Mashable: Latest 10 News Updates - including “T-Mobile USA Is Not Getting the iPhone (Yet)” |
- T-Mobile USA Is Not Getting the iPhone (Yet)
- 16 Rad Retro Gaming Accessories for Your Home or Office [PICS]
- The Pros and Cons Of Tumblr For Small Business
- Wired Fashion: 10 Items of Connected Clothing for Gadget Lovers
- Why AT&T Bought T-Mobile
- Is the AT&T/T-Mobile Deal Good for Consumers? [POLL]
- AT&T Buys T-Mobile for $39 Billion
- New Website Crowdsources Japan Radiation Data
- World’s Cutest Baby Alternates Between Terror & Delight [VIRAL VIDEO]
- 4 Innovative Ways to Use Web Video for Small Business
- Facebook Acquires Snaptu to Bring Social Networking to Feature Phones
| T-Mobile USA Is Not Getting the iPhone (Yet) Posted: 21 Mar 2011 02:55 AM PDT      A burning question among users following AT&T’s $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA was: Will T-Mobile start offering the iPhone? The answer is no. In its Q&A on the AT&T acquisition, T-Mobile states this very clearly, but leaves the possibility that things might change in a year. “T-Mobile USA remains an independent company. The acquisition is expected to be completed in approximately 12 months. We do not offer the iPhone. We offer cutting edge devices like the Samsung Galaxy S 4G and coming soon our new Sidekick 4G,” states the Q&A document. Of course, it’s not just a matter of getting regulatory approval and completing the acquisition: AT&T and T-Mobile operate on different 3G bands, and AT&T must cut a new deal with Apple if it wants to transfer the rights to sell the iPhone to another company, even if it owns it. T-Mobile might eventually get the iPhone, but it will probably the iPhone 5 or (more likely) the model that comes after that one. T-Mobile also claims that billing and service won’t change, the quality of its network will not be reduced, and all rate plans “that are entered into before the change of ownership” will be honored. [via T-Mobile] More About: acquisition, apple, att, iphone, T-Mobile For more Mobile coverage:
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| 16 Rad Retro Gaming Accessories for Your Home or Office [PICS] Posted: 20 Mar 2011 04:52 PM PDT If you yearn for the good old days of pixelated gameplay, then you’re going to love the 16 excellent accessories we’ve found that celebrate all things vintage videogame. We’ve got 16 items that will bring a little retro gaming chic to your home or office, with familiar characters and shapes from arcade and console classics decorating all manner of items including doormats, lampshades and even an ice cube tray. Have a look through our hand-picked selection of retro-gaming goodies, and let us know which items get a high score with you in the comments box below. 1. Arcade Alarm Clock   This LCD alarm clock is a shrunk-down version of a retro arcade cabinet, complete with invaders-style artwork and arcade sound effects to wake you up. Cost: $21 2. Meninos Arcade Magnets These fun magnets will add some classic arcade-style gaming buttons to your fridge. Cost: $11 3. Brave Space - Tetrad Flat The Tetrad Flat is a "modular lightweight unit," or in common parlance, Tetris-shaped shelving and storage. The blocks can be attached to one another to make your very own design. Cost: From $1,315 4. Meninos Croc Doormat A doormat you'll likely have the urge to jump over will alert visitors to your geek tendencies right from the get-go. Cost: $49.99 5. Pac-Man HotHead Potholder Pac-Man boasts useful functionality here as a silicon oven mitt that can withstand up to 450-degrees Fahrenheit. We can't think of a more fun way to safely remove things from the oven. Cost: $14.99 6. Atari Pint Glasses This fab set of four pint glasses features designs from vintage Atari games. Asteroids, Centipede, Tempest and Missile Command are all immortalized for your sipping pleasure. Cost: $29.99 7. Meninos Ghost Lamps How would you like a glowing ghost to offer your office some eerie illumination? Cost: $69.99 8. Art Lebedev Tetrius The Tetrius magnet set includes seven Tetris-esque figures for you to arrange how you see fit. Cost: $12 9. Meninos Space Invaders Lampshade This wicked lampshade will keep the invading aliens safely above your head. Cost: $69 10. 8-Bit Hanger If life in 2011 just isn't jagged enough for you, try this pixelated hanger to add some edge. Cost: $19.99 11. Arcade Machine Money Box Who knew saving could be so much fun? Each coin inserted into this money box earns you two minutes of game play on arcade classic Earth Defenders. You'll have a nice little nest egg in no time. Cost: $19 12. Art Lebedev Icetris Available in blue, green and red, the Icetris tray makes ice cubes shaped like you-know-what. "Cool," huh? Cost: $12 13. Suck UK Pac-Man Cookie Cutters Mmmmm, Pac-Man. After watching Pac-Man stuff his face for years, now you can make an edible version of the rotund yellow character, with three ghosts thrown in for good measure. Cost: £12 (approx $20) 14. Blik Pong Blik's Pong-themed wall decals come in a 50-piece pack, so you can recreate the infamous game (complete with a score of your choosing) on your wall. Cost: $35 15. USB Mushroom Lamps These cute USB-powered mushroom lamps are the perfect, oh-so-geeky way to add some soft illumination to your desk. Cost: $13 16. Heat Changing Arcade Mug You can choose from, ahem, "Pac Boy" or "Space Intruders" designs with these fun mugs that come alive when you fill 'em withhot coffee. A little like us first thing in the morning. Cost: $7.99 each More Geekery from Mashable
