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Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Google Now Lets You Preview Search Results Before You Click Them”

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Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Google Now Lets You Preview Search Results Before You Click Them”

Google Now Lets You Preview Search Results Before You Click Them

Posted: 09 Nov 2010 06:00 AM PST


Google, in its insatiable quest to create a speedier and more useful user experience, is launching a new “instant” feature to help users choose between search results.

Google Instant Previews, which begins its rollout today, essentially gives users the ability to see a website before they visit it. Google accomplishes this by taking a screenshot of every webpage in its index and giving users access to it via a magnifying glass icon that sits to the right of every search result.

When a user clicks or hovers over the magnifying glass, a screenshot of the webpage in question will appear on the right side of the search results page. It’s an at-a-glance view of the website’s content without actually having to visit the webpage.

The key element to Instant Previews though is that Google highlights the section of the page where the search term occurs. Imagine you’re trying to find information on a specific person on a page that lists dozens or hundreds of people. Instead of having to scroll through the entire page to find the person, you can just look at the Instant Preview and see where they are on the page.

“This is the next evolution of finding a result on a search engine results page,” distinguished engineer Ben Gomes told me yesterday.

Gomes says that there are a few specific use cases where Instant Previews are especially useful. One example he offered is when you’re looking for specific charts, graphs or pictures, Instant Previews will show you where the search term occurs and you’ll quickly see whether the graph is appropriate to your search or not. Another is people search; by using Instant Preview, a user can quickly scan the page and find out if the page is about the person they’re looking for.

Speeding Up the Search Process or Weighing It Down?

Gomes explained Instant Previews to me as a natural progression for “the evolution of speed.” Google has an obsession with making search faster, and he cited Autocomplete and Google Instant as examples.

Instant Previews doesn’t focus on speeding up the actual searching of terms though, but rather the decision-making process of choosing a result. Google currently provides a lot of “snippet” data to help. At one time search engines just displayed the first two lines from a webpage under a search result, but now they include information like sitelinks, date, cached content, jump to links and even Google Places. Instant Previews now takes that snippet and puts it in context with the rest of the page.

Is the new feature going to really speed up the user’s search experience, or is it yet another complicated layer on what was once a simple and easy-to-understand search interface? That’s up to users to decide, but Google’s internal testing shows that people using Instant Previews are 5% more likely to be satisfied with the search results they click. While 5% may not sound like much, for a search engine with Google’s scale, that could make all the difference against its chief rival Bing, which has turned to Facebook to make searches more relevant.

More About: Google, google image search, Google images, Google Instant, Google Instant Preview, Instant Previews

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Opera Mobile 10.1 Beta Now Available for Android

Posted: 09 Nov 2010 04:20 AM PST


Opera Mobile 10.1 beta, the new version of Opera’s web browser for smartphones, is now available for Android devices.

Announced last month, the new version brings several important improvements, most notably support for geolocation and pinch to zoom, which provides a smoother zooming experience.

Other interesting features include nifty visual tab management, syncing your bookmarks across several devices with Opera Link, SVG Support, Speed Dial and Opera Turbo, which compresses web data on Opera’s servers, speeding up browsing and saving bandwidth.

Opera Mobile is available for free in the Android Market or at m.opera.com/next.

More About: android, browser, Mobile 2.0, opera mobile, smartphone, web browser

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Happy Birthday, Firefox

Posted: 09 Nov 2010 01:56 AM PST


Today marks the sixth birthday of the popular web browser Firefox. It was launched on November 9, 2004 as a lightweight and more secure alternative to Internet Explorer 6, which was the dominant browser at the time.

Six years later, and Firefox is now the second most widely used browser with steady growth and 31.5% market share according to StatCounter.

The next major version of Firefox, Firefox 4, was originally scheduled to be launched by the end of 2010 but was recently delayed into early 2011. The new version will bring several important improvements: HTML5 support, redesigned user interface, multi-touch functionality, hardware-accelerated HD video and improved support for add-ons through Jetpack.

More About: birthday, browser, Firefox, internet, web browser

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Kno’s Tablets Coming Later this Year for $599 and $899

Posted: 09 Nov 2010 01:44 AM PST


Tablet maker Kno plans to launch a single and a dual-screen 14.1-inch tablet before the end of this year, the company has announced.

The single-screen version of the tablet will go for $599, while the dual-screen variant will be significantly more expensive at $899, but still shy of breaking the $1,000 mark.

The tablets are primarily aimed at students, and, according to Kno’s co-founder and CEO Osman Rashid, the 2010 launch will be limited and mostly aimed at 10 college campuses across the U.S.

However, Kno is also currently accepting a limited number of pre-orders for an initial shipment that is expected to reach the customers by the end of the 2010.

As far as content goes, Kno will sell digital textbooks through the Kno bookstore, which will also be accessible on every Kno device. Kno claims the bookstore will include tens of thousands of the most popular textbooks and supplement materials; the company is working with major publishers such as Cengage, McGraw Hill and Pearson, Macmillan, Bedford, Freeman & Worth, Holtzbrinck and others.

In September, Kno announced it had closed a $46 million debt-and-equity round led by Andreessen Horowitz to develop its tablets.

More About: e-reader, Kno, Tablet, textbook

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Color Coming to E-Ink Devices in 2011

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 11:08 PM PST


Chinese company Hanvon Technology is set to unveil the first full-color tablet using e-ink technology, at the FPD International 2010 trade show in Tokyo Tuesday.

The e-ink tablet has a 9.68-inch color touchscreen with built-in Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. It will be available for $440 in China this March — about $150 less than the cost of a 16GB, Wi-Fi-only iPad in China.

With a 78% share of the market, Hanvon is the most popular maker of e-readers in China.

Black-and-white e-ink is currently used in the displays of 90% of e-readers, such as Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Nobles’s Nook, according to The New York Times.

After the success of Apple’s iPad as an e-reading device and Barnes & Nobles’s recent announcement that the second-generation Nook would use a color LCD screen (rather than black-and-white e-ink), it seemed the days of colorless e-ink devices might be numbered. The addition of color could make e-readers more exciting for consumers who dislike the relatively short battery lives and glare of tablets with LCD displays.

Still, the new e-ink displays, which are produced by laying a color filter over standard black-and-white e-ink screens, are neither as vivid nor sharp as their LCD counterparts — The New York Times likened them to “faded color photograph[s]” — nor can they handle full-motion video.

Neither Amazon nor Sony have confirmed that e-readers with color e-ink are in the works.

"On a list of things that people want in e-readers, color always comes up," Steve Haber, president of Sony's digital reading business division, told The New York Times. "There's no question that color is extremely logical. But it has to be vibrant color. We're not willing to give up the true black-and-white reading experience,” he said.

Image courtesy of The New York Times

More About: china, color e-ink, e-ink, e-readers, hanvon technology, Kindle, nook

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Verizon’s First iPad Commercial Hits YouTube

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 10:22 PM PST

Verizon has just uploaded a brand spanking new iPad commercial to YouTube.

The clip shows the device being used with a Verizon Wi-Fi card, and it comes with the tagline, “All the magic of iPad. All the nationwide power and reliability of Verizon.”

The spot shows a young actor transitioning from using the iPad indoors to using it on a picturesque seaside cliff, showcasing the ability to use the gadgets in combination just about anywhere.

We learned the iPad would be coming to Verizon about a month ago. While that doesn’t mean the iPad is available with embedded, Verizon-compatible technology, the Apple/Verizon partnership does bundle the iPad Wi-Fi with a Verizon MiFi 2200 Mobile Hotspot.

Moreover, Verizon’s iPad data plans offered more data usage than AT&T’s pre-bundled plans, we learned. The slight price difference could come in handy to users who stream a lot of video, in particular.

What do you think of the commercial? Let us know your opinions in the comments.

Hat tip: The Next Web

More About: Commercial, ipad, verizon

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Share Multiple Links With One Short URL

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 09:30 PM PST


This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: BridgeURL

Quick Pitch: BridgeURL does one simple task. Users can input multiple links and generate one URL that will display all listed links in a slideshow format.

Genius Idea: URL-shortening services have become extremely popular and necessary in today’s age of short-form status updates. You’ve probably already latched on to either Bit.ly, Ow.ly or one of the many others; but newcomer BridgeURL has a completely distinct value proposition that sets it apart from the rest with one useful function — multiple-link sharing.

With BridgeURL, you can input multiple URLs and click “Create Link” to have the service generate a single URL that you then copy to share on social networks. BridgeURL presents your shared links in slideshow-like format, so each URL is framed with sliders on the left and right sides; this way, visitors can easily navigate through your collection of curated links.

The use cases for this type of tool abound. Designers could use BridgeURL as a way to share their portfolio sites with a single URL. Foodies can amass a slew of their favorite recipes to share with friends and family with a single link. Of course, you could always round up your favorite funny cat videos, too.

BridgeURL uses in-line frames to display content from shared links in its slideshow-style format. Unfortunately, certain websites such as Facebook and PayPal block this functionality, which means sharing URLs to those sites will prove ineffective.

Still, BridgeURL is certainly a convenient and simple utility for sharing buckets of content on the web. The only problem we foresee is that the bootstrapped tool could easily find its feature set replicated by an already funded startup.

Image courtesy of Flickr, intherough

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

More About: bit.ly, bizspark, BridgeURL, startup

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Dev Builds Bot to Buy Cheap Stuff Online

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 08:35 PM PST


Like many awesome ideas, this one began with an xkcd strip.

One developer has just created a bot that searches for specific kinds of inexpensive items in online auctions then buys the items for him.

The concept comes from this strip from xkcd, a webcomic popular among the physics/computer science/general nerdist set. (If you haven’t added xkcd to your must-read-daily RSS feed, please do so now.)

Paul Hunkin, a New Zealand developer, has a penchant for combining scripts and online P2P auction sites to great effect. This particular project involved Kiwi site TradeMe, an eBay-like auction site.

