comfortable if you’re waiting for a resolution. Chances are the companies will settle out of court at some point and we’ll never know the full details of what went down. The good news: Since this will take so long to resolve, don’t expect your Droid to lose its multi-touch functionality any time soon — or ever. Reviews: iPhone More About: android, apple, cell phones, droid, iphone, lawsuit, Mobile 2.0, Motorola, motorola droid, multi-touch, patent For more Tech coverage:
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| HOW TO: Score a Job Through Facebook Posted: 30 Oct 2010 01:22 PM PDT   If you’re looking for a job, ask yourself if you’ve tapped every possible resource. Have you scoured Craigslist and made Monster your homepage? Have you set Google Alerts for every possible word combination that could land you a job? Have you checked Facebook? And I’m not talking about Facebook’s rather useless Marketplace. While Facebook is better known for helping people lose their jobs, it’s largely an untapped resource when it comes to job hunting. With 500 million users, it has the potential to be one of the largest. But finding a job through Facebook isn’t about pestering your friends and junking up their news feeds with status updates like “Unemployed and Looking For Work — Help A Dude Out.” It’s about making the most of your network in a positive way, not by being a nuisance. By joining groups, keeping track of your friends’ updates and just keeping in touch with your network, you can turn Facebook into a site that does so much more for you than just keep tabs on your exes. Here are five ways to turn Facebook into another resource that can help you land a job. If you’ve scored a job through Facebook, we want to hear your story, so leave us some tips in the comments below. 1. Read Your News Feed Amanda Flahive is known as the Diva of the Details at Sevans Strategy, a Chicago-based public relations and new media consultancy. She wears many hats in her job working with social media maven Sarah Evans. But Flahive landed the gig just from reading her Facebook feed. Both Flahive and Evans attended the same college but were in different programs — while they knew of each other, they didn’t know each other well. About a year and a half ago, they were brought back together by a mutual friend’s wedding. Evans threw an engagement party, and the two reconnected. “At that time Sevans wasn’t in existence,” says Flahive. “[Sarah] was still at her old position as the director of communications at a community college. We talked about what we were both doing, but the conversation wasn’t too serious. Sevans might have been something in the back of her brain at the time, but it wasn’t something we discussed that night.” Since they were both going to be in the same wedding, they decided to keep in touch on Facebook, the way many old acquaintances re-connect. “I’m a person who pretty regularly reads my Facebook news feed. If it’s not something regarding Farmville or Mafia Wars, then I most likely read it,” she says. “So I was reading through updates on a random day, and had been in one sales and marketing position, and moved to another, and I was OK, but wasn’t loving it.” Flahive was keeping an eye out — looking on Monster, looking on Career Builder, but wasn’t really hitting anything. “Those sites are quite often so flooded with people that are looking for jobs, that it was my experience that you don’t get very far on those sites. I would send a resume in and either not have it go anywhere or in a direction that wasn’t right for me,” she says. So on a random day, Flahive saw that Evans had posted that she was looking for a three-quarter time assistant. “From the exact Facebook post: Live in Chicago and love details? Looking for someone to work about 30 hours a week, checking e-mail, booking travel etc. E-mail Jen (her then assistant) for more details.” Flahive didn’t respond right away, but figured she had nothing to lose since she knew Evans on both a personal and professional level. Evans called her for an interview, and they had a good laugh about it. “I said, I can’t believe we are having this phone call, but if it weren’t for Facebook, we wouldn’t be having it.” In fact, Evans didn’t post the job anywhere else other than Facebook and Twitter (also the method that Sevans uses to hire its interns). The two had a conversation about the position and Evans ultimately offered Flahive the job through a direct message on Facebook. “It’s not what I expected to get out of Facebook,” says Flahive who says it’s typically used to catch up with friends and look at baby photos. “I never thought I’d get a job out of it. But now that I have, it makes all the sense in the world. And what’s more, my job got a whole lot bigger after I accepted via Facebook. Now it’s full time, I’m doing development and marketing; it led to a much bigger job.” 2. Get Active in a GroupWeb developer Enrico Bianco works at Post Rank but found his previous job creating web applications for the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, just by joining a Facebook group. Bianco was in the middle of job search, looking to switch gears. At the time, he’d been doing mostly Java enterprise development and wanted to get into Ruby on Rails instead. “I started doing rather vigorous networking, and other job searching stuff. I used to answer posts on Craigslist, go to professional networking events for social media and Ruby on Rails.” On a whim, he says, he found a Facebook group for the Toronto Ruby on Rails community and left a message in the discussion board saying that he had something to offer, if anyone was looking for someone to do some Ruby on Rails development. Lo and behold, he got a message back from the systems manager at CSIC, who asked for his resume, which in turn lead to an interview, and Bianco landed the job. “So it was really, very much a fluke, but a fortunate one,” he says. “She ended up telling me later that one of the key reasons she hired me was that she saw I was active in the community, and that I was engaging with others on the Internet.” But Bianco casts it off as a fluke, and he admits it cost him nothing to do. “I wouldn’t use it as a primary tool for job searching, but at the time I was willing to use any resource I could.” 