Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Dell Inspiron Duo Gets an Official Teaser Video” |
- Dell Inspiron Duo Gets an Official Teaser Video
- Mashable Readers Want the Verizon iPhone [POLL]
- Here’s What Makes the Xbox Kinect Tick [PICS]
- Survey Shows the Internet Would Have Passed Prop 19
- On Location-Sharing and the Facebook Versus Foursquare Non Sequitur [OP-ED]
- China’s State-Owned Mobile Company Joins Linux Foundation
- Eric Schmidt on Google’s Foreign Policy [VIDEO]
- Google Instant Goes Mobile
- Hulu Plus Now Available to All U.S. Users
- 5 MP3 Players for Pumping Up Your Workouts
- Twitter Increases Student Engagement [STUDY]
- Tumblr Upgrades iPhone and Android Apps
- Tasti D-Lite Now Installing iPads in New Stores
- HOW TO: Start Your Own Internet Talk Show
- Pepsi Fans Pledge to Recycle on Facebook
- After UK Stabbing, YouTube Removes Extremist Videos From Site
- Google Chrome Gets Its Own PDF Viewer
- 5 Proven Strategies for B2B Social Media Marketing
- StumbleUpon Helps You Discover New Android Apps
- Twitter Goes to Washington, Hires Former Congressional Staffer
- Skype Group Video Calling Comes to Mac
- Facebook Wins Another Patent for Its News Feed
- HOW TO: Win a MAZDA2 on Foursquare [SPONSORED]
- What’s Hot in Social Media This Week
- William Shatner Does Cee-Lo Green’s “F**ck You” [VIDEO]
- Donate Your Status to Show Support for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of the U.S.
- 7 A/B Testing Resources for Startups and Solo Developers
- Jawbone Releases New Wireless Power Speaker
- HOW TO: Organize a Mashable Meetup
- What Happens When Technology Giants Like Sony and Google Collide? [SPONSORED]
| Dell Inspiron Duo Gets an Official Teaser Video Posted: 05 Nov 2010 02:47 AM PDT      If the first thing you say when you try to describe the concept of a tablet computer to someone is “it doesn’t have a keyboard”, you might want to reconsider that description. Dell’s Inspiron Duo is an upcoming tablet that has a full QWERTY keyboard, and Dell has released an official teaser video which makes this concept look really good. The trick is in Inspiron Duo’s flip lid, which places the touch screen on the outside when you close it. Flip it open, and you have a quite standard-looking netbook. Add to that a sexy JBL speaker dock, and you have a very interesting gadget that seems to bridge the gap between a netbook, tablet and a home entertainment device quite successfully. The device should be coming to the market before the end of 2010; until then, check out the 35-second teaser below. More About: dell, dock, Inspiron Duo, JBL, netbook, Tablet For more Tech coverage:
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| Mashable Readers Want the Verizon iPhone [POLL] Posted: 04 Nov 2010 08:13 PM PDT   If Mashable readers are any indication, the fabled Verizon iPhone is already poised to become one of the most popular smartphones around. Last week we asked you, the Mashable readers, whether or not you will get the Verizon iPhone, if the rumors about its existence are indeed true. We wanted to gauge whether you’d switch phones or even carriers to get Apple’s smartphone on the Verizon network. After nearly 10,000 votes, the message is clear: you want a Verizon iPhone. A full 58.40% of you said that you get the iPhone if it debuts on the nation’s largest wireless carrier. Here’s the breakdown:
Not every Mashable reader wants the Verizon iPhone, though; 16% said that they’d stick with AT&T, 20% said they don’t want an iPhone, and 5.5% said that they don’t live in the U.S. and thus Verizon isn’t an option. We aren’t surprised that you want the Verizon iPhone; we are surprised by how many of you want it, though. Clearly there’s demand for the Verizon iPhone. We’re going to have to wait until January to find out if Apple and Verizon deliver. Reviews: Mashable More About: apple, iOS, iphone, mashable, poll, verizon, Verizon iPhone For more Mobile coverage:
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| Here’s What Makes the Xbox Kinect Tick [PICS] Posted: 04 Nov 2010 06:56 PM PDT   Today was the launch of the much-anticipated Xbox Kinect, Microsoft’s gesture-based, controller-free gaming system. The $150 device is filled with cameras and sensors that detect 3-D gestures and commands with surprising accuracy. What makes the Kinect really tick, though? What’s the magic behind the Kinect’s motion-sensing technology? What has Microsoft packed into its gaming device? Thanks to the people over at iFixit, we’ve got some answers. They’ve torn the Kinect apart (much like they did with the iPad), revealing the guts of the device. Here are some of the highlights:
 The Kinect packs a lot of sensory devices into one package, but it’s really the gesture recognition technology that makes this thing tick. We’ve tried this thing out and been impressed by its responsiveness and initial library of games. Whether consumers are willing to stand up for hours at a time to play Xbox games though remains to be seen. If you’re a hardware geek and want to learn more, we suggest checking out the full teardown. Images courtesy of iFixit More About: iFixit, kinect, microsoft, project natal, teardown, xbox, Xbox Kinect For more Tech coverage:
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| Survey Shows the Internet Would Have Passed Prop 19 Posted: 04 Nov 2010 05:45 PM PDT   Prop 19, California’s controversial bid to legalize marijuana, lost at the polls on Tuesday by a slim margin: Just 53.9% of voters said “No” to the proposal. However, if that vote had been up to the wider web of Internet users, Prop 19 would have passed with a 55% majority. According to data gathered by Yahoo during the company’s Ask America online survey, more than 8 million responses were recorded overall. With regard to Prop 19, 133,000 online “votes” were cast on the question of whether marijuana should be legal. In Yahoo’s survey, a slightly higher number of responses favored marijuana legalization. Clearly, this is one of the more controversial topics that arose around the midterm elections. But Yahoo also tracked other popular issues from the American political landscape — from Tea Party antics to immigration and healthcare. When it comes to right wing-left wing bickering, 72% of Yahoo’s respondents said the political discourse had reached an unnatural level of animosity. However, 61% said they were not too worried about Tea Partiers steering Congress in a radically right direction. Around 75% of respondents actually favored Arizona’s controversial and conservative new immigration laws, saying they’d approve of such measures in their home states. And 65% said they wanted the U.S.’s newly passed healthcare laws to remain in effect. To see other issues and results, check out this inforgraphic based on survey data, created by JESS3: Click image for larger version. Of course, Yahoo’s data was gathered from a wide range of Internet users, not all of whom were eligible to vote. This infographic is the fourth and final installment in the Ask America series based on Yahoo’s data. Images were created by interactive agency JESS3. Header image courtesy of Flickr, GUS314159. Reviews: Flickr, Internet More About: Ask America, election, elections, infographic, JESS3, Political, Yahoo For more Social Media coverage:
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| On Location-Sharing and the Facebook Versus Foursquare Non Sequitur [OP-ED] Posted: 04 Nov 2010 04:39 PM PDT   The latest “geosocial” report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life project concludes that only 4% of online adults use a service such as Foursquare or Gowalla to share their location. There are several factors that make Pew’s findings a bit suspect. Most notably, its findings are based off telephone interview responses to a single question: “Please tell me if you ever use the Internet to do any of the following things. Do you ever use the Internet to…use a service such as Foursquare or Gowalla that allows you to share your location with friends and to find others who are near you? (If Yes, ask:) Did you happen to do this yesterday, or not?” Also up for consideration is the fact that responses were fielded between August 9 and September 13 of this year, around the same time Facebook started rolling out Places; Facebook Places is absent from the question. While we agree with the primary takeaway of the study — location-sharing is far from mainstream — Pew’s numbers don’t tell the real story. In fact, Pew’s results show a 1% backslide from May 2010 in adult internet users who share their location, but that’s not an accurate representation of what’s happening. Rather, we’re seeing hockey stick growth for services such as Foursquare and SCVNGR. Foursquare recently hit four million users and SCVNGR is shooting for one million by year’s end. On Wednesday, for instance, 4,511 San Francisco Giants fans checked in to the team’s parade — that’s more than four times needed to unlock the newly introduced Epic Swarm badge (added because 250 person Super Swarms were becoming commonplace). On the same day, Facebook announced the Deals Platform with a slew of big brands ready to ante up freebies to patrons who check in to the service. Is there any doubt that both Facebook and Foursquare will help acclimate an ever increasing amount of mobile users to the notion of location-sharing? Really, all the Pew study shows is that 96% of its surveyed telephone respondent pool are not using Foursquare or Gowalla — that’s not saying much. Instead, that 96% should be seen as a huge pool of opportunity for all the applications and services out there. There are no winner or losers yet, just one giant blue ocean. Lest we get caught up in the already overhyped speculation that Facebook will destroy Foursquare, or any other single service for that matter, the study is a not so subtle reminder that it’s still absurd and way too early to make any dramatic conclusions. Reviews: Facebook, Gowalla, Internet, foursquare More About: facebook, foursquare, geosocial, location sharing, Mobile 2.0, scvngr, trending For more Mobile coverage:
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| China’s State-Owned Mobile Company Joins Linux Foundation Posted: 04 Nov 2010 03:33 PM PDT   The world’s largest mobile enterprise has just joined the Linux Foundation as a Gold Member. The company in question is China Mobile, the largest and most valuable nationwide telecom enterprise in the world. With 570 million subscribers, it also has the largest user base of any such company. Linux is a collection of free and open-source software; Linux operating systems are the most popular FOSS OSes in the world. The goal of the Linux Foundation is to protect, standardize and promote the Linux platform by giving it the services and features to compete with proprietary software. In an announcement, Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin said, "China Mobile's decision to join The Linux Foundation and their commitment to Linux could represent a seismic step toward a realignment of OSes in China and in the telecommunications industry. “For The Linux Foundation, the opportunity to present Linux as a choice to 560 million users is a power-packed proposition." Both in terms of getting Linux products — particularly Linux mobile OSes, which currently account for a paltry 3% of the U.S. smartphone market — in front of users and getting more developer contributions to its ever-growing platform, the move is a huge win for the Linux Foundation. Sure, there’s some inherent irony in the mass adoption of FOSS software and principles by a country that’s traditionally been closed to information technology in many other ways — and much has been made of that ongoing debacle by mainstream media and tech blogs. But what’s less discussed — but much more important to this deal — is the fact that Chinese commercial and educational entities already make up a large part of Linux’ user base. Moreover, Chinese developers have been making great contributions to the Linux kernel lately. And Chinese Internet and hardware companies — again, some of the largest in the world — also use Linux for infrastructure and on their devices. China Mobile will be the tenth Linux Foundation Gold Member. Other Gold Member companies include Google, Cisco, HP and Motorola. Reviews: Google, Linux More About: china, china mobile, foss, Linux, Mobile 2.0, open source, telecom For more Mobile coverage:
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| Eric Schmidt on Google’s Foreign Policy [VIDEO] Posted: 04 Nov 2010 03:00 PM PDT Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave insight into the company's burgeoning international policy on Wednesday night at a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York City. Schmidt, who oversees the company's technical and business strategy, spoke about the effects of technological democratization in the modern age and some of the challenges Google faces as it drafts its early forays into diplomacy. Schmidt iterated Google's position on Iran, the "Great Firewall of China," and other countries it views as potential threats to modern Western liberalism. Google's goals, he said, are best served when the company works to serve the interests of a particular country's citizens, rather than pick fights with that country's government. "We've tried that. It doesn't work," he said dryly. "It's always best for us to operate from the standpoint of the citizens in the country rather than Google against the government." Last night's discussion was framed around a paper co-authored by Schmidt entitled “The Digital Disruption: Connectivity and the Diffusion of Power,” which was published in this month's issue of Foreign Affairs. Schmidt, who is also a member of President Obama's council of advisers on science and technology, was joined on stage by the paper's co-author, Jared Cohen, the director of Google Ideas, a current fellow at the CFR and a former policy staffer under Secretaries of State Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton. Some of the other points touched upon during the meeting were these:
Schmidt agreed with Gladwell on at least one point: that past revolutions tended to take place because of "strong bonds," of small groups of people willing to risk their lives for social change. Current technology, thus far, has merely enabled weak bonds, diffused among too many people. (Think about the number of social good causes people support on Facebook versus the effect their support actually has.) This, however, is changing, Schmidt said. "The next generation of mobile technology is all about tight bonds." Reviews: Facebook, Google More About: eric schmidt, Google For more Business coverage:
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| Posted: 04 Nov 2010 02:46 PM PDT   A beta version of Google Instant is now available on many U.S. iPhone and Android mobile devices. According to the Google Blog, the Instant search option is presently on Android 2.2 devices, as well as iPhones and iPods running on iOS 4. As of right now, Google Instant is only available in English, although Google plans on adding more languages and bringing the service to other countries and devices. In order to test out Instant’s latest incarnation, one must tap the “turn on” link beneath the search box while visiting Google.com on a mobile device. Users are advised to wait for a bit and refresh the page if the “turn on” option isn’t immediately visible. Mobile Google Instant is similar to its desktop counterpart — it offers a list predicting what users are searching for based on what they type. The first prediction’s results will automatically appear on the screen. To access the remaining results, users just have to tap their fingers on the other listed predictions. If they press “enter” or the search button, the predictions will be skipped in favor of results that match the exact search terms. The service, best designed to work on 3G and Wi-Fi networks, can also be enabled or disabled without causing users to leave the page they’re on. All one needs to do is tap the “turn on” or “turn off” link. Google Instant made its desktop debut in September, which is when a mobile sneak peek was also made available. By the end of the month, while in the midst of rolling out Instant to other countries, Google also added keyboard navigation to the service. Check out a demo of how Google Instant for mobile works below. Have you tried it yet? Reviews: Google More About: android, Google, Google Instant, iphone For more Mobile coverage:
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| Hulu Plus Now Available to All U.S. Users Posted: 04 Nov 2010 02:32 PM PDT   Hulu has announced that invitations are no longer needed for its premium service, Hulu Plus, which has been in an invitation-only preview period since it launched this summer. Hulu Plus is also getting a bunch of new content, according to a company blog post. The list includes back seasons of geek favorite Battlestar Galactica, as well as newer shows like The Event. Additionally, Hulu Plus will expand to a number of of new Sony devices such as Bravia 2010 Internet-connected TVs — other BRAVIA devices are expected soon. To date, the service has only been available on iOS devices, some Samsung TVs and Blu-ray players and the PlayStation 3. In addition, Roku has confirmed that Hulu Plus is soon coming to its set top streaming boxes. The service will also be available on the Xbox 360 in early 2011. With Hulu Plus invitations now open to all, it’s likely that devices such as Roku’s will be getting the service imminently. Reviews: Internet More About: hulu, hulu plus, iOS, playstation 3, PS3, roku, samsung, Xbox 360 For more Entertainment coverage:
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| 5 MP3 Players for Pumping Up Your Workouts Posted: 04 Nov 2010 02:23 PM PDT   Whether you finish a triathlon before breakfast, speed walk around the block at lunch or do 50 laps before dinner, one thing that makes exercise so much more enjoyable is some music. We all love listening to music to get us in the "zone," but it can be a hassle to lug around a whole music library, or have your music player bouncing around in your pocket. If you're looking for a new MP3 player, or an alternative to taking your expensive phone into the danger zone, we’ve got five options that are ideal for sporty types. Have a look through our top five choices below and let us know which device you liked best — or if we've missed a model you love — in the comments below. 1. Sony Walkman W Series NWZ-W252 This wearable MP3 player from Sony fits neatly around the back of your neck, so there are no cables to get tangled. Lightweight and water-resistant, it’s ideal for joggers who run the risk of getting caught in the rain. With up to 2GB capacity, it’s not the most capacious option out there, but that should be enough space for around 450 tracks; more than enough to see you through a run. File transfers are drag ‘n’ drop easy.  The W series claims to have an 11-hour battery-life, but even if you’ve forgotten to charge the device, there’s a very handy quick-charge function that will give you 90-minutes of juice from a three-minute charge — a very useful feature. Cost: $59.95 2. Cowon iAudio E2 The stunningly good-looking iAudio E2 from Cowon proves that practical audio-on-the-go doesn’t have to be dowdy. It gives the iPod shuffle a darn good run for it's money with up to 4GB capacity, minimalist controls, brilliant file support, an 11-hour battery life and audio wizardry in the form of some proprietary tech to make your music sound amazing. All that tech snaps on with a metal ring that can be attached to a belt loop or your clothing with an optional extra clip.  Available in a rainbow of colors — white, black, orange red, violet, mocha brown, lilac silver, sky blue and pink — it’s the perfect audio player for people who dress up to go to the gym. Cost: From around $50 3. Finis SwiMP3.1G Doing endless laps can get tedious, so an investment like the SwiMP3 player might help you stay in the water longer. Designed from the ground up specifically for swimmers, this completely waterproof player uses bone conduction technology — sending sound vibrations through the cheekbone to the inner ear — to avoid the muffled noise problems other underwater players can experience.  With 1GB storage (good for around 240 tracks), it attaches to your goggles or mask and offers basic controls. The 8-hour battery is rechargeable via USB. Cost: $149.99 4. SanDisk Sansa Clip+ SanDisk’s Clip+ players (indicating a microSDHC memory card slot) are a popular choice in the budget MP3 marketplace. The Clip is a great all-around player — there are no nasty file support omissions, it boasts good battery life (up to 15 hours) and performs well. At just 2.2 x 1.4 x 0.6 inches big, it's small enough and cheap enough to throw in your gym bag and forget about.  The Clip+ is great for the gym. The clip on its back makes it easy to attach to clothes, and the small but bright display helps in navigating your song selection mid-workout. There’s even an FM tuner if you get bored of your own tunes. Though, with the capacity for around 2,000 songs on the 8GB model, you might never need it. Cost: From $39.99 to $69.99 (but the 8GB model is currently $56.79 on Amazon.com) 5. Ryobi TEK4 AllPlay Jobsite MP3 Player This rugged player comes from a tool manufacturer and is designed to withstand the rigors of a jobsite. Those qualities also make it ideal for extreme sports enthusiasts. If you need an MP3 player that will not conk out if it comes into contact with dirt, water or suffers the odd drop or knock, the TEK4 is worth consideration. With all that action, its large buttons mean its also easy to control on the go.  It offers a 2GB storage capacity with file support for all common music formats. It also comes complete with a spring loaded clip as well as an armband and, best of all, boasts an impressive 72 hours of battery life per charge, which should see you through most outdoor sporting adventures. Cost: Approximately $70 More Health and Exercise Resources from Mashable:
Reviews: Amazon.com More About: cowon, exercise, gadgets, List, Lists, MP3 players, music, SanDisk, sony, sports, tech For more Tech coverage:
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| Twitter Increases Student Engagement [STUDY] Posted: 04 Nov 2010 02:06 PM PDT   Communicating in 140-character segments may seem to contradict the goals of generally long-winded academia, but a new study has found that the two are less opposed than one might think. Students in the study who were asked to contribute to class discussions and complete assignments using Twitter increased their engagement over a semester more than twice as much as a control group. The study used a 19-question survey based on the National Survey of Student Engagement to measure student engagement at the beginning and end of a seminar course for first year students in pre-health professional programs. Four sections (70 students) were given assignments and discussions that incorporated Twitter, such as tweeting about their experiences on a job shadow day or commenting on class readings. Three sections (55 students) did the same assignments and had access to the same information, but didn’t use Twitter. In addition to showing more than twice the improvement in engagement than the control group, the students who used Twitter also achieved on average a .5 point increase in their overall GPA for the semester. Dr. Reynol Junco, who conducted the experiment at Lock Haven University, has been doing research on the effect of tech on students for about 10 years. He said he hopes the results of the Twitter study will help more educators see the positive value of integrating social media into teaching and that more educators who do use social media in their teaching will conduct outcomes research to measure the effects of social media on learning. The study will be published in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning next week. Reviews: Twitter More About: classroom, Dr. Reynol Junco, education, engagement, Lock Haven University, research, students, study, twitter For more Social Media coverage:
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| Tumblr Upgrades iPhone and Android Apps Posted: 04 Nov 2010 01:45 PM PDT   Tumblr for mobile fans can look forward to a cadre of improvements to their Dashboards today, as the blogging site tells us that it has completely overhauled that feature for iPhone and Android. “In addition to bringing the complete functionality of the Tumblr Dashboard into our mobile apps, this is truly the most beautiful and fun way to browse media on these devices,” Tumblr founder David Karp told us. “We’re very excited to finally make it public!” Karp gave us a sneak peek at the iPhone version of the new app and it looks pretty slick. “Photos, galleries, links, audio, and video, are presented perfectly –- and Tumblr’s native features like reblogging, answer posts, replies, etc., are all included,” Karp says. “It’s also dramatically faster than our previous mobile Dashboard.”  On a related note, Karp also told us that about 3% of the platform’s overall traffic comes from mobile devices — that’s more than 80 million pageviews per month. Tumblr released its iPhone app a year ago as an updated and re-branded version of the now-defunct Tumblerette app and the Android app hit just a few months ago. This update is not available for BlackBerry users yet. We’re excited to get our hands on this update when it goes live for everyone later today. Reviews: Tumblr More About: android, iphone, tumblr For more Mobile coverage:
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| Tasti D-Lite Now Installing iPads in New Stores Posted: 04 Nov 2010 01:22 PM PDT   Dessert franchise Tasti D-Lite is re-purposing Apple’s iPad to serve as customer information kiosks at all new locations moving forward. The iPads, internally referred to as “TastiPads,” run a custom built Tasti D-Lite application and will also be phased in at existing locations. The iPads are housed within a Tasti D-Lite-branded case and mounted inside stores. Customers can interface with the device to pull up nutritional information on flavors, read up on Tasti D-Lite’s history, sign up for flavor alerts, electronically sign the store guestbook and register their TreatCards. Tasti D-Lite is running Google Analytics behind the scenes of the web-based application to track how customers are using the iPad at each store location. In an interview with Mashable, social technology officer BJ Emerson and CMO Bill Zinke shared that they believe customers want to control their own in-store experience, so the kiosks are designed with that in mind. The two also hope that the TastiPads eventually facilitate stronger connections between store patrons and employees, especially through the guestbook portion of the application. Current locations with TastiPads include the Times Square store in New York, two Houston locations and a store in Nashville. As an aside, we also hear that the two were visiting the San Francisco Bay Area to scout locations for California stores. To date, Tasti D-Lite has been extremely avant garde in its use of social media, going so far as to tie social media to its loyalty program and train franchise owners on how to manage their social media presence and engage with customers on the web. The TastiPad initiative is yet another way the brand hopes to stay atop emerging trends in technology.  Image courtesy of Flickr, Edgar Zuniga Jr. Reviews: Flickr, Google Analytics, Mashable More About: Apple iPad, brands, ipad, MARKETING, tasti dlite For more Business coverage:
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| HOW TO: Start Your Own Internet Talk Show Posted: 04 Nov 2010 01:11 PM PDT   Shane Snow, a Mashable contributor and infographic designer, is the founder of Printing Choice and Visual Economics. The accessibility of video is a big reason why Internet talk shows are trending. Though talk shows hail from the muscle-car-and-milkshake days of the 1950s, our modern explosion of computer and Internet technology hasn't rendered them old-fashioned. In fact, 2010's man-of-the-Internet himself is a talk show host. (We're with you, Coco!). Twitter has created a culture in which people expect two-way dialog between everyone: friends, strangers, and even celebrities. Video is the ultimate online two-way interaction, and every day computer scientists are making bits and bytes travel faster and faster, and video is becoming more accessible. Do you fancy yourself a budding talk show personality? With a few inexpensive tools and a bit of planning, you can launch your own web show. Here's how to get it done (no orange hair dye required). Select a TopicPassion is the most important ingredient in a good talk show. Brainstorm ideas you are fanatical about. Even if you're not going to be the host, you won't want to produce a show week after week about something you don't care about. You'll get burnt out. That's why Gary Vaynerchuk, probably the web's biggest talk show celebrity, is so successful with WineLibrary.tv. The guy loves wine. The Internet will one day eclipse television, and old media is notoriously bad at making tech transfers. So don't worry if a similar program exists in the "real world." You can establish an Internet audience in as big or small of a niche as you want. There's no way A&E will put a Sword Swallowers Weekly talk show on cable, but you can collect all the knife-eating carnies on the web together with relatively little effort and hopefully make a name for yourself while you’re at it. Select Your TechYou don’t need a camera crew, boom mics, or backdrop curtains that look like New York City to host a show. You can start small with what's built in to nearly every new computer: a webcam. A popular way to do this is through a free video streaming platform like Ustream.tv. One of the best platforms I've seen for hosting a webcam-based talk show is Vokle.com. It allows you to host a one-way show like Ustream, but it also lets you host webcam "callers" with video questions, split the screen between two speakers, and throw questions up on the screen alongside a speaker; this is perfect for interviewing guests and letting viewers interact with them. "You can take live video questions from the audience and keep them engaged vs. becoming background noise in a sea of browser tabs," says Vokle CEO Robert Kiraz. "Hosts and co-hosts can easily click to broadcast callers from a queue of submitted video questions. When they're done with the caller, all they do is click again to drop it. The video caller then returns to the text chat ether." Here's an edited recap of a Vokle show I recently appeared on, called TechBuzz: Yes, that's my kitchen, and yes, those are ferrets. Perhaps the biggest up-and-comer in talk shows is ThisWeekIn. Entrepreneur and investor Jason Calacanis, founder of Mahalo, started the show ThisWeekInStartups in 2009 and subsequently grew it to a network of 20 shows, with topics ranging from YouTube to Mad Men. Calacanis' format includes news, interviews and audience interactive segments, and he broadcasts through Ustream. ThisWeekIn is an example of a show that has ramped up its tech as its audience and aspirations have grown. Whereas you can always run your show with free software and a webcam, you can work your way up to a nice studio for a pretty light budget. From Sony XR-500V cameras to a NewTek Tricaster video switcher, ThisWeekIn has a professional studio setup that could be easy to duplicate if you have a budget. Here's a full breakdown on their equipment. Select Your GuestsDon't be afraid to shoot for the stars as far as guests go. These days, you can contact anyone via Twitter, and you'd be surprised how easy it is to get in touch with a celebrity in any industry. Choose people who are compelling and spontaneous. Your talk show should feature interesting people who your viewers would like to meet. Also, notable guests will bring their fans along with them. One important note: Practice with your guests before you go on the show. This can help both with questions and important tech considerations. When I appeared on TechBuzz, we determined in practice that I needed to switch from Wi-Fi to a plugged in ethernet cord in order to cut my lag down from eight seconds to one. The show would have been ruined otherwise. Distribute Ping.fm and TubeMogul are your best friends when it comes to blasting your video across the web. These and similar sites can publish your talk show immediately across all the big video destinations. But remember: Embed a watermark or mention your site URL frequently so the audience comes back to you, not just to video providers like YouTube. Kiraz says, "It's important for hosts to embed their show on as many third-party sites as possible. Since each site has its own unique community, embedding a figurative ‘doorway’ to an event can enable the host to see their viewer count increase, meet new audience members, and expand their fanbase." He continues: "Form relationships with a network of relevant blogs that are looking for content, and simply ask them to embed your show! It's a great way to form relationships with other bloggers and their communities, and [it] provides the blogger with live content on a recurring basis." For a good step-by-step on how to market your talk show, it's worth buying a copy of Vaynerchuk's book, Crush It. Skip to the last few pages for a useful checklist. Cash InThis is the part where you become instantly rich and get invited to host the MTV Awards. In seriousness, unless you're living off of a giant inheritance, you'll eventually need to monetize your show in order to keep it going. If you have an audience, you'll be able to turn your time — and your show — into money. ThisWeekIn announces its sponsors several times a show, in a way that's not annoying but that also sticks in your head. (I sometimes go to bed with Jason's voice chanting "DNAMail, DNAMail, everyone loves DNAMail.") If on-air sponsors aren't your thing, integrate your show with a destination site where you can host post-show interaction and make money from display advertisements. Go, Go, Go!If you're passionate about something and want to make a web talk show about it, the best thing you can do is stop putting it off and do it. It can be free, and now you have the instructions. Grow that beard, part that orange hair, and make it happen! More Video Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Graffizone Reviews: Internet, Ping.Fm, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto, ustream, video More About: business, internet, interview, Live Stream, monetization, ping.fm, small business, talk show, talkshow, techbuzz, tubemogul, ustream, video, video ads, vokle, web video, youtube For more Web Video coverage:
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| Pepsi Fans Pledge to Recycle on Facebook Posted: 04 Nov 2010 12:50 PM PDT   PepsiCo has launched a new Facebook application that aims to encourage Pepsi drinkers to commit to recycling their used bottles and cans, and recruit their Facebook friends to do the same. The Bottle Promise application, a part of PepsiCo’s Dream Machine Facebook Page, allows fans to create virtual bottles and cans that they can share on Facebook to solicit recycling pledges from friends. Pepsi plans to reward the top 100 Facebook members who sign up the most recruits with 1,000 rewards points for use on Greenopolis.com. The application offers a virtual tie-in to PepsiCo’s real-world recycling efforts. For those unfamiliar, the PepsiCo Dream Machine is like the inverse of a typical soda machine. Instead of dispensing cola, the machines serve as recycling collection kiosks that reward recyclers with points for their efforts. PepsiCo has deployed a combination of these intelligent machines and standard recycling bins, 600 in total, across the U.S., and the company works with waste management departments to manage pick-up of the recycled goods. Facebook’s platform has become a perfect distribution channel for social good campaigns of this variety. The Bottle Promise application is designed to tap into the network effect of the site and could be a more effective vehicle for PepsiCo to drive its recycling cause. Reviews: Facebook More About: facebook, facebook application, Pepsi, recycling, social good For more Social Good coverage:
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| After UK Stabbing, YouTube Removes Extremist Videos From Site Posted: 04 Nov 2010 12:36 PM PDT   In response to critics around the world, YouTube has removed content from Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who many believe was responsible for inciting violent, terrorist acts. Al-Awlaki was linked to the recent stabbing of British politician Stephen Timms; the 21-year-old student who committed the crime was influenced by the cleric’s online calls to jihad. Al-Awlai was also cited as an influence on those who committed last year’s shootings at Fort Hood, and he was linked to two bombs found on a Chicago-bound plane last Friday. UK Security Minister Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones put pressure on the video-sharing site when she told Washington officials that these YouTube videos “incited murder and would be banned in the UK,” according to a BBC report. In a long-waged battle to balance free speech (which, as a commercial entity, YouTube is not legally obliged to uphold) with appropriate content, YouTube has often struggled to maintain the right equilibrium. Similar sanctions coming from Russian courts earlier this year didn’t seem to carry as much weight with YouTube. A court order banned the site on a major Russian ISP because of racist, extremist content such as "Russia for Russians," a white supremacist video. And back in 2008, the site completely dismissed complaints from U.S. politicians about radical and terrorist content on the site, saying that YouTube’s “reliable community policing system” was adequate and that it would not concentrate on removing content on an ad hoc basis. Apparently, complaints from politicians, censure from foreign governments and a reasonable sense of duty to the community weren’t enough to get hateful and violence-encouraging content off YouTube; a political leader had to be assaulted and a bomb sent to the U.S. for the company to take action. YouTube wrote in an e-mail to The New York Times that the content being removed violated its terms of service, which prohibit the advocacy of "dangerous or illegal activities such as bomb-making, hate speech and incitement to commit violent acts” or which promote terrorist groups. Where do we as digital citizens draw the line between allowing freedom of expression and fulfilling our obligation to stop violence before it starts? Do you think YouTube should do more policing of this type of content? Let us know your opinion on this complicated subject in the comments. Reviews: YouTube More About: Anwar al-Awlaki, extremist videos, stabbed, stabbing, stephen timms, youtube For more Web Video coverage:
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| Google Chrome Gets Its Own PDF Viewer Posted: 04 Nov 2010 12:12 PM PDT   For Google Chrome users, viewing PDFs in the browser has been a collosal pain for lo these many moons. That’s why we are (and you should be) thrilled to learn that Google is rolling out a better way to look at PDFs in Chrome. For the time being, Chrome’s built-in PDF viewer will be available through the beta version only. If you’re using the non-beta version of Chrome, you can download the beta to get the PDF-related improvements. Googler John Abd-El-Malek wrote today on the Google Chrome blog, “To open a PDF document, you'd typically need to install additional software or browser plug-in in order to view it in a web browser. “With the integrated Chrome PDF viewer now available in Chrome's beta, you can open a PDF document in Chrome without installing additional software. The PDF document will load as quickly and seamlessly as a normal web page in the browser.” [Emphasis ours.] With any luck, this will mean less waiting, less reloading and fewer blank pages where that pesky PDF should have been. We don’t see this so much as a slam on Adobe’s software; Google and Adobe play nicely in many other ways. The web simply needs faster ways to view and manipulate PDFs, and we’re glad Google’s working on the problem. Chrome’s PDF viewer is sandboxed in the same way Chrome web pages are; this helps protect you, the end user, from malware embedded in PDFs. Google’s team is still working on a few features for Chrome’s PDF viewer. Once those are finished, the stable version of Chrome will also ship with the PDF viewer included. What do you think of this improvement? Will it make your browsing experience faster and easier? Reviews: Chrome, Google, Google Chrome, blog More About: adobe, browser, chrome, Google, google chrome, pdf, pdf viewer, web browsers For more Tech coverage:
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| 5 Proven Strategies for B2B Social Media Marketing Posted: 04 Nov 2010 12:05 PM PDT
The following five case studies lend insight into how B2B marketers can use social media to generate leads, create specialized communities, improve SEO, become knowledge sources, and strengthen marketing campaigns. Let us know how your brand uses social media for B2B marketing in the comments below. 1. Generate LeadsThere are two types of marketing departments — those that are cost centers and those that bring in leads and sales. Generally, the better positioned marketing department is the one that can prove it’s bringing in money, not spending it without results. When adding social media into the mix, marketing departments must be able to prove success, and oftentimes lead generation and ROI are two measurements that upper management wants to see. Regus, a global provider of workplace solutions, recently experimented with using social media for lead generation. While the Regus brand has a strong presence throughout the world, there was a lack of awareness in the NYC area about the convenient services and business solutions that the company has to offer. Regus chose Affect Strategies, a PR, marketing and social media firm specializing in business-to-business companies, to run their New York campaign. Affect recommended an integrated campaign that combined social media, online video, an online sweepstakes and in-person events. The team focused on creating communities for NYC professionals, which resulted in a @RegusNYC Twitter feed and a Facebook Page. Along with these social accounts, the “Win an Office” sweepstakes was a great source of leads, as well. Lastly, the team put together New York-specific commercials, which were uploaded to YouTube. The one embedded above, for example, currently has more than 33,000 views. Overall, this highly integrated campaign was a success unlike any other Regus had seen. The campaign increased leads to Regus’ Manhattan locations by 30%, directly resulting in a 114% increase in revenue compared to the same time period in the previous year. Furthermore, there was a 33% percent conversion rate on leads generated through the New York landing page, compared to a 12% conversion rate on 2008. The success of the campaign also prompted Regus to have Affect implement similar campaigns in five additional markets in Q1 of 2010. Sandra Fathi, president of Affect Strategies, attributes the success to being able to more accurately reach Regus’ target audience through niche communities:
The key to success in this case was connecting directly with target audiences in places that Regus hadn’t considered, such as Twitter and Facebook. Furthermore, messaging was targeted for a specific region, which spoke volumes to New York professionals in need of offices. 2. Create a Specialized Community Reaching the correct audience is one of the most important tasks in marketing — otherwise, you’re just wasting resources on the wrong people. When you can’t find the right audience, sometimes the best idea is to create a place for them to flock. That’s what Kinaxis, an Ottawa-based supply-chain software company, did. Earlier this year Kinaxis won B2B Magazine’s Social Media Award for Best Integrated Campaign for its social media prowess. The company started a blog, participated in LinkedIn and engaged on Twitter. But to kick things up a notch, it built a community for supply chain management specialists to congregate. The Supply Chain Expert Community launched in August 2009 and is home to 3,620 members and counting. For a niche community, that’s a feat. From 2008 to 2009, Kinaxis saw a 270% increase in web traffic to Kinaxis.com and a 320% increase in conversions (customer leads), as a direct result of introducing the community. From a business momentum perspective, Kinaxis achieved double-digit growth in its software subscription revenue, and for the first half of 2010, as compared to the second half of 2009, it saw the following results:
Kinaxis believes that creating the community allowed them to offer an online destination for professionals to bond over common industry problems and facilitate discussion on ways to solve those problems, which resulted in strengthening customer relationships. The community, along with the 21st Century Supply Chain blog, also enabled the company to increase exposure through social media and improve SEO, as content is shared through its social accounts. 3. Improve SEO During the past year, Delivra, an e-mail marketing service provider, has invested in B2B social media marketing, including presences on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and a corporate blog, dubbed eMailChatr. Since implementing and maintaining these properties, the company has seen a 70% increase in inbound leads, as compared to the prior year, and its SEO rankings for major keywords have jumped over 20 pages in one year. In this case, a blog full of useful and targeted content, enhanced by syndication across various social sites and subsequent interactions with its community, led to Delivra increasing SEO and growing a reputation for trusted e-mail marketing advice. Carissa Newton, Delivra’s director of marketing, recommends that B2B marketers “Be realistic about your goals with social media and blogging — while these outlets can and will drive leads, there are other intangible benefits as well, like the SEO and brand awareness that make a tremendous difference.” She also stresses, “Make sure that whatever you do, it is not with the sole intention to push information out … [T]ake the time to respond and have meaningful conversations. That will increase your following tenfold. It’s just like e-mail marketing: Don’t be a blaster. Be a resource.” 