Hunkin wrote a Python script that would scrape certain categories on the site for cheap, buy-now items with free shipping. The script is optimized to search for rare, esoteric items, as well. The bot gets $1 added to its savings every day, and all purchases are deducted from the savings.

Not only does the bot buy these treasures on Hunkin’s behalf; it also shares its finds with the world via Twitter:

If the bot doesn’t find any items that meet its parameters, it simply tweets that it’s putting its dollar into savings.

In other scripts-that-do-things-we’d-rather-not news, another developer recently wrote a Twitter bot that debates climate change critics.

What interesting automations of mundane tasks have you seen around the web lately?

Image courtesy of xkcd.

More About: auction site, bot, developers, new zealand, xkcd

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Jimmy Fallon Gives “Late Night” Its First Mobile App [VIDEO]

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 07:14 PM PST


Jimmy Fallon wants you to know whether you’re in Moldova. He also wants you to get a laugh or two out of his new, free mobile app, “LNJF,” short for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Check the video above for an exclusive clip of Fallon talking about the app on Monday’s show.

The app is the first of its kind to come out of one of the many late night talk shows. It figures that the app would come from Fallon, who regularly features social media in his jokes and recurring sketches.

One of those sketches showcases a series of made-up iPhone apps with ridiculous premises, like “Axl Rose Relaxation,” which simultaneously plays soothing ambient noise and Fallon impersonating a screeching Axl Rose commanding you to take a nap. The aforementioned Moldova app, “Moldova Y/N,” simply tells you if you are in Moldova. While the answer will probably be “no,” as Fallon has said, the app is geo-aware and will actually recognize if you’re in the Eastern European country.

fallon app image

As silly as they may seem, four of those made-up apps have become a reality with the launch of LNJF. The mobile app — compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch — will also pick up video clips and photos from the show along with behind-the-scenes blog posts from the Late Night site.

While it may seem silly at the outset, LNJF is a smart way to get the show to its audience. Even viewers unwilling to sit through a whole show can pick out clips or participate in online contests through the app. Don’t want to watch an entire interview with Zach Galifianakis but do want to watch a video of him trying to play pool with mannequin arms? The app could be a perfect way to lure in those casual viewers.

Plus, did we mention it’s free?

LNJF marks another notch in NBC’s attempt to enter the mobile market. NBC has released mobile wallpapers and apps based on hit shows like 30 Rock and The Office. LNJF marks its first foray into delivering updates and media from one of their shows; it will be interesting to see if Jay Leno gets similar pressure to jump on board.

What do you think? Is LNJF a brave leap forward for late night TV, or is it just a novelty app designed for some quick laughs? What’s more interesting to you: the practical application of Fallon’s off-the-wall apps, or the integration with contests and media content?

More About: App, apple, iphone, jimmy fallon, late night, late night with jimmy fallon, Mobile 2.0, mobile app

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Michael Jackson’s Single “Breaking News” Hits the Web, the Web Cries “Fake”

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 06:22 PM PST


The web is abuzz with word about the first single off of Michael Jackson’s posthumous record, Michael, which debuted online Monday. But much of that word, apparently, is that the song isn’t the real deal.

According to Yahoo News, Epic Records had to release a statement assuring fans — and Jackson’s sister La Toya — that the song “Breaking News” was, indeed, sung by the King of Pop himself.

You can see the fans’ dubious responses in the comments on the label’s website, among other places like Twitter.

It seems fitting that the online release of Jackson’s newest single would create such an online stir. After the singer died in June of 2009, his death swept the Twitterverse, and his memorial service was streamed live via many a web channel. The man lived his life in the public eye — why should his death be any different? Still, more than one year later, he has not lost influence; the web has allowed fans to voice their opinions and stake their claim in the interests of the singer, eliciting a response from label higher-ups in one day, which is pretty impressive.

This isn’t the first song to hit the web after the singer’s demise. Last year, the jam "This Is It” debuted online, marking the first new material to come out after Jackson’s death (it was also featured in a documentary by the same name).

Listen to Jackson’s single — the first from an album slated to drop December 14 — over at his website, where it will be streaming live for a week, and let us know what you think.

More About: breaking news, epic-records, michael jackson, music

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New Firefox Add-On Detects Firesheep, Protects You on Open Networks

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 05:31 PM PST


If you’re concerned about using open Wi-Fi networks because of Firesheep, the highly popular new hacking tool, you should check out BlackSheep, a Firefox add-on that makes surfing on open networks safe once again.

Firesheep came onto the scene not too long ago. It’s a bit of code that allows just about anyone to access your web accounts via session hijacking. Basically, anyone browsing on a non-password-protected Internet connection, such as a Starbucks network or even an airplane, has been at risk for having their accounts accessed by a total stranger.

One way around this issue is using a VPN every time you log on via an open network. But let’s face it: For the average Internet user, this kind of work-around is a hassle, and most people care more about convenience than security.

For that reason, we’re particularly happy to see that cloud security firm Zscaler has released a simple Firefox add-on that will warn you if someone on your network is using Firesheep. That way, you can feel safe to browse the web on any network and only take extra precautions when they’re needed.

Here’s how BlackSheep works: Firesheep’s packet sniffing can’t be detected, but what can be detected is Firesheep’s requests to websites like Facebook using your cookies. BlackSheep detects this type of activity by making requests to random sites known to FireSheep every five minutes (you can adjust the timing) with fake values.

If anyone else on the network starts using those same fake values to make requests, then BlackSheep knows someone on the network is using Firesheep, and you get a warning in your current browser tab.

BlackSheep was based on Firesheep’s code to ensure its effectiveness. In a word, for every hack, there is an equal and opposite counter-hack.

You can get BlackSheep for Firefox free from Zscaler. Here’s a quick demo of how the add-on works:

Is this a tool you’d use? Are you concerned about browsing on open networks because of threats like Firesheep?

More About: add-on, Firefox, firesheep, hacking, plugin, trending

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Samsung Continuum Unveiled

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 04:44 PM PST


The Samsung Continuum was announced earlier at the New York Stock Exchange, but the phone itself was just unveiled in Times Square. It will take its place beside the Galaxy S and will, at least initially, be available exclusively on Verizon Wireless.

The device is similar to the Galaxy S in many ways. Its face is made from a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, making it perfect for media consumption. Additionally, the device is DLNA-compliant, so it can quickly connect with TVs and other devices with DLNA capabilities.

But the most distinguishing feature of this device isn’t its main display; it’s a secondary, 1.8-inch, Super AMOLED display. The “ticker” display is used to display information ranging from incoming calls to status messages. It’s also touch capable and, when the primary screen is being actively used, incoming messages are routed to it, so the primary activity isn’t interrupted.

The ticker can be activated separately from the main display using a unique grip sensor on the sides of the device. This allows users to discreetly look at relevant information without illuminating the considerably brighter main display.

Disappointingly, the Continuum will ship with Android 2.1, but Samsung has assured it will be updated rapidly. The question is whether Samsung will update to Android 2.2 or go straight to 2.3 (Gingerbread.)

The Samsung Continuum will be available for pre-order on November 11. It will be available in stores on November 18 — one day before the Droid Pro — for $200 after a $100 mail-in rebate.


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More About: Continuum, samsung, verizon wireless

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100+ Upcoming Social Media & Tech Events

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 03:51 PM PST

social_media_events_guide1

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

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

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

Upcoming Mashable Events:

The Mashable Awards, January 6, 2011, Las Vegas, NV: In partnership with Cirque du Soleil, The Mashable Awards Gala event will bring together the winners and nominees, the Mashable community, partners, media, the marketing community, consumer electronics and technology brands and attendees from the 2011 International CES Convention to Las Vegas on Thursday, January 6, 2011. Together, we will celebrate the winners and the community of the Mashable Awards at the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity stage in the beautiful New York New York Hotel. The event will include acts and performances from our partner, Cirque du Soleil Zumanity, as well as special guest presenters and appearances. Email sponscrships@mashable.com for information.

November 7-12, 2010, San Jose, CA: LISA ‘10 will uncover the secrets of system administration during our 6-day program, which includes: top-notch training by experts such as Mark Burgess, David N. Blank-Edelman, and Tom Limoncelli; an innovative technical program, including a keynote address by Tony Cass, CERN; invited talks, including “Operations at Twitter: Scaling Beyond 100 Million Users,” by John Adams, Twitter; paper presentations and poster sessions showcasing the latest research; experts to answer your toughest questions; and workshops for sharing experiences with colleagues. Don’t miss the chance to be a part of this unique career-building adventure. Learn more at www.usenix.org/lisa10/mash. Register and use the promo code LISA10MASH to save $100 off the registration price.

November 8-12, 2010, New York, NY: New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW) is a semi-annual event built for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs, providing an exclusive educational experience for innovation-minded start-ups to multi-million dollar revenue generators. With over 100 speakers from 40 cities, 15 states and 3 continents, NYEW unites the state’s diverse entrepreneurial community; giving you the opportunity to connect with and learn from New York’s best and brightest entrepreneurs who are relentless, driven and dedicated to improving your business and the economy. Register with the promo code Mashable345 to receive 75% off.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 9, 2010, New York, NY: Linked Minds is an Entrepreneurial Social Networking Event to link the minds of Entrepreneurs and the Social Networking-savvy of New York City and Westchester counties. Social Media Networking Events are connecting people in the business field in ways never expected and we would like to embark on this trend with Linked Minds Events. We invite you to "link-minds", exchange ideas, and cultivate successful business relationships with NYC's most business social-savvy. Register with promo code LMEMASH1109 and receive $5 off.