3. “Like” or “Friend” Companies You Want to Work ForSandra Aaron is a Toronto-based event planner who was looking to expand her knowledge of the destination wedding scene, but she found it a difficult prospect. “It’s really hard to properly plan destination weddings without full knowledge of the travel industry,” she writes via e-mail. “So I decided I wanted to find a side job with a travel agency.” Aaron spoke with many companies in her search to break into the industry, but the one company she really wanted to align herself with was difficult to get into, as their average new hire had 20 years of experience in the travel industry — something Aaron didn’t have. Aaron says she spent a few months trying to find her way in, asking everyone she knew if they knew anyone with the company. Then one day, she saw a status update from the company’s Facebook Page that they were seeking experienced travel advisers. “With nothing to lose I commented, asking if they ever hired destination wedding planners. A couple of weeks later their marketing guy sent me a note on Facebook, saying he would be happy to pass on my resume to the right person.” Aaron’s resume ended up in the hands of the general manager who was so impressed with it, that within a few weeks, Aaron scored an interview. Today, she’s an independent contractor for the company. She works from their offices, and says it’s a great situation. “I have access to their resources, and their staff has access to my knowledge and resources within the wedding industry. I would have never gotten the meeting if it weren’t for Facebook.” 4. Participate in a Contest Andrew Miller scored his internship at Fast Horse, a Minneapolis marketing firm through a contest on Facebook. The company announced that its newest intern would be the candidate who could gain the most “Likes” in a week. Miller was tipped off to the contest by a college professor and quickly went to work on his campaign. “I tried to tap into every single social network I had ever been a part of,” he said. “And just send out messages that said, hey if you have a few minutes can you help me win this dream internship? All it takes is liking my Page.” Miller says he didn’t even start out with the most Facebook friends, but he was able to mobilize people by giving them simple directions to vote. That strategy won him 725 “Likes” and the internship. “Having to market myself in this process has helped me in thinking about how to market actual products. The mobilization that I was able to accomplish is something I do all the time now, contacting blogs and newspapers, trying to get them to run stories,” he said. Miller, who moved 1,700 miles from Portland, has completed his three month internship and it was extended another three months, which he says is a typical track to full-employment. “If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that social media can be such a powerful tool for establishing those relationships. There is something so hollow about submitting your standard application, resume and cover letter. With this I was able to be in communication with the decision makers and be sure this was going to be a good fit for me. I would absolutely use social media again to engage with those decision makers.” 5. Start a Dialogue Fast Horse, the company that hired Andrew Miller as an intern, is a big believer in the Facebook hiring process, according to its creative director and founder Jorg Pierach. When Fast Horse launched its Facebook Page, it didn’t want the campaign to just be a megaphone for the work they were doing, but rather they wanted to use it as a place to interact with job candidates, sort of a digital informational interview, says Pierach. The company directs job seekers to its Facebook Page so its employees have a place to share information about the company, their culture and what they do. “So instead of a resume disappearing into a file somewhere, we have a way to keep in touch, and the Fast Horse experience is the way to do that,” he said. “We started this about a year and half ago and we’ve hired about four or five people this way. They started a dialogue, and when a position opened up we already had a good idea of what that [person] was about.” Pierach says that the intern search was about more than just finding candidates; it was a way to assess them as well, so the candidates could show off their marketing chops. The company asked for video introductions and interviewed 15 candidates before narrowing it down to three finalists who competed for the most “Likes.” “In a sense it wasn’t about hiring one candidate, but seeing three strong people and their talents. As our needs continue to grow, we know that there are people out there that we liked. It’s about talent cultivation and about them showing us what they can do. But ultimately [it's] about keeping in touch with really talented people.” Pierach looks at it as a different kind of interview — one that requires people to take the initiative to weigh in with their own thoughts. It’s also a method that saves the company a lot of time when looking to fill a spot. “We have a pre-qualified group of people we can turn to very quickly,” he said, noting that the company saves itself from having to post on job boards and slug through cover letters. They can bring in candidates they know are going to rise to the top, because they have been watching each other on Facebook. “We recently had a new opportunity that was a very, very quick turn around. We needed a designer the next day. We turned to our Facebook Page and within a couple of hours we had six or seven people who raised their hands, all people we knew, to say they were available. We were able to get them in the next day and keep moving.” In the future, you can expect to see more companies looking at the hiring process this way, and Pierach suggests that people coming out of college would do well to be aggressive in identifying the companies they want to work with and start the dialogue. Social Media Job ListingsEvery week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the social media positions from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!