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| The Pros and Cons Of Tumblr For Small Business Posted: 20 Mar 2011 03:41 PM PDT   This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. More and more businesses have been getting hip to social blogging platform Tumblr lately — specifically those involved in the fashion industry — which may have you wondering, “Should I be on Tumblr, too? Will the denizens of Hunting Knives R Us dig this blogging platform? Or should I just stick to ads in the local paper and — dare to dream — a Facebook Page?” Well, if you’re a small business owner with your finger currently hovering over the “Start posting!” button, there are a few questions to consider first. Is Simple Always Better? Compared to platforms like WordPress, Tumblr is dead simple. It’s easy to set up and customize, and you can start posting within minutes. “Tumblr is one of the most visually appealing and user-friendly platforms out there, so it was an effective way to build our community online,” says Lucy McIntyre, VP Communications at Andre Balazs Properties, of the Tumblr she helped set up for The Standard Hotel (which is packed with content from guest bloggers, downloadable music and product pictures). Still, by hosting your content on a Tumblr, you’re sacrificing some of the freedom other platforms afford. “Tumblr isn’t fully featured,” says David Spark, new media consultant and founder of Spark Media Solutions. “If you go with something like WordPress, you have more control over formatting.” Yes, with a little bit of HTML wizardry, you can alter Tumblr themes (by adding widgets and sidebars, etc), but you don’t have as much control over themes and other plugins that more advanced platforms offer. “Also, you can't self-host,” Spark adds, referring to how when you host your own site, you have much more control — i.e., when Tumblr goes down (which happens often), your site will go down with it. If you a self-hosting, however, your site won’t be subject to the whims of Tumblr’s scaling woes. Ultimately, you have to ask yourself how much time and resources you’re willing to invest in your blog. If you want a clean, simple, attractive product that you can get up and running during your lunch break, Tumblr is for you. If you want to trade some time for a little more flexibility, you might want to go with something a little more sophisticated. Are You Speaking to the Right Demographic? If you were running a vegan restaurant, would you advertise your joint in Meat & Poultry Magazine? Of course not — because you wouldn’t be speaking to the correct audience. Apply that mindset when you’re trying to decide which social tools to use. “Business owners need to conduct some research to identify how and where their target market is participating online,” says Shelly Nicholas, Adjunct Instructor of Marketing at LIM College. “Are they engaged in social networks? Do they read blogs?” Here’s the breakdown of who is using the blogging platform, according to Mark Coatney from Tumblr: In the U.S. the audience tends to be younger — 56% of the service’s 25.2 million monthly visitors are under 34, and users skew slightly more male (52%). If that sounds like your average customer, you may want to give it a go. Anthony Diaz, general manager of a C-Town supermarket in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, found a smart way to tap into the younger demographic present on Tumblr. “I noticed that a lot of our younger customers never picked up our flyers that list all the sales of that week,” he says. “They were missing opportunities to save a lot of money. So I wanted to find a way to communicate our sales with them. The limit on characters and lack of pictures ruled Twitter out for me. I ended up choosing Tumblr instead of a traditional blog because of the dashboard feature. With Dashboard, our sales, coupons, etc. are delivered to our customers in an easy and non-spamming way.” Tumblr users all have a Dashboard, which functions like the News Feed on Facebook, allowing people to see news from all the blogs they follow in an easy to scan list. In addition to focusing on his demographic and using Tumblr accordingly, Diaz also makes use of content that resonates with Tumblr audiences. According to Coatney, half of Tumblr’s 14 million daily posts are image-based. Diaz’s posts all feature photos of sale products, like coupons in a flyer. “In my experience, photo-based posts, whether it’s something Photoshopped, straight-up photography, an animated GIF, [an] infographic or something else, get the most reblogs/notes,” says Coatney. So if you’re a business that deals heavily in imagery — like Three Kings Tattoo, also located in Brooklyn — Tumblr is a great venue for sharing pictures of your wares/work and images related to that realm. Three Kings, for its part, posts photos of tattoos, which we can easily see getting passed around the Tumblr community as standalone posts, and consequently, acting as advertisements for the parlor. Even if your business is not exactly image-based, you can share content that relates to your product or service as well. Amanda Spurlock, who runs marketing for a restaurant chain called The Mermaid Inn, often shares photos of the mythical creature that shares its name with the eatery. “It helps that we are The Mermaid Inn, because mermaids are fun,” she says. “So we can reblog photos of mermaids. It's also more exposure for the brand.” You don’t always need to be shilling your wares on Tumblr — by sharing related content that others will enjoy, you’re indirectly informing potential customers of your existence. Tumblr — as well as being a platform — is also a community, allowing users to share content, interact with others and follow blogs that are relevant to their interests. If your product or service is applicable to Tumblr’s demographic, and you can create content that they will enjoy and share, it might be wise to sign up. Is The Time Spent Worth It? It’s time for everyone’s favorite initialism: ROI. It can be easy nowadays to feel pressured to join every social network on the block to get ahead, but sometimes that can be a waste of time. Nicholas recommends setting goals before launching into a service such as Tumblr. “Small businesses should clearly think through why they want to participate in social media, how they want to engage customers, and how they will measure results. Too many small businesses jump online without thinking through their goals,” she says. And those goals, according to, Mike Rynchek, president of Spyder Trap Online Marketing, should not be monetary, nor should you expect one service to pull your business up by its bootstraps. “I look at Tumblr as an ingredient in a bigger recipe,” he says. “Tumblr helps facilitate your search efforts, which in turn drives more traffic to your site. This helps give you an indirect return on investment. Tumblr can also help create another indirect return through engagement.” Many business owners see Tumblr as a kind of social hub, allowing them to facilitate and build upon social media efforts via other channels. “Tumblr enables us to expand on the content that we post on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare and drive further traffic to our sites,” says McIntyre of The Standard Hotel. Diaz, of C-Town, says Tumblr allows him to communicate with his customers and