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

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

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

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

We're proud to announce the Partners for Growth and Innovation
"Innovation Summit 2010 – Creating an Innovative Ecosystem" – taking place in beautiful Healdsburg, located in Wine Country, November 12 – 14, 2010. We're stepping away from Silicon Valley, away from the hustle bustle that is a part of our everyday lives and retreating to solitude, clearing our minds, and opening them to an incredible and truly innovative weekend. With speakers including Jeremiah Owyang, Gary Chevsky, Jim Chu, Rich Reader, Victor Tsaran and many others – this is an event you will not want to miss!

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

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

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

November 13, 2010, Hutchinson, KS: Twitter users everywhere are invited to help make history this November at what will be known as the first-ever UNDERGROUND tweetup. Usually cell phone service is not available underground but temporary arrangements have been made to facilitate this event. Participants in "Tweet at 650 Feet" will have the opportunity to take the Gallery Tour and Dark Ride before gathering at the underground event center for food, beverages, and social networking. A monitor will be set up so guests can see their updates, and the updates of others, in real time. Reserve your spot before November 1st and receive a free "Tweet at 650 Feet" t-shirt! Check out www.tweetat650feet.com for more information.

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

November 15-17, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Web 2.0 Summit brings the intelligence, innovation, and leadership of the Internet industry together in one place at one time. Through incisive plenary sessions, cut-through-the-hype onstage conversations, rapid-fire high order bits and show me presentations, visionaries and executives across key industries present their unique perspective on the Web's future-in-flux and how the tools and principles of Web 2.0 are impacting global businesses. Connect with the business leaders and technologists redefining the potential of the Web. Don't miss the Points of Control webcast on October 27th.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 17, 2010, Los Angeles, CA: Girls in Tech Presents What’s Next: Tech Trends To Watch in 2011 – With 2010 drawing to a close, Girls in Tech LA is proud to be hosting a diverse range of tech industry experts who will be sharing their predictions, plans and perspectives about what’s next for tech in 2011. The panel discussion will be held at the Border Stylo offices in Hollywood on November 17th, and will be followed by light refreshments and networking. It will also be streamed on Ustream, and details of that stream will be available via the Girls in Tech Twitter and Facebook pages before the event. Panelists participating in the discussion include Amanda Coolong (TechZulu), Heather Meeker (Whrrl), Tony Adam (MySpace), Erin Kotecki Vest (BlogHer), Laura Weidman (Border Stylo) and Lynn Langit (Microsoft). Tickets are just $10, and space is very limited, so buy yours early to guarantee admission.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 19-21, 2010, Mexico City, Mexico: iWeekend is an intensive and innovative experience that brings together talented entrepreneurs and professionals of different profiles to select 3 ideas and bring these ideas to reality by collaboratively developing a business plan and a prototype, all in one weekend. The final outputs of the event are a prototype, a basic business plan, a product demo and a possible team. The event is ideal for entrepreneurs looking to get started and for professionals and freelancers looking to broaden their horizons while taking on a challenge and collaborating in a project they like. Register and use the code #VIVAMASHABLE on the signup form to receive a 10% discount.

November 19, 2010, New York, NY: On November 19th, 2010 THE JONATHANS (Jonathan Levy and Joanthan Rossman) will launch a fundraising campaign to benefit the New York City School System, with the goal of Beating Zuckerberg's $100 Million donation. THE JONATHANS will kick off the campaign with their joint birthday party at Good Units, a brand new event space in Manhattan's Hudson Hotel. All proceeds from the event will go to benefit New York City Schools. The event will raise funds to BEAT ZUCKERBERG! via patron and sponsor donations, the silent auction, and a portion of the bar proceeds.

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

November 20, 2010, Córdoba, Argentina: Drupal Camp is a free event organized to expand, unite and improve the Drupal community in Argentina. The conference will be held the Saturday 20th of November of 2010, and it will take place in Córdoba; it promises to be a success! For more information and registration, please visit www.drupalcamp2010.com.ar.

November 24-25, 2010, Sydney, Australia: Are you looking to quantify your social media efforts? Do you want to have constant customer engagement? If the answer is yes, join us in Sydney at theSheraton on the Park for iStrategy 2010 to learn, network, share ideas, and understand how to build your online marketing strategy to its fullest potential. iStrategy 2010 Sydney brings together the cream of the Oceanic leaders in social media marketing. iStrategy Sydney will give delegates the valuable insight they need to: Harness New Technologies, Drive Revenue Growth, Create Value from Digital Assets, Develop Innovative and Creative Online Strategies and achieve a Market Leading Online Position. Register now with the promo code MashableSYD to receive a 10% discount.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 30, 2010, Paris, France: Social networks are leading us towards a new era of global interconnectedness. This exclusive one-day conference will examine why they have become so popular in the first place and how businesses are using them to enhance their marketing strategies, to leverage their HR policies and to boost their internal communications tactics. The business model of networking sites is based on the idea that people will share information. Even though most social networks already offer ways for members to restrict the information shared, they can constitute a major risk pool in terms of privacy, reputation and brand control. This exclusive event will provide invaluable strategic insights on how social networking is changing the way companies do business, a top-level speaker line-up, and an opportunity to network with peers. For more information and to register, please click here.

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

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

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

December 1-2, 2010, Singapore: Are you looking to quantify your social media efforts? Do you want to have constant customer engagement? If the answer is yes, join us in Singapore at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel for iStrategy 2010 to learn, network, share ideas, and understand how to build your online marketing strategy to its fullest potential. iiStrategy 2010 Singapore brings together South East Asia's leaders in social media marketing. iStrategy will give delegates the valuable insight they need to: Analyze the current market growth, which are the latest platforms to emerge and their impact and potential to be used in brand building. This coupled with Driving Revenue Growth, Creating Value from Digital Assets, Developing Innovative and Creative Online Strategies and achieve a Market Leading Online Position makes this an unmissable event in the Asia marketing Calendar. Register now with the promo code MashableSING to receive a 10% discount.

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

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

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

December 1, 2010, New York NY: Produced by Mediabistro, Charles Hudson, and Social Times, Social Gaming Summit East focuses on strategies for building, monetizing, and growing social games. Social Gaming Summit unites leaders in free-to-play games, social networking, and payments infrastructure for a full day of panels and talks. Speakers include Electronic Arts and Digital Chocolate founder Trip Hawkins, MyYearbook CEO Geoff Cook, PopCap’s Dennis Ryan, and Viximo founder Brian Balfour. Experts will share lessons learned from growing social games, transitioning from traditional to social gaming, building a successful social games distribution strategy, social networking on mobile, integrating social games on social networks, and much more. Register with the promo code MASH and save 15%!

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

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

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

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

December 6-9, 2010, San Francisco, CA: Join us at Dreamforce 2010, the cloud computing event of the year. This December, more than 20,000 fans will gather in San Francisco for our 8th annual user and developer conference. In four action-packed days, we'll give you all the education, inspiration and innovation you need to succeed. There's no better way to get up to speed on the latest advances in Salesforce apps, the Force.com platform and cloud computing. And this year we'll connect you with your peers and heroes in ways you've never thought possible. It's time to dream again.

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

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

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

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

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

December 7, 2010, New York, NY: The New York State Department of Health's AIDS Institute, in partnership with AIDS.gov, is hosting a free, one-day forum on the use of social media for HIV and STI prevention and care at New York University's Kimmel Center. Social Media: Going Viral Against HIV and STIs is principally targeting the executive leadership, administrators and communications specialists in community-based organizations, health care facilities and public health organizations in New York State. Only registrants may attend the forum. For more information, please click here.

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

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

December 9, 2010, Washington, DC: L2 is a think tank for digital innovation. On December 9, 2010, L2 will host the Social Graph Clinic, an all-day intensive clinic addressing the opportunities, challenges, and underpinnings of social media. Held at the George Washington School of Business, the event will feature speakers from academia, public sector, and private industry to lead discussions on social media strategies, rules of engagement, and metrics for marketing and digital professionals. Register here for the Social Graph Clinic. The first 10 Mashable readers to register will receive a 25% discount on tickets (Please use the following discount code when registering: MASHABLE)

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

December 10-12, 2010, Cambridge, MA: Startup Weekend Cambridge is the place to come for anyone with a new idea that they want to see brought to life. Over the weekend, teams will work together to take the ideas and create new ventures. Register and use the promo code Mashable to save 15%.

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

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

December 15-16, 2010, Austin, TX: Are you a CEO, Owner, or Marketing Executive wondering how you should be using social media to promote your business? Come to our Free 90-minute Social Media Boot Camp for CEOs where you will learn proven techniques and valuable tips to drive customers to your website and generate new leads. Our expert speaker, Paul Slack, will offer abundant detailed strategies you can immediately put into action. We are in a different city each week, so please check our listings to see when we will be in your area!

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

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

January 13-14, 2011, Washington, DC: marcus evans invites you to attend the Social Media for Pharma Conference. Hear from your peers firsthand on how the new FDA guidance will mandate your social media strategies. By attending this conference you will learn how to boost product exposure, generate market research, build relationships and increase sales and overall business in the long term. For an exclusive discount as a Mashable member, please mention “Mashable” to Michele Westergaard at michelew@marcusevansch.com.

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

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

January 24-27, 2011, San Francisco, CA: The Emerging Media Conference is one of the largest and unique of its kind, welcoming the New Year with an opportunity to view and experience the latest in technology advances and upcoming product roll outs. For three full days there will be demonstrations, presentations, and discussions led by some of the most connected and recognized experts in the industry including Keynote Jesse Schell from Carnegie Mellon University. Whether you are immersed in the world of emerging media or just have a casual interest, this conference allows you to preview the future of the tech world like a seasoned insider. Register and use the promo code EmMeConMash to save 10%.

February 1-3, 2011, San Diego, CA: The Green Data Center Conference will analyze new technology that will not only benefit our environment, but also save organizations money and increase efficiency. Industry experts and executives will gather to discuss the growing importance of green technology and the associated benefits. Corporate case studies will be presented to demonstrate how existing data centers have been retrofitted and new facilities built from the ground up. This conference will share valuable information that can be taken back and used immediately to gain measurable ROI. Register and use the promo code GDCSD10 to save 10%!