More Job Search Resources from Mashable:
Reviews: Craigslist, Facebook, Internet, Twitter More About: career, career guidance, career hunting, careers, employment, facebook, fast horse, how to, job search, job search series, job seekers, jobs, post rank, Ruby on Rails, sevan strategy, social media, trending For more Social Media coverage:
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| Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART] Posted: 30 Oct 2010 11:49 AM PDT   Sports and entertainment were top-of-mind for Tweeters this past week as the NBA kicked off its season, the UFC found a new champion, and Taylor Swift released her third record. If you were poking around Twitter on October 22, you may have been wondering why you didn’t have off from work on what is obviously a sacred observance for many Internet faithful: INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY. Revelers were so passionate that their capitalized tweets locked the holiday in at number six for the week. A series of natural disasters rocked Indonesia over the past few days, prompting concern throughout the network, and trending the topic at number eight for the week. In other news, Justin Bieber (hallowed be thy name) is coming out with a musical 3D movie (take that Captain EO!), and a teaser trailer released on Tuesday prompted the entire Internet to ask, “Seriously?” The Bieb returned to the chart at number nine after a three week absence. Curious about the rest of this week’s top Twitter topics? Scroll on down to the complete chart below, which is compiled by our friends over at What The Trend. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart. You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section as well as read more about this past week's trends on What The Trend. Top Twitter Trends This Week: 10/23 – 10/29
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ricardoinfante Reviews: Internet, Twitter, iStockphoto, justin bieber, movie More About: entertainment, football, justin bieber, List, Lists, politics, soccer, social media, sony, sports, Top Twitter Topics, trends, twitter, twitter trends For more Social Media coverage:
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| Weekend Gaming: “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II,” “Fable 3″ [OPEN THREAD] Posted: 30 Oct 2010 10:16 AM PDT   This week in gaming saw a number of major releases, but the game that has seen the most action on my console is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. The game moves much faster than its predecessor. There is almost zero exposition, with the player stepping directly into the extremely powerful Starkiller who is capable of forcing his way through just about anything. Not the most challenging game to ever hit the shelves, but it’s still pretty gratifying to hurl massive objects at stormtroopers and force crush TIE fighters in mid-flight. Beyond that, I consider it an act of cruelty that Fable 3 and Fallout: New Vegas were released within a week of each other. How is a dedicated gamer possibly expected to keep up? But that’s enough about me. Let’s talk about you. Still playing HALO: Reach? Just getting around to Vanquish? Holding out for Call of Duty: Black Ops? Playing something entirely different? Tell us about it. Comments are open to: tips, critiques, (good-natured) smack talk and basically anything else related to gaming. The weekend gaming open thread is intended to bring Mashable gamers together through conversation about games. This thread is for those of us who had the first NES and for those whose first gaming experience happened on an Xbox 360, so let’s try to keep it fun for everyone. Reviews: Mashable More About: call of duty black ops, fable 3, fallout new vegas, halo reach, star wars the force unleashed 2, vanquish, video games For more Tech coverage:
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