4. Be a Knowledge Source Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB), a global, mid-size market research and consulting firm, uses social media to increase its reach within the market research community, demonstrate thought leadership, and increase the likelihood of being found via the Internet, according to Josh Mendelsohn, CMB’s VP of marketing. “In the past nine months alone we have seen huge successes through the combination of blogging, Twitter, Facebook, online press releases, downloadable reports/case studies and Linkedin,” he explained. “The efforts have resulted in huge increases to traffic on our website (142%) and blog (308%) resulting in over 1,400 leads coming in to our sales team.” Mendelsohn believes that consistency in providing a source of useful resources has been key for the company. “Consistently creating relevant content to your blog, Twitter followers, [and] Facebook fans will help to grow your following,” he says, “but this takes time and commitment. Don’t go it alone. Build a team of regular contributors to contribute on a consistent basis.” 5. Strengthen a Campaign In some recent cases, SMBs have been known to exclusively use social media as a marketing tool, as costs are low and usually limited to the time spent cultivating an involved community. But in most cases, social media is being used as a supplement to existing marketing efforts. While it’s not advisable to tack on social media to an existing marketing campaign, we recommend developing social media strategies alongside other marketing and communication efforts. This helps organizations maintain consistency in messaging to their communities. “Make sure that everything is integrated and synchronized,” said Doug Mow, SVP of marketing at Virtusa, a global IT services company. “The social strategy must be part of the online and PR strategy, which, in turn, are part of the integrated marketing strategy. Social is not an isolated activity.” Virtusa has seen successes with social media, through Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and its blog. Mow elaborated:
The lesson here is that social media can be a venue for enhancing a business’s current marketing efforts, as long as the intention is to create a harmony between the various arms of marketing. Coordinate your marketing efforts so that each complements the others, and it should be smooth sailing. These five case studies lend insight into how B2B marketers can use social media to generate leads, create specialized communities, improve SEO, become knowledge sources, and strengthen marketing campaigns. Let us know how your business uses social media for B2B marketing in the comments below. Series Supported by IDG Enterprise  The B2B Social Media Marketing Series is supported by IDG Enterprise. Understand how IT decision-makers are accessing information and how you can engage them with successful multi-channel programs. To learn more, download our white paper or listen to our webcast as IT marketers discuss the challenges of reaching customers in the current media environment and best practice frameworks for developing successful multi-channel programs. More B2B Marketing Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of Flickr, Colleen Lane Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Internet, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, blog More About: b2b, b2b marketing, B2B Social Media Marketing Series, Chadwick Martin Bailey, community, Delivra, Kinaxis, List, Lists, MARKETING, online marketing, Regus, social media, social media marketing, Virtusa For more Business coverage:
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| StumbleUpon Helps You Discover New Android Apps Posted: 04 Nov 2010 12:03 PM PDT   StumbleUpon just made Android app discovery significantly easier for users of its mobile app. The StumbleUpon mobile app for Android now has a beta feature for app discovery. StumbleUpon app discovery functions much like the popular StumbleUpon web service that allows users to discover new websites based on the recommendations of others. As the company explains, you’ll “be able to stumble through, rate, review, and share apps we recommend for you, just like you can do with web pages on your phone or computer.” The app discovery feature could prove particularly useful for Android users who don’t tirelessly follow the latest app releases (a.k.a. my parents). StumbleUpon app discovery is available now. Reviews: Android, StumbleUpon More About: android, App, stumbleupon For more Tech coverage:
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| Twitter Goes to Washington, Hires Former Congressional Staffer Posted: 04 Nov 2010 11:53 AM PDT   Twitter has brought a Washington politico into its fold. The company’s latest hire, Adam Sharp, will be in charge of helping members of Congress and others in Washington use Twitter to reach out to and listen to their constituents. Sharp was recently a C-SPAN executive producer; before that, he was Sen. Mary L. Landrieu’s (D-LA) deputy chief of staff. The newest Twitter employee was quick to stress that he won’t be lobbying for telecommunications policies that might help the fast-growing startup; he’ll simply be helping politicians use Twitter as a communications tool. However, it’s not far-fetched to assume that it’s in Twitter’s interest for senators and representatives to use this tool and understand it; a thorough familiarity with the service, combined with frequent use of the platform might do more good for the startup’s legislative goals than traditional lobbying. For some time now, Twitter has played an interesting and ever-growing role in the political process. During the recent midterm elections, social media sources served as barometers of public opinion, resources for information-seeking voters, soapboxes for political activists and a great deal more. In the future of social media and politics, especially in democratic systems of government, these newer forms of media will allow our government to communicate directly with citizens and vice versa. Given the rapidly changing political and communications landscapes, it’s probably wise for Twitter to have a man on the ground in Washington. Twitter isn’t the only social media startup with a Washington presence; Facebook has a whole office in Washington dedicated to the education and persuasion of those in power. What do you think about the use of Twitter and other social media services in politics? Let us know in the comments. Reviews: Facebook, Twitter More About: election, government, politics, social media, twitter For more Social Media coverage:
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| Skype Group Video Calling Comes to Mac Posted: 04 Nov 2010 10:39 AM PDT   Skype has finally released a beta version of its much-discussed and enhanced 5.0 application for Mac. Skype 5.0 for Mac is not an exact replica of the PC version — notably absent is Facebook integration — but it does introduce group video calling to Mac users for the first time. The new beta version for Mac also packs a completely revamped look and feel within a single window interface, a control bar that sits atop web pages and documents, offline IM and SMS, integration with the Mac address books and a floating dial pad. On the feature side, group video calling is a huge improvement that finally allows Mac users to participate in multi-party video calls with their PC counterparts. Most noticeable, however, is the new Skype interface, which only vaguely resembles the previous look and feel of the application. The single window experience — separated into a left-hand sidebar and attached activity window — is perfectly suited for group video calls, but will likely be a bit unsettling for most users at first. The single window is quite large, UI elements feel jumbo-sized and once-standard features have been completely rearranged. Contacts, for instance, are now accessible from the activity window, while recent and favorite conversations are highlighted in the left-hand side bar. In total, the user experience is drastically different than before, but the changes seem to pave the way for future Facebook integration and refocus the experience on Skype activity. Watch the video below for a walkthrough of the new Skype 5.0 beta release for Mac. Reviews: Facebook, Skype More About: group video calling, mac, Skype, software, trending For more Tech coverage:
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| Facebook Wins Another Patent for Its News Feed Posted: 04 Nov 2010 10:28 AM PDT   Facebook won a patent for generating a personalized feed of stories for users, quite similar to the news feed-related patent the company was awarded earlier this year. Named Generating a feed of stories personalized for members of a social network, the patent describes “systems and methods for generating dynamic relationship-based content personalized for members of a web-based social network.” Just like the first patent, this one was also filed on August 11, 2006. Although the patent that Facebook won in February speaks more explicitly about a “news feed,” the content of both patents seems to cover similar ground. For example, compare the following excerpts from the abstracts of the first and the second patent: “generating dynamic relationship-based content” versus “generating news items regarding activities associated with a user of a social network.” The newly awarded patent, however, seems to be concerned more with displaying data that stems from a relationship between two users. This excerpt from the abstract of the newly awarded patent: “At least one action of one or more members of a web-based social network is associated with relationship data for the one or more members to produce consolidated data,” reminds us of a recently introduced Facebook feature that allows you to see all the interaction between you and another Facebook user. So far, Facebook has been using its patents defensively, and hasn’t sued other companies that have features similar to Facebook’s news feed. However, merely controlling these patents gives Facebook even more power over its competitors in the social networking realm. The patent is available here.  [via Inside Facebook] Reviews: Facebook More About: facebook, news feed, patent, social media, social networking For more Social Media coverage:
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| HOW TO: Win a MAZDA2 on Foursquare [SPONSORED] Posted: 04 Nov 2010 09:20 AM PDT This post is brought to you by Mazda. Follow Mazda on Foursquare for a chance to win an all-new 2011 MAZDA2. It’s Zoom-Zoom Concentrated. For more information on sponsored posts read here. There are a ton of people on Foursquare these days. How can you stand out from the crowd? By driving the hot new MAZDA2 that's being given away to one lucky Foursquare user just for putting a little zoom zoom into their location shout outs. All you need to do is log on and follow Mazda. Then, head out to a different place in each of these three categories: gaming, style, and music. Hit up special hot spots in select cities and checkin to unlock the MAZDA2 Button Masher, MAZDA2 Beat Junkie, MAZDA2 Style Guru and MAZDA2 InnerDriver badges. The next thing you know, you could be handed the keys to unlock your very own MAZDA2. So just go to Foursquare to get started, then check out what could be your new ride here! “Zoom zoom” to the tune of social networking!   (This post is brought to you by Mazda. Follow Mazda on Foursquare for a chance to win an all-new 2011 MAZDA2. It’s Zoom-Zoom Concentrated. For more information on sponsored posts read here.) Reviews: Foursquare, foursquare For more Social Media coverage:
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| What’s Hot in Social Media This Week Posted: 04 Nov 2010 09:19 AM PDT   Welcome to this week's edition of "What's Hot in Social Media," a series in which we revisit the week’s most popular stories concerning social networks. We're keeping our eye on three interesting developments this Thursday. Facebook to Deliver Location-Based Discounts via Mobile App At its press event on Wednesday, Facebook unveiled its new Deals feature, which allows users to get special discounts when checking in to different businesses via Facebook Places on their smartphones. The service is closely modeled after and directly competitive to Foursquare, a one-year-old startup that recently announced the signup of its 4 millionth member. Social Media Is Not, In Fact, Destroying Your Social Life If you were worried that social media was killing your social life, take comfort in a recent survey from ExactTarget and CoTweet, which found that 27% of those who are increasing their use of Facebook also spend more time with friends in person as well. 60% of increasingly committed Facebook users say that Facebook has no effect on how often they meet up with friends, and 46% of Twitter users report the same. Foursquare Now Lets Business Owners Oust Cheating Mayors The days of cheating on location-based social network Foursquare are over. This week, the startup gave business owners the ability to oust mayors who have come by their positions wrongly, generally by checking in to a location when they’re not actually there. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, losw Reviews: CoTweet, Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, foursquare, iStockphoto More About: facebook, foursquare, social media For more Social Media coverage:
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| William Shatner Does Cee-Lo Green’s “F**ck You” [VIDEO] Posted: 04 Nov 2010 09:05 AM PDT This summer, Cee-Lo Green released his highly viral video for unofficial song-of-the-summer “F**ck You,” and now William Shatner has seen fit to sing a cover of said song on Lopez Tonight. This is certainly not the first time Shatner has dipped his toe into the viral pool (oh… that sounded gross) — about six months ago he performed a duet on the same show with Taiwanese singer and Super Star Avenue contestant Lin Yu Chun. And let us not forget his starring role in the Twitter-stream-cum-TV-series, $h*! My Dad Says. While we admire Shatner’s aplomb for applying his signature Spartan style to such a powerhouse song, he could have at least got the words right. If I saw my ex “walking ’round town” with someone new (the real lyrics are “driving”) I would be much less likely to utter that most cutting of explicative-laden phrases. Reviews: Twitter More About: cee-lo-green, humor, music, pop culture, television, viral video, William Shatner For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Donate Your Status to Show Support for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of the U.S. Posted: 04 Nov 2010 09:00 AM PDT   In preparation for Veteran’s Day next week, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is teaming up with interactive agency Invoke to urge Facebook and Twitter users to dedicate their statuses as a kind of “online march.” If you sign on to Facebook today and “Like” the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America’s Page, you can gain access to an app that will allow you to turn over your status — from November 8 until November 11 — to the troops. Simply choose your state (the state with the most donated statuses will send two veterans to the Super Bowl), frequency that you would like to update, which statuses you will be donating (Facebook or Twitter) and ask your friends to join in as well. The app also features a ton of resources for Vets, as well as a leaderboard showing which states have the most “marchers.”  Regardless of politics, we think this is a cool way to rally people to support a cause. Invoke has been involved in a number of similar campaigns in the past — F**ck Cancer and The Moscars spring to mind — and this is just another example of an organization creatively leveraging social networks to make a statement. Will you donate your status next week? Reviews: Facebook, Twitter More About: facebook, IAVA, invoke, Political, social good, twitter For more Social Good coverage:
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| 7 A/B Testing Resources for Startups and Solo Developers Posted: 04 Nov 2010 09:00 AM PDT   This post originally appeared on Dyn.com, a world leader in managed DNS, powering the best brands on the web including Gowalla, Mashable, Twitter, Wikia and more. Follow @DynInc on Twitter. If you need a simple, inexpensive way to figure out what’s going to make your website’s users click on that big, red button, you’ve come to the right place. A/B testing is one of the easiest ways to figure out whether one specific variable of your website is working. It could be a button color, a bit of web copy, an image — something extremely finite that may (or may not) have a measurable impact on desired actions, be they conversions or a simple click-through. In an A/B test, the variable changes as users visit the page; user actions are recorded and analyzed; and the developer (or startup) is able to take action based on the results. A/B testing is generally faster and simpler than other types of testing, allowing a fast-moving startup or solo developer to quickly iterate and improve without wasting too much time on guesswork or esoteric design decisions. What is A/B Testing, Exactly?A/B testing differs from multivariate testing in that it only tests one variable at a time; in other words, you change only the button color (not the button copy or any images) and see how many users click the red button versus the green button. If the red button gets more clicks, the page gets a red button. It’s a pure-and-simple way of making design decisions that rely on real data rather than divergent and emotional opinions from co-founders and designers; after all, you can’t argue with facts. To quote Admiral Grace Hopper, “One accurate measurement is worth more than a thousand expert opinions.” In the more complex process of multivariate testing, you’d introduce more than one variable at a time and measure the effects of all variables on your desired outcomes. Simply put, you could change the button color, surrounding copy and images on the page to come up with the ideal combination of variables to achieve the favorable actions from the users. If you’d like to learn more about the process of testing website variables and the concept of getting user feedback in lieu of acting solely on the HiPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion), check