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

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

February 8-10, 2011, San Francisco, CA: Social Media Strategies Summit – We have researched the social media buzz to develop and present to you a top of the line marketing conference that you can't afford to miss. With in-depth case studies from the nuts and bolts to micro-blogging and sustaining online communities, you leave with a refreshed vision to take your marketing plan to the next level for 2010 and beyond. Register and use the promo code MASH to receive a discount.

February 14, 2011, Barcelona, Spain: The Mobile Premier Awards are among the most influential events in the mobile industry and the point of reference in early-stage innovation during the Mobile World Congress.
An international jury of the most recognized mobile industry experts will select the 20 finalists from all the local AppCircuses held during 2010 to showcase their app in a 3-minute pitch at the event in Barcelona in front of investors, operators, media companies, peer entrepreneurs, and press and influential bloggers. Register and use the promo code #BCNMASHABLE to receive a 10% discount.

February 25-27, 2011, Los Angeles, CA: The 9th Annual Southern California Linux Expo, the premier community run Linux / Open Source conference, will feature tutorial sessions designed to show users of all skill levels what Open Source can do and how to do it. Whatever your interest is in Open Source, SCALE 9X will have something for you. Register and use the discount code MASH9 for 35% off.

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

March 1-5, 2011, Hannover, Germany: CeBIT is the world’s largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions for home and work environments. The key target groups are users from industry, the wholesale/retail sector, skilled trades, banks, the services sector, government agencies, science and all users passionate about technology. CeBIT offers an international platform for comparing notes on current industry trends, networking, and product presentations. For more information, please visit: http://www.cebit.de and to receive your complimentary visitor registration to this elite event, please email lguiang@hfusa.com.

March 2-3, 2010, San Francisco, CA: EyeforTravel's Social Media Strategies for Travel Conference is North America's number one social media event for travel professionals. Now in its fourth successful year, the event brings together top travel brands to share key insights on how to maximize the impact of your social media initiatives. The two days are packed with case studies, presentations and networking opportunities. Please use the promo code MASHABLE for a $100 discount on the admission price.

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

March 9, 2011, Dubai, India: The Cloud Computing World Forum Middle East and Africa will feature all of the key players within the Cloud Computing and SaaS market providing an introduction, discussion and look into the future for the ICT industry. Register today and get inspiration on how to address your latest issues with advice from real-life end-user case studies and practical examples. Register with the promo code MEAmash20 and save 20%!

March 15, 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Want to know successful stories on how big brands build their brand and reputation online? Everyone can go online, but can you STAY online? Our conference, Digitalize Your Marketing Strategy, is going to be most anticipated event of the year! WE are bringing you the Malaysian's most valuable brands, review their successful stories and provide you hands on tips to manage your online marketing strategy. Our privileged speakers from Digi, Dell, Unilever, Intel and Microsoft will share case studies using social media, digital and search engine. Register with the promo code DYMSMASH and save 20%!

March 23-24, 2010, Las Vegas, NV: Hear groundbreaking social media ROI case studies at Social Pulse 2011: The Corporate Social Media Marketing Event! This conference provides corporate marketing leaders from across industries the newest insights and case studies on how to drive measurable results and marketing ROI through smart social media strategy. Moving beyond theory and assumptions, it is the only conference that focuses on social media initiatives that have generated measurable results for America’s leading corporations. Register online or call 1-800-647-7600, and use the promo code MJK233 to save $200!

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

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

April 18-20, 2011, Dubai, UAE: Planet of the Apps Arabia 2011 is a three day conference dedicated to the opportunities and challenges of mobile applications in the Arab world. The event is for app developers, content providers, device manufacturers, network operators and brands to meet and discuss the current challenges and opportunities presented in this growing market. Key issues addressed will include; the sustainability of the current business models, consumer engagement, developer recruitment, app discoverability, platform choice and the importance of social media networks. Register with promo code Mashable and save 20%!

May 4-8, 2011, London, UK: Digital Shoreditch is the voice of everything happening in Shoreditch. The festival explores and celebrates digital technologies; unites the digital community; and provides a platform for sharing knowledge. The activity culminates in a series of exhibitions, parties, presentations, open studios and games.

September 26-29, 2011, Kaua’i, HI: The Search and Social Woot! is an elite conference unlike any other that will provide you with the strategies and complete know how to thrive in this ever changing environment. Each day begins with morning sessions around the hottest topics. With Keynote Bruce Clay of Bruce Clay, Inc. and speakers from corporations such as Real Networks, Network Solutions, AT&T, Microsoft Bing and Logitech. Afternoons are spent in a relaxed environment including planned activities in which individual attendees can get to know speakers and each other on a more personal level continuing the discussion and building long lasting relationships. Register and use the promo code SSWootMash to save 10%.

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Is RockMelt the Social Web Browser We’ve Been Waiting For?

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 03:30 PM PST


The new socially savvy web browser, RockMelt, entered private beta on Sunday and is already becoming a viral web hit, thanks in large part to the Facebook-authenticated invitation scheme it uses.

RockMelt isn’t the first product to try to take on social browsing — Flock, which will also be using Chromium as a base for its 3.0 version, has been trying to crack this nut for more than five years.

Thus, our main question is: is RockMelt the answer to finally solving social browsing or is it just another flavor of the month? Let’s take a look.

Journey to a Social Web Browser

There are hundreds of plugins and extensions for the various web browsers, but out of the box, almost every major browser lacks a lot of social integration. Interestingly, Microsoft has actually taken a bit more of a social initiative with Internet Explorer 9. The new ability to pin websites to the Windows 7 taskbar offers one-click access to a site — almost like a single-site browser. These new pinned sites also have social and contextual features. For instance, a Twitter pin can offer a way to check @ mentions, send tweets and more.

Instead of building in social features on the offset, most browser makers are taking the approach of letting companies and individuals create add-ons or extensions to the browser to add these features. Some of these extensions work really well, while others don’t.

There is a very delicate balance between providing social functionality and making the core browsing experience sub-optimal. For end users, the struggle comes in finding add-ons that add functionality without overloading the deck.

It doesn’t help that each add-on can hinder overall web browsing performance. For Firefox, its add-on strategy has actually been a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it was the extensibility that made Firefox different and valuable. On the other, those same extensions and add-ons are what has made Firefox slower over the years, making browsers like Chrome seem like such a breath of fresh air.

I believe this is incidentally where the Gecko-based version of Flock failed. At the end of the day, there was just too much going on and disabling toolbars ended up just creating a slightly uglier version of Firefox. Flock’s 3.0 beta release looks more aligned with what RockMelt is doing, but there are some differences as well.

A Browser Extension as a Facebook App

I was curious to look at how RockMelt would handle its social tools. Initially, I assumed that like the beta version of Flock Chromium, RockMelt would use some typical Google Extensions to add on its social layer.

That’s not quite true. Instead, RocketMelt loads a Facebook app every time the browser is loaded, which is what powers the social elements of RockMelt. This is what gives you one-click access to your friends that are online, this is what makes it easy to check your news feed or update your status, and this is the app that can be the cloud connector for the other elements of RockMelt, namely the RSS feeds and the integration of the Twitter API.

This is interesting in that it does actually bring a fully integrated Facebook experience into your web browser. The downside is that, depending on server load, those features might not load in your browser. Or as we’ve been seeing today, if they do load, the browser itself may become unstable because of the Facebook-app/add-on.

Still, when it works, RockMelt’s use of Facebook as its app protocol and connector is a wholly different sort of approach. It’s actually pretty savvy.

Likewise, the way that the Twitter API is used is nice because you can add multiple Twitter accounts to your sidebar and access or send messages from all of those accounts. The sidebar experience is separate from whether you are logged in at Twitter.com, and it all takes place from an API level.

Thus, the featureset is similar to what you would find in a full-featured desktop or web-based Twitter app. That means you can access lists, send and receive direct messages and easily reply or retweet all from the sidebar.

But Can it Blend?

The way that RockMelt uses Twitter and Facebook — and the way that it monitors websites for RSS updates — is pretty interesting and is relatively unobtrusive. You can make sidebars bigger or smaller, or hide them all together.

The Share button makes sending a website to Facebook or Twitter super simple — though an option of posting to both accounts at once wouldn’t hurt.

Still, we couldn’t help but wonder if this is enough. The extensibility strategy for RockMelt hasn’t been disclosed, and this is going to end up being what makes the service either a cool novelty or something really cool.

As of right now, though you can install Chrome Extensions in RockMelt, you can’t easily access said extensions. In fact, it looks like RockMelt has gone out of its way to hide the Extensions feature.

This doesn’t surprise us — other extensions or add-ons could hamper the load and the various JavaScript and server-side storage that RockMelt is using already. However, it does point out an obvious flaw. If you want to do something other than easily connect to Facebook or Twitter, RockMelt is a lot more limiting.

Like Flock, RockMelt runs the risk of being both too heavy and yet not ultimately fulfilling its end goal. What other services can be added — and whether they should be added — is going to be an issue that RockMelt’s developer base is going to have to figure out.

More immediately, the cloud-based nature of its platform means that RockMelt will have to really focus on keeping its servers reliable and capable of handling the load of user activity. A cloud-based strategy is intriguing in that it offers up some really interesting ways to get real-time data and to connect to different services, but it’s still a risk because if the servers or application backend go down, users are left with just a browser.

At the end of the day, we’re not quite sure if RockMelt is the answer to the problem of social browsing, and much of its success will depend on how it addresses the variety of potential shortcomings in the months ahead.

More About: chrome, facebook, flock, RockMelt, twitter, web browsers

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Food Delivery Service GrubHub Raises $11 Million

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 03:11 PM PST


Online food and restaurant delivery service GrubHub has raised an impressive $11 million in a Series C round of funding led by Benchmark Capital, an investment group that has also provided early funding for the likes of eBay, Twitter, Yelp and OpenTable.

Online consumers can use GrubHub’s service to view menus, coupons and reviews, and place orders from roughly 13,000 restaurants in the U.S. via its website and mobile apps (available for both the iPhone [iTunes link] and Android devices).

The startup currently operates in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, D.C., San Diego, Oakland, Seattle, Portland, Denver and Boulder, and plans to double the number of cities it serves in 2011.

The new capital will be used to further build out GrubHub’s online and mobile offerings, as well as its marketing and sales team. The startup has now raised a total of $14.1 million from investors and expects to process more than $70 million in food orders this year, of which GrubHub will receive a cut.

Image courtesy of Geoff Peters 604

Reviews: Android, iPhone

More About: Food, funding, grubhub, series c

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Samsung Announces Android-Powered Continuum Smartphone

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 02:57 PM PST


Samsung has just confirmed that its upcoming press conference will focus on the Continuum smartphone. As expected, the device will include a 3.5-inch Super AMOLED screen coupled with a 1.8-inch Super AMOLED ticker.

The Continuum manual says that the ticker will show notifications for incoming calls, as well as data from “your favorite sources.” We’re assuming that favorite sources will include Android applications like Twitter and Facebook.

The Samsung Continuum is labeled as part of the Galaxy S family. It will be carried by Verizon Wireless and will go on sale November 11. The price has not yet been announced, but we’ll be on hand at the event shortly to gather the rest of the details.

More About: android, Continuum, galaxy s, samsung, verizon wireless

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Here Comes the Droid Pro (And Here Are Our First Impressions)

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 01:30 PM PST


Verizon Wireless has confirmed that November 9 is the pre-sale date for the Motorola DROID PRO. It will hit shelves on November 18 with the standard two-year for $180 after a $100 mail-in rebate.

Last week, Mashable held a demo event with Verizon Wireless where we had the opportunity to get our hands on the DROID PRO and develop some first impressions.

Like most of Motorola’s other DROID offerings, the device runs Android 2.2. The DROID PRO is the first Android device to be targeted at the professional and enterprise markets.

Curiously, the PRO is saddled with Motoblur. While the version is toned down to be less obtuse, it’s still not entirely conducive to enterprise implementations. Facebook integration, for instance, is decidedly less than professional and, at times, completely distracting.

But it’s not all bad — the PRO is well made. The keyboard, its most distinctive feature, is enough to accommodate even the staunchest BlackBerry fanatic. Its keys are big and easy to type on even with large hands.

While the 320 x 480 touchscreen might not be an industry benchmark, it’s more than passable for anyone who doesn’t have the device pegged for heavy media playback. However, if you do want to watch a movie from time to time, the 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM are amply capable of crunching some media.

All in all, our initial hands-on was mostly positive. Despite some potential limitations, the DROID PRO does appear to be a solid option for Android fans looking for a more work friendly device. And the $180 pre-sale price point doesn’t hurt its argument.

Reviews: Android, BlackBerry Rocks!, Facebook, Mashable

More About: droid, Droid Pro, Mobile 2.0, Motorola, verizon wireless

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The Future of Human Resources and Social Media

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 01:23 PM PST


The Future of Social Media Series is supported by Gist. Gist provides a full view of the contacts in your professional network by creating a rich business profile for each one that includes the most news, status updates, and work details. See how it works here.

Some argue that human resources professionals are late-adopters when it comes to anything technology related, including social media. But the popularity and possibilities that social recruiting have brought to the profession are causing HR pros to take notice.

While part of HR's role is to mitigate legal risks, another very large component is to help support and cultivate the corporate culture. As social media becomes more defined in the business world, human resources professionals will have a significant opportunity to leverage this powerful medium in many aspects of the business.

Here’s a look at how we think social media will affect the human resources field. Add your voice to the conversation in the comments below.

1. Resources at Your Fingertips

Regardless of your profession, we all know using social media allows us to expand our network. And human resources is no exception. I've often said human resources can be a lonely profession. One minute you're at the holiday party and the next you're terminating someone’s employment. Having the ability to interact with colleagues around the world about the challenges facing human resources is priceless.

Mike Kohn, human resources representative at SmithGroup, one of the top architecture and engineering firms in the country and a national leader in sustainable design, said his involvement in social media has allowed him to expand his HR network and industry network. "I have participated in knowledge sharing activities like the #aiachat, a monthly tweetchat for professionals in the architecture industry, I have been able to give insight into SmithGroup's internal culture, I have positioned our firm as a thought leader and raised awareness of our company and I have gotten to know potential talent that might someday be a good fit for our organization."

As Kohn mentioned, staying connected has the extra benefit of possibly finding new talent for the organization. Victorio Milian, human resources generalist for global fashion retailer H&M, points out that social media allows human resources to stay engaged with former employees. "I worked with our public relations and marketing departments to create a LinkedIn Alumni Group for former H&M employees. This allows the company to continue to keep the brand in the forefront of their minds. It also helps to reduce the amount of knowledge that gets lost when an employee leaves. Lastly, it's a potential pool of rehires for H&M."

2. Balancing Productivity and Value

Many human resources pros remember when using the Internet at work became popular. Organizations were convinced that employees would spend all day surfing and not getting any work finished. Human resources departments are still fighting that battle. This time, it's social media.

Milian emphasizes the importance of understanding value. "Human resource professionals must understand which social media tools and strategies will give them the most bang for their buck. Just because many of these tools are free or low-cost doesn't mean they're worth investing in. That lack of cost makes it easy to dive into social media without considering what you want to get out of it."

Kohn also mentioned the importance of creating value not only for the business but for the internal workforce and the industry. "On our Facebook Page, we've worked hard to focus on 'news you can use,' fun information related to the design industry, community activities that our employees have participated in and fun events that go on in our offices. We have succeeded in developing an internal following of employees that are more engaged with their colleagues, which we think and hope will lead to stronger retention rates."

When human resources begins to include employee involvement in their corporate social media strategy, it also means working with senior leadership to create a culture that supports the change. Deirdre Honner, associate director of human resources at Calvin College, a four-year liberal arts college in Michigan, mentioned she regularly has employees contact her via Facebook regarding work matters.

While using social media tools provides human resources professionals convenience, establishing appropriate metrics to measure results will be key. Honner shared a recent story about being contacted via Facebook from a colleague who was traveling. "She had forgotten to approve some time cards and couldn't find a safe Internet connection to log in to take care of her payroll. So, she messages me on Facebook from her iPhone. I get the message and take care of her problem."

Employees getting paid on time is a pretty important activity, so there's definitely value. But just as other aspects of the business like public relations and marketing are searching to quantify social media, human resources is doing the same.

3. Reevaluating Corporate Values

Honner's story is a reminder to organizations about how using social media can change levels of expectation. Before Facebook and iPhones, it was understood there are times when people just weren't available. And even though we now try to encourage "disconnect" time, it's still essential for organizations to set expectations and manage those expectations where using social media is concerned.

This not only applies to employees using social media but to customer service. HR pros have to work closely with marketing, sales and operations to understand customer demographics and needs. Milian predicts that HR will use social media "to find business solutions faster and from a wider variety of sources. It will also mean that the business will need to be able to respond to the needs of their customer faster as well. We've all seen the power of a negative tweet or YouTube video by an irate customer. On the flip side, companies like Zappos and Dell have proven that social media can be good for business."

4. Supporting Innovation

Benjamin McCall, leadership performance consultant at Standard Register, a recognized leader in document and print management serving health care, industrial manufacturing, financial services, government and retail industries, sees tremendous potential in social media tools for collaboration and the sharing of real-time ideas or solutions with team members. "I see the application of private enterprise tools, similar to Gowalla and Foursquare, for internal conferences or team development and meetings. HR pros will use Twitter to keep up with industry conferences, information and articles for their job and certifications. They'll also rely on blogging to collaborate and inform leadership groups around practices and methodologies of the business; and also to get training cohorts in on the conversation."

Human resources professionals realize in order to accomplish business goals, individuals must be encouraged and rewarded for using non-traditional thinking. But as Kohn reminds us, "Don't think that we've finished exploring all of the potential that social media has. We're all still adjusting to the professional life with social media and there's so much more that we can do. There's more still to be discovered and harnessed. The more we use these tools, the more we're going to learn and grow in our roles. This is just the beginning."

Like our colleagues in marketing and public relations, human resources professionals are learning what social media tools are available and how they can be leveraged in the workplace. Many of the rules regarding what works and what doesn't haven't been written or tested yet. But one thing is certain: Human resources professionals understand that social media isn't going away. That's the easy answer. The challenge is integrating a cohesive, relevant and effective strategy at every level of the organization.

Series supported by Gist

The Future of Social Media Series is supported by Gist. Gist keeps you better informed with less effort by giving you a full view of your professional network in one place bringing together information from across the web for all your contacts giving you the right information at the right moment to get a meeting, deliver an amazing pitch, or just find a better way to make a connection.

More HR Resources from Mashable:

- 9 iPhone Apps for Managing the Recruiting Process
- HOW TO: Use Twitter Hashtags to Boost Your Job Search
- How Job Seekers May Use Social Media in the Future
- 4 Digital Alternatives to the Traditional Resume
- Should You Search Social Media Sites for Job Candidate Information?

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tacojim

Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla, Internet, Twitter, iStockphoto

More About: business, facebook, future of social media series, human resources, job, job search, jobs, social media, trending, twitter

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Facebook Now On Pace to Serve 1 Trillion Display Ads Per Year

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 12:58 PM PST


During the third quarter of this year, Facebook served up 297 billion display ads, representing 23.1% of the market and more than twice the share the company held at this time last year, according to data from comScore. At that pace, Facebook is now serving more than 1 trillion ads per year.

Facebook also now has a huge lead over the next closest publisher in the display ad space, Yahoo, which, by comparison, garnered nearly 141 billion display ad impressions. Microsoft ranks third with 5% market share and Google sits at fifth place with 2.7%.

In total, display advertising impressions for the quarter were up 22% year-over-year — a significant increase that represents a strong rebound for the display advertising space. On average, Internet users in the U.S. were each delivered more than 6,000 display ads during the quarter.

comScore Senior Vice President Jeff Hacket attributes publishers’ abilities to serve up highly targeted ads as a primary contributing factor to the big bump. “The ability to buy specific audiences is enabling a greater number of display ads to be delivered on target, display formats are improving at a rapid rate, and the quality of creative is getting better every day. As publishers prove the value of online display ad campaigns, digital should continue to carve out a bigger piece of the advertising pie,” he said.

This theory seems to support Facebook’s dominant spot as top publisher for display ads.

On the advertiser side of things, AT&T was most prolific, serving a total of 21.1 billion ad impressions. AT&T also ranks second in estimated display ad spending for the quarter.

According to a previous IAB Internet Advertising revenue report, display advertising is second only to search when it comes to total online ad spend.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Laughing Squid

Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Google, Internet

More About: ComScore, display advertising, facebook, online advertising

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5 Musts for Mobile App Marketing

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 12:04 PM PST


Ken Yarmosh is the proprietor of a boutique mobile agency based in the Washington, D.C. area and the author of App Savvy (O’Reilly).

Mobile is only getting bigger. Thousands of new apps are hitting app stores every day. The result is that even innovative or well-made apps are often ignored.

One reason for this is that far too many mobile developers start their marketing efforts after they launch their app. This approach wastes one of the best marketing opportunities available — when the app first goes into an app store. Many app creators don’t realize that marketing needs to occur parallel to development and build over time.

To help, here are five tips for marketing a mobile app before it launches.

1. Build a Splash Page

One of the easiest ways to generate interest in an app, even if the app is just an idea, is to build a splash page.

Typical splash pages include a device image, some branding relevant to the app, very basic details about the app’s functionality and social media links. Creating a newsletter sign-up form at this stage also gives people the opportunity to stay updated about progress. Yes, newsletters still work!

The splash page will act as the headquarters for an app, until it’s actually built. Eventually, the splash page should grow to house the full website.

2. Do a Sneak Peek

Communities have really come alive on sites like Dribbble, Forrst, Ember, and comparable outlets. These sites are specifically built to share sneak peeks of works in progress. Perhaps more importantly, however, is that they also represent free places to get extremely high quality feedback from the best in the business. There’s no better way to generate interest in an app than by having peers and potential customers actually contributing to the final version.

App-focused blogs also love featuring cool new apps in development. If you pique their interest, it’s very likely they’ll write about an app even while it’s being built. That’s especially true if they are given exclusive screenshots and other details about the app that aren’t available to others.

3. Create a Teaser Video

It’s not necessary to be a professional videographer to develop a good video preview of an in-progress app. In fact, the simpler it is, the better.

Showcase the key features and include some upbeat background music or interesting narrative. Remember, what you want to highlight is the promise of the app. The final version does not need to be completed at this point.

4. Rally Beta Testers

Working with beta testers is one of the best examples of how marketing helps development and vice versa. Leveraging the splash page, sneak peek, teaser video and other similar assets, you can excite potential customers to sign up to beta test an app.

Not only will beta testers provide feedback about how to improve the app, they’ll also become advocates for it once the app actually launches. You’ll then have an army of people that will help both in testing and marketing your app.

5. Share Promo Codes With Key Contacts

There’s a little known secret about promo codes for iOS apps. If an app is approved for Apple’s App Store but not yet released, promo codes are still active. Taking advantage of this function gives you the opportunity to get your app into the hands of key contacts (press, influencers, friendlies, etc.), even if it’s not publicly available.

Using promo codes this way will let these contacts review the app in advance of its official release date. And for those who agree to write about the app, you might even suggest they post their review the same day the app becomes available, giving it greater visibility and attention from the outset.

Concluding Note

The goal for anyone creating an app should be to see an initial marketing frenzy when the app is first released. Getting early attention and growing interest over time will help make that happen.

Of course, once the app is actually launched, many of these same strategies are still applicable. From update to update, it’s helpful to tease upcoming features, incorporate beta testers and keep bloggers and other key contacts aware of any major releases.

Ultimately, acknowledging the mutually beneficial relationship between marketing and development will make each of these efforts more effective. Start your marketing with development, and you’ll greatly improve the public’s interest, engagement and attention for your app once it finally launches.

More Mobile Resources from Mashable:

- HOW TO: Build an App for Your Small Business
- Top iPhone Developer Discusses the Future of Media Apps [VIDEO]
- HOW TO: Develop iPhone Apps With Staying Power
- 10 Essential Websites for iPhone Photographers

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, daboost

Reviews: iStockphoto

More About: app development, app marketing, apps, branding, business, iOS, List, Lists, MARKETING, Mobile 2.0, mobile apps, splash page

For more Mobile coverage:

Longtime Facebook PR Exec Leaving the Company

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 12:03 PM PST


Facebook’s Director of Corporate Communications Brandee Barker has announced that she is departing the company she joined more than four years ago to start her own early-stage business consulting firm.

“After 4+ incredible years at Facebook, I have decided to leave to start my own business consulting early stage tech companies,” Barker posted on her Facebook wall.

In an interview with BoomTown, Barker said that she prefers working with early-stage companies. She recently returned to Facebook after a six month maternity leave, which gave her time to evaluate what she wanted to do next.

Barker was employee number 120 at the world’s largest social network. She actually joined right before Facebook’s first major privacy fiasco, the launch of News Feed (as she’ll attest, I quickly made her life very difficult).

On a personal note, I’ve worked with Barker since I started with Mashable. She has always been my number one line into the Facebook machine, and she made covering the company fun and painless. Facebook has definitely lost a talented employee. I’d say she’ll be missed, but I’m pretty sure my inbox will be filled with Barker e-mails soon enough.

Reviews: Facebook, Mashable

More About: Brandee Barker, facebook

For more Business coverage:

New Blog Takes on the Evil That Is Auto Correct

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 11:14 AM PST


Ever had one of those moments when — after painstakingly composing a text and sending it off into the world — you realize that your phone has completely mangled what you meant? Yup. We all have. Which is why the blog Damn You Auto Correct! is so hilarious.

This user-generated blog started buzzing around the Internet last week, and it’s still going on Monday. Why? Well, it’s basically like Texts From Last Night — but in this case the drunken, slurring idiot is not, in fact, you, but your smartphone (who sometimes seems like it’s out to get you).

Check out a few selections from the blog below and let us know what your more egregious autocorrect moments were in the comments.

Mine happened on the same day I got my Android — I was trying to tell my friend that I was, “Hanging out in the ‘burg” (short for “Williamsburg”). My phone, however, chose to tell her that I was hanging in the “buff.” Damn you, auto correct!

Reviews: Android, Internet

More About: android, blog, damn-you-autocorrect, humor, iphone, pop culture, smartphone

For more Entertainment coverage:

Non-Profit Creates Foursquare Venues for Homelessness Awareness

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 11:00 AM PST


Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD), a North Carolina non-profit organization providing food, shelter and clothing to the city’s homeless, is launching a Foursquare initiative designed to unsettle application users and raise awareness around homelessness in Durham.

UMD is spotlighting unusual venues such as abandoned warehouses, dumpsters and old construction sites by seeding them, along with corresponding informational tips on UMD, as Foursquare places in the downtown area. Application users in neighboring areas will discover the strange venues in the “nearby places” portion of the app.

The idea behind the campaign, engineered by the McKinney ad agency, is to inspire Foursquare users to check in to these locations to spread awareness about UMD and its mission of homelessness prevention. The hope is to create a chain reaction, where a user checks in to a UMD-created venue and thereby exposes the venue and UMD’s cause to friends and social media contacts who also pay it forward with their checkins.

The campaign is specifically designed to make Foursquare users in the Durham area uncomfortable with the reality of the homelessness around them. By exposing these realities, McKinney and UMD aim to spread awareness and motivate younger audiences to volunteer and help the organization prevent homelessness.

It remains to be seen how Foursquare users in the area will respond to their social experience being overtaken by the addition of these sobering venues, but the idea is certainly unique and bound to raise at least a few eyebrows.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Franco Folini

Reviews: Flickr, foursquare

More About: foursquare, MARKETING, mckinney, non-profit, social good, urban ministries of durham

For more Social Good coverage:

Mashable Giveaway: Build Your Own Twitter Promotion With PromoJam [INVITES]

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 10:40 AM PST


PromoJam is a platform that enables users to easily build customized Twitter promotions and contest pages for giveaways, and we’ve partnered up with them to give away 1,000 free invites so Mashable readers can give it a try.

The platform allows companies or individuals to build a branded page for their promotion and point their users to it, then allows users to enter the contest by connecting through Twitter and tweeting out a link to the promotion. It’s been used by celebrities like Justin Bieber and companies like Simon & Schuster.

The platform walks you through the process of building your custom landing page, with all of the descriptions, legal language and the prompt. It also includes features that enable you to style it with your own branding with logos, CSS stylesheet and more, as well as some basic background designs that you can use.

There are also reports of how your promotion is doing in real-time, alongside features such as “auto-follow,” which allows users who enter the promotion to follow you on Twitter as well.

The platform has three pricing plans, all of which are per promo, per month, with the basic plan starting at $29.99. It includes standard features such as writing your own copy, logo upload, SEO, unlimited server hosting and bandwidth, and some basic analytics. The site also has an enterprise package as well.

Try it Yourself

We decided to try the platform by giving out 1,000 basic promos or $29 toward a higher-level package to the first 1,000 readers. Simply click connect below through Twitter below to get your invite code.

More About: contest, invites, promojam, promotions, social media, social media marketing, twitter

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5 Mobile Apps for Finding Great Movies

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 10:34 AM PST


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

Perusing the mobile app landscape, it’s pretty clear that a whole bunch of developers love movies. For movie fans, this is pretty great because it means there are tons of apps for movie addicts to choose from.

As great as this is, the premise for many of these apps is that you already know what movie you want to watch. With hundreds of cable and satellite channels, 30-screen multiplexes, and online video sites like Hulu, Netflix and YouTube, answering the question “What should I watch?” can be pretty difficult.

Well, as the saying goes, there’s an app for that! Actually, there are tons of apps for that. We’ve scoured the App Store and the Android Market to find some of the best movie discovery and recommendation apps out there.

Here are five of our favorites — let us know about yours in the comments below.

1. Movie Night Out – iPhone and Android

Movie Night Out [iTunes link] is a free app for the iPhone and Android that is designed to help answer the question, “what do you want to do tonight?” The app is pretty ingenious because it not only helps you find movies playing in your area, but also find places to eat or grab coffee after the flick.

You can tell the app what kind of movie you want to watch — say you want a comedy or a drama — and it will use your location to show you what’s playing at theaters near you. You can then find nearby restaurants or coffee shops for post-movie bliss.

It’s like a cheat sheet for date night!

2. EW Must List – iPad and iPhone

Each week, Entertainment Weekly offers a rundown of what movies, books, music and TV shows shouldn’t be missed. EW has also made this information accessible on the iPhone [iTunes link] and iPad [iTunes link]. Using the app, you can watch trailers, read reviews and get release information all from within the app.

Every Friday, 10 new picks are added to the list and you can review picks from the last four weeks right on the app. You can also buy movies directly from iTunes, if it’s something that has just been released on home video — or get quick links to purchase movie tickets.

3. Miso – iPhone and Android

Sometimes the best way to get an idea of what to watch is to see what your friends are watching. That’s the idea behind Miso, one of the hot new entertainment checkin services on the scene.

Like GetGlue, which we covered in our roundup of apps for movie lovers, Miso lets you earn badges and check in to different content. The real benefit, however, is that you can see what your friends are watching and also see what movies or TV shows are currently trending or are popular. It’s a great way to get a reminder of a flick you want to check out or rewatch.

Miso is free and available for iPhone [iTunes link] and Android.

4. Movies Now HD and Fandango

In North America, two of the most popular online movie ticketing services are MovieTickets.com and Fandango. Combined, these services cover nearly every major movie chain. While you can buy tickets or browse showtimes from a mobile web browser, there are apps for both services as well.

Fandango has a free app for iPhone [iTunes link] and Android, while MovieTickets.com has an unofficial (and beautifully executed) app by way of Movies Now HD [iTunes link].

Both apps let you find upcoming showtimes in your area and purchase tickets from participating theaters. Movies Now HD is $1.99, works on the iPhone and iPad and can conveniently link to your MovieTickets.com account.

Both apps offer upcoming films, trailers and synopsis info. Fandango even provides access to the Metacritic rating of a film.

5. Clicker – iPhone and Android

We’ve covered Clicker before. It’s a web service and iPhone [iTunes link] and Android app that lets you find out what type of content is available to watch online, as well as what your friends are watching.

The cool thing about the Clicker mobile apps is that you can get movie information on the go, manage your Clicker playlist, see what titles are trending and see what your friends are watching. You can also search for mobile-friendly video, and on the iPhone you can purchase movies or TV shows from iTunes.

Like Miso, Clicker is a cool way to get ideas based on what others are watching, but it goes one step further by letting you know what’s available to watch online.

Your Picks

Those are our favorite apps for finding a great flick — what about you? How do you solve the “what to watch” dilemma? Let us know in the comments!

Series Supported by DVDVideoSoft

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

More Movie Resources from Mashable:

- 10 Mobile Apps for Movie Addicts
- Using Film to Change the World
- 5 Biggest Movie Trailers of Comic-Con 2010
- Top 10 LEGO Movie Tributes on YouTube
- 10 Best Geek Movies for a Cozy Night In

Reviews: Android, Android Market, App Store, Clicker, Hulu, Windows, YouTube, iPhone

More About: Android apps, clicker, fandango, Film, iphone apps, miso, mobile apps, movie night out, Movies, Movies and Tech Series, movietickets.com

For more Entertainment coverage:

SCVNGR Rewards Come to New York

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 10:01 AM PST


When SCVNGR launched its rewards program earlier this year, it did so with the intention of bringing a create-your-own rewards system to local businesses in six markets by year’s end. That mission comes to fruition today as SCVNGR officially launches local rewards in New York.

Beginning today, more than 50 New York City locations will begin offering SCVNGR rewards. The startup handpicked launch venues, as listed below, where customers are most likely to go with friends and stay for extended periods.

As you may recall, local businesses participating in the rewards program are gifted with QR code business stickers, table tents, coasters, coffee-sleeves and in-store signage to promote their SCVNGR rewards. Rewards do not come free of charge, however, as local businesses will need to pay a minimum of $80 per month for the privilege of running up to five active challenges, treks or rewards.

New York joins Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco as cities where businesses can use SCVNGR to set up and define rewards for their venues. SCVNGR’s continued rewards rollout comes as Facebook opens up a new free-of-charge deals platform for local businesses with Place Pages.

Mashable and SCVNGR are celebrating the launch of rewards in New York City with an event at The Red Room at Gansevoort Park Avenue.

New York Venues Offering SCVNGR Rewards

Brazil Bronze Glow Bar
Bar XII
Social
Duke’s – 3rd Ave
Duke’s – 19th Street
Off The Wagon
Mercury Bar East
Mark
Village Pourhouse East Village
Village Pourhouse Upper West
Village Pourhouse Rest. Row
Village Pourhouse Hoboken
SideBar
Lucky Strike Lanes
Gansevoort Hotel (Park Ave)
Gansevoort Hotel (Meatpacking)
Plunge Bar (Park Ave)
Plunge Bar (Meatpacking)
Triona’s Bar
Cafetasia
Van Diemens
The 13th Step
Murphy & Gonzalez
The Joshua Tree
3 Sheets Saloon
Entwine
Tonic East
Tonic Times Square
Revd Up Pi
Arctica Bar & Grill
Stone St. Tavern
Pizza Pizza
Burger Burger
Amber
Josie Woods
Waterstone Grill
Beckett’s
The Dubliner
Latitude
Smith’s Bar
Down The Hatch
Wicked Willy’s
The Stumble Inn
Jake’s Dilemma
The Gin Joint

Reviews: Facebook, Mashable

More About: geolocation, location based social networks, new york, scvngr, scvngr rewards

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5 Big Brands That Are Rocking the Social Media Space [Mashable Awards]

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 09:41 AM PST

Mashable Awards Image

As part of the ongoing Mashable Awards, we’re taking a closer look at each of the nomination categories. This is “Must-Follow Brand.” Be sure to nominate your favorites and join us for the Gala in Las Vegas! Sponsorships are available. Please contact sponsorships@mashable.com for more information.

Over the course of this year, we’ve seen a lot of great game-changing social media campaigns, from the Emmy-Winning Old Spice Guy YouTube videos to the Ford Explorer Facebook Reveal.

While campaigns like these get us excited, many of the brands behind these social media successes are still on the road to maintaining a consistent social presence, above and beyond a one-hit-wonder promotion. There are a handful of brands, however, that continue to awe us with social media wins one after another, while incorporating their communities and core brand values, and actively participating across multiple platforms, including Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, and YouTube.

In appreciation of engagement, innovation and longevity, here are five of our top picks for must-follow brands that just know how to use social media. Let us know which brands you enjoy following across your various social platforms in the comments below.

1. Starbucks

Why Starbucks Rocked This Year: As the most-”Liked” brand on Facebook and one of the top 10 most followed brands on Twitter, Starbucks has proven it’s social media savvy. It has continued to launch new campaigns and engage followers along the way. And it continues to source ideas from its custom social network, My Starbucks Idea.

But how many brands can say they’ve actually driven sales and store traffic? Starbucks is one of those brands that has measured real value. During its Free Pastry Day, Starbucks logged more than 1 million visitors to its stores and attributed the success to digital and social spaces.

We especially loved Starbucks’ grasp of Foursquare. Throughout this year, Starbucks teamed up with Foursquare to offer a badge and a sweet mayor deal.

Why You Should Follow: Starbucks continues to push the technological envelope when it comes to the digital and social spaces. This year it rolled out the Starbucks Card Facebook app, where users can buy their friends Starbucks via Facebook, and it announced the store’s digital network, an exclusive content network curated by the company and designed to enhance the customer's in-store experience. We have a feeling that the fun has only just begun.

2. JetBlue

Why JetBlue Rocked This Year: Last year, corporate communications manager Morgan Johnston told Mashable, “Our goal would be to make ourselves available, help whenever possible, and to show that our brand is built by real people who care about our customers.” Johnston was discussing JetBlue’s Twitter strategy, and we’d have to say it looks like it has had success in being there for its customers. Taking a look at the JetBlue Twitter stream, you see a mass of responses from the airline to inquiring followers — that’s what social is all about. Even with the occasional flight attendant snafu, the company manages to handle the social space well.

We also love all of the flight deals that JetBlue shares via Facebook and Twitter. We’ve read over and over that one of the top reasons why people follow brands via social media is that they want inside information on promotions and deals. We’re always tuned in to what JetBlue has to say, even if just for the limited offers on All-You-Can-Jet passes that pop up every now and then.

Why You Should Follow: Flight deals — get ‘em while they’re hot! Thanks to social media, and especially Twitter, the latest All-You-Can-Jet offer sold out in 36 hours. You’ve got to be on the ball these days if you want to get a great flight deal. Social media is the way to go, and JetBlue is one of our favorites.

3. The History Channel

Why the History Channel Rocked This Year: While a ton of brands jumped on the Foursquare bandwagon this year, we were especially surprised with some of the media and entertainment brands that got onboard. The History Channel was one of those surprising integrations that provided a lot of value and enhanced the Foursquare experience.

Typically, Foursquare tips are used to uncover insider information when you check in to a venue. The History Channel rethought the concept of the tip and began providing unexpected history lessons that were tied to locations. We love that the company innovated and built upon its brand’s core competency.

The History Channel’s other social media properties, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, also built on its competency by serving history lessons. One of my favorite features is the daily “This Day in History” update that goes out on Twitter and Facebook.

Why You Should Follow: Get your education on! The History Channel doesn’t have to try to hock products because what they offer is compelling enough — knowledge. It’s cliche, but true: Knowledge is power. Enough said.

4. Whole Foods

Why Whole Foods Rocked This Year: Whole Foods takes the cake for having one of the most expansive and inclusive social media strategies around, making it one of the top enterprises using social media. The company encourages individual stores and regional areas to create their own Twitter handles for a more niche customer experience online, and it even fosters topical tweets on subjects like wine and cheese. At our latest count, the company had nearly 300 niche Twitter accounts. That’s dedication.

Besides an amazing Twitter presence, the company also runs a Facebook Page and blog — both of which host recipes, health tips and company news updates, especially regarding its social good efforts.

Why You Should Follow: If you’re a Whole Foods junkie and want/need local updates on your neighborhood Whole Foods store, the company probably has a Twitter handle for you to follow. Furthermore, no matter where you live, you can always get great recipes from the company’s blog or Facebook Page, or even the automated Twitter handle dedicated to recipes. While Twitter is all about interaction, sometimes an automated feed with valuable information can be a great resource.

5. Dunkin’ Donuts

Why Dunkin’ Donuts Rocked This Year: Dunkin’ Donuts is all about highlighting its customers via social media. It is always running social media contests, such as last year’s “Keep It Coolatta” sweepstakes, the recent “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” contest and the current “Ultimate DD Coffee Fan” search. On Facebook, the brand also currently features a “Troop of the Week” as its Page profile picture, showing its support for America’s heroes, as part of a larger partnership with the USO.

Why You Should Follow: Dunkin’ Donuts focuses on showcasing passionate fans. If you’re not a DD nut, just walk away. But if you’re a huge advocate for the company, you’ll probably have your chance at Dunkin’ fame by staying up to date on its latest contests.

What’s Your Take?

Which brands do you follow via social media? Let us know in the comments or nominate them for the Mashable Awards.

The Mashable Awards Gala at Cirque du Soleil Zumanity (Vegas)

In partnership with Cirque du Soleil, The Mashable Awards Gala event will bring together the winners and nominees, the Mashable community, partners, media, the marketing community, consumer electronics and technology brands and attendees from the 2011 International CES Convention to Las Vegas on Thursday, January 6, 2011. Together, we will celebrate the winners and the community of the Mashable Awards at the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity stage in the beautiful New York New York Hotel. The event will include acts and performances from our partner Cirque du Soleil Zumanity. In addition, there will be special guest presenters and appearances.

Date: Thursday, January 6th, 2011 (during International CES Convention week)
Time: 7:00 – 10:00 pm PT
Location: Cirque du Soleil Zumanity, New York New York Hotel, Las Vegas
Agenda: Networking, Open Bars, Acts, Surprises and the Mashable Awards Gala presentations
Socialize: Facebook, Foursquare, Meetup, Plancast, Twitter (Hashtag: #MashableAwards)

Sponsorships are available. Please contact sponsorships@mashable.com for more information.

Register for Mashable Awards Gala at Cirque du Soleil Zumanity stage (Las Vegas - 2011 International CES convention) [Ticketed Event] in Las Vegas, NV on Eventbrite

Thanks to our sponsors:

Mashable Awards Gala Partner:

cirque logo From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a global entertainment organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has over 5,000 employees, including more than 1,200 artists from close to 50 different countries.

Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to nearly 100 million spectators in 300 cities on five continents. In 2010 Cirque du Soleil, will present 21 shows simultaneously throughout the world, including seven in Las Vegas.

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com

Mashable Awards Online Partner:

The Fresh DietHave you ever wished for your own personal gourmet Chef?

The Fresh Diet is like having a Cordon Bleu chef prepare your meals in your own kitchen. There’s no cooking, cleaning, shopping – just fresh prepared delicious meals, hand delivered to your door daily! Whether you want to lose weight or just want to eat healthy, The Fresh Diet can help you meet your goals. The best news, we’re giving away a FREE week of The Fresh Diet every day on our Facebook page. Just click here to become a fan and you could be the next winner. Join now!

Mashable Awards Partner:

Join us at the 2011 International CES®, the global platform for inspired ideas and innovation. With 2,500 exhibitors, CES continues to be the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow and always reflects the dynamic consumer electronics industry. The International CES is not open to the general public and all attendees must be in the CE industry to be eligible to attend the show. Register FREE for the 2011 CES with priority code MSHB, an exclusive promotion for Mashable Readers.

Mashable Awards Category Sponsor:

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

Mashable Awards Gala Silver Sponsor:

Aro Mobile is an intelligent mobile experience that includes better email, connected contacts, smarter calendar and improved browsing.

The Aro system automatically learns what's important in your life—the people, places, dates and organizations you care about most. In your communications, Aro automatically identifies people, places, events, dates,organizations and locations. From any recognized term, Aro offers quick action menus to speed up your day.

The unique Aro experience is powered by advanced web services: next generation natural language processing and semantic data analytics services. Aro gives you the power to see through the clutter and focus your mobile life.

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

Mashable Awards Gala VIP Lounge sponsor:

Influxis image

Influxis specializes in the deployment of creative streaming solutions. Services include large scale deployment, mobile streaming, turn-key applications, and enterprise support with custom network options. With the unique combination of a worldwide network, knowledgeable developer support and nearly a decade of streaming media experience, Influxis is an essential partner to businesses, advertisers, developers, educators, and others who seek expertise in innovative streaming.

Mashable Awards After Party Sponsor:

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59

Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Internet, Mashable, Twitter, YouTube, blog, foursquare, iStockphoto

More About: all you can jet, Awards, dunkin donuts, dunkindonuts, history channel, jetblue, mashable awards, mashable awards 2010, open web awards, starbucks, web awards, whole foods

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Twitter “Pale Whale” Unveiled to Celebrate Tonight’s Premiere of “Conan”

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 09:12 AM PST


It’s been a long road for Conan O’Brien (a.k.a. Coco) — from late night to Twitter to touring. But tonight the man the Internet has lovingly dubbed “Coco” is returning to the small screen with the premiere of Conan on TBS. To celebrate this move, Fail Whale artist Yiying Lu created the above image for the social media-savvy comedian.

O’Brien’s transition from TV host to Internet star has been an interesting look at the ability of celebs and average folks alike to showcase their careers and personalities via the web. And even though “Coco” has now transitioned back to mainstream media, he appears to be staying true to his online audience — premiering his show early with an “Episode Zero” on TeamCoco.com, and creating diversions like the Pale Whale for loyal fans (you can snag mobile and desktop wallpaper over on the blog).

What do you think will happen now that O’Brien’s back in the living room? Will his online celebrity persevere?

Reviews: Internet, Twitter, blog

More About: celebrities, coco, conan o'brien, fail whale, social media, television, twitter

For more Entertainment coverage:

Google’s Nexus One to Get Gingerbread Android Update Soon [RUMOR]

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 08:58 AM PST


According to a tweet from the Open Handset Alliance’s Alvaro Fuentes Vasquez, those with a Nexus One in their possession should be getting Android 2.3 (codenamed Gingerbread) in “the next few days.”

The assertion makes sense, given the rumor that Gingerbread will rise on November 11.

Just last month, the release’s mascot, a gigantic gingerbread man, arrived on Google's campus amidst a flurry of excitement.

As we said back then, this new iteration represents a change in the Android landscape. While previous versions, like Froyo, were intended for mobile devices, Gingerbread is said to also include functionality for tablets.

The Nexus One was far from the most popular Android device; it was discontinued in July following disappointing sales. We're guessing that the update will roll out to other devices in relatively short order as well (if Vasquez's tweet is true), getting it in the hands of many more users.

We’re still waiting for more news on the fabled Nexus Two, the Nexus One’s possible successor that will supposedly (if it exists) run Gingerbread as well. In the meantime, Nexus One owners, keep an eye on your handsets and let us know when the update rolls in.

[via TechCrunch]

Reviews: Android

More About: android, gingerbread, Google, nexus one

For more Mobile coverage:

E-Book Market Surges to $1 Billion [REPORT]

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 08:26 AM PST

torn books

Customers will have bought $966 million in e-books by the end of 2010, according to a new report from Forrester.

The report says the e-book market still has tremendous room to grow, as only 7% of online adults who read books read e-books. Forrester predicts that the e-book market will have risen to almost $3 billion by 2015, even if nothing else changes in the industry, which is unlikely given the rapid development of e-ink technology and the rise of e-book readers in the last couple of years.

The report also highlights a couple of interesting facts about the average e-book reader. She reads the most books, spends the most money on books, and consumes 41% of books in digital form — and that includes people who don’t have an e-reader yet.

A recent statement from Amazon, which claims that Kindle books are outselling hardcovers by a large margin, confirms the meteoric rise in e-book popularity. Things are looking equally rosy on the e-reader front, with Amazon claiming the Kindle 3 has been selling better than any previous version in its first four weeks on the market, while Apple said that it sold 4.19 million iPads in its last quarterly earnings report.

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