out this paper [PDF] on controlled experiments on the web. What’s the Best Way to A/B Test?If you plan to conduct A/B testing to optimize your website, there are some best practices to observe and some expectations to lay out at the beginning. For example, you (and your team, if you have one) will want to declare criteria, variables and expectations before you begin your testing. Make sure you’re not doing anything that will invalidate the results of your test. Also, make sure you’ve got enough traffic to make an A/B test worthwhile. If you’re working with a relative handful of site visitors each day, your A/B results may not be accurate. Likewise, make sure you conduct your tests over a long enough period of time to allow for variance caused by traffic fluctuations, days of the week, holidays, time of day, etc. Finally, make sure that your website is functional and optimized for excellent, fast, cross-browser performance before you commit to testing. After all, no one will care whether the button is green or red if the page takes a minute and a half to load. Some Code-Free A/B Testing Resources1. OptimizelyIn a quick survey of our startup-minded Twitter followers, Optimizely was far and away the most highly recommended resource for startup and developer A/B testing. A Y-Combinator startup itself, Optimizely was used by the groundbreaking online Obama campaign in 2008. You can use Optimizely even if the thought of coding makes you break out in a cold sweat. Just create an experiment in the visual interface, and you’re on your way to optimization. Check out this quick demo video to get an idea of Optimizely’s services, which range from $19 to $399 per month: 2. PerformablePerformable gives you a simple and code-free way to conduct A/B testing. It allows you to create pages and variations from within the site, then publish the pages and collect the data, all without touching any code. The folks at Performable also recently added a new analytics backend that focuses on conversion goals rather than just testing alone. Pricing plans run from $50 per month to $1,200 per month, with available e-mail, marketing and CRM integration. 3. UnbounceUnbounce is a similar resource, providing its clients with a browser-based WYSIWYG editor, page templates and simple stats for A/B testing. The service comes with a strong anti-code, pro-marketing stance, putting the focus on optimizing for conversion rather than tinkering around in CSS. Prices run from $50 to $500 per month. Light-Coding-Required A/B Testing Resources1. Google Website OptimizerGoogle’s Website Optimizer was another highly recommended resource from our quick Twitter poll. With Website Optimizer, all you have to do is create two pages with two URLs, each one showing a different variable. Then, you tell Google your desired outcome, i.e., you provide a conversion page URL. With just three URLs, your A/B test is ready to run. Install some JavaScript on your site, and let the games begin. Website Optimizer also offers multivariate testing, if you ever feel the need for more complex analysis. And all the Website Optimizer tools come completely free of charge.
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| Jawbone Releases New Wireless Power Speaker Posted: 04 Nov 2010 08:39 AM PDT   Jawbone has for years produced some of the best Bluetooth headset technology, but sometimes it’s good to diversify. Thursday it announced a new wireless speaker system called the Jambox. Jambox is set to capitalize on the increasing number of multimedia-heavy mobile devices. The device will stream any audio from a Bluetooth-enabled device and take full advantage of Bluetooth version 2.1. Wireless Bluetooth speakers aren’t new, but the Jambox differentiates itself with MyTALK, a proprietary technology platform. MyTalk expands the system’s functionality with features like audio alerts for caller ID. It also works as a speakerphone. Most importantly, Jambox is a formidable little sound system. The device contains two tiny speakers capable of wide audio ranges. Jambox comes in blue, black, grey and red. It’s available for pre-order now and will be in Apple and Best Buy stores on November 16 for $200. Reviews: Bluetooth More About: bluetooth, headsets, jambox, jawbone, speakers, Wireless For more Tech coverage:
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| HOW TO: Organize a Mashable Meetup Posted: 04 Nov 2010 08:18 AM PDT   As incredible as technology is for communication, there's nothing like connecting with fellow web enthusiasts in person. Many of our readers have been taking the reins in getting to know each other by organizing Mashable Meetups. It’s a great way to meet with other Mashable fans and discuss social media and technology offline. Like any event, these get-togethers require planning. As this can be the most challenging part of hosting a meetup, we created a Facebook Group for Mashable Meetup Organizers. Please request to join if you’d like to participate in conversation and collaboration around Mashable Meetups. Still wondering what exactly a Mashable Meetup is? Here are some tips for putting one together. Topics As the go-to site for social, digital and technology news, it's good to focus your Mashable Meetup on digital topics. Whether you invite influential speakers to give presentations or prompt small group discussions, try to keep with the theme of web culture. Anything from the viral video scene to social media best practices will do. Time and PlaceBe sure to set the date and time for your meetup at least a month in advance, as scheduling is a big determining factor for attendees. If someone has already created a Mashable Meetup in the same date range you're considering, contact the organizer to see if you can collaborate. Note the city where the meetup will be held immediately, so you can reach your local audience. If you haven't scheduled a venue yet, no biggie, but you should aim to have this set at least two weeks before the event takes place to give yourself – and attendees – enough planning time. Promotion By solidifying meetup plans a month in advance, you leave yourself ample time for promotion. Most Mashable readers are social media savvy, making the web a great platform for telling the community about your Mashable Meetup. Use the #mashmeetup hashtag and create a Facebook event to help reach your audience. Once you pin down a place, you can ask venue managers to spread the word by giving details on their social media accounts, posting flyers and talking up the event in person. If you plan to host meetups regularly, it’s worth the time put in to make a Facebook Page, Twitter handle or website. Jed Singer’s Philadelphia meetup group did all of the above and partnered with sponsors to help grow its presence (website pictured above). FormatA Mashable Meetup can take just about any shape you'd like. It can be an informal get-together of a few social media minds, a packed gathering with technology influencers as keynotes, or somewhere in the middle. Here are a few examples of successful Mashable Meetups and a little bit about how they were done:
 Step by Step Steps for creating a Mashable Meetup online:
Photo courtesy of Russ Chargualaf. Reviews: Facebook, Mashable, Twitter More About: community, Events, how to, mashable, mashable meetup, meetup For more Social Media coverage:
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| What Happens When Technology Giants Like Sony and Google Collide? [SPONSORED] Posted: 04 Nov 2010 07:50 AM PDT This post is brought to you by Sony® Internet TV, the world's first HDTV powered by Google TV™ . For more information on sponsored posts read here. What happens when technology giants like Sony and Google collide? You get lots of media clamor, but more importantly, a real possibility that you’ll never leave your living room. Enter the new Sony® Internet TV, the world’s first HDTV powered by Google TV™. Just as the collaboration implies, this mighty piece of hardware merges your favorite media — television and the Internet — on a gorgeous, high-definition flat screen that puts your measly computer monitor to shame. Settle into your favorite spot on the sofa, and don’t get up (unless nature calls), now that you can watch TV, browse the Internet, or do both simultaneously. You’ll have a customizable home screen where your favorite shows, sites, and other media are easily accessible. The handheld QWERTY keypad makes channel- and web-surfing a cinch, as does the simple search technology. The TV is also packed with the power of Intel Inside, ensuring that it has enough processor juice for quick load times and seamless streaming Web video. Find out more at discover.sonystyle.com/internettv.   (This post is brought to you by Sony Internet TV. For more information on sponsored posts read here.) Reviews: Google, Internet For more Tech coverage:
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Digital marketing is gaining traction in a number of industries, and business-to-business (B2B) marketers are in on that trend, too. Increased spending on online marketing is driving companies to try new and innovative means of getting the word out about their products and services — one area that’s getting a lot of buzz with B2B marketers is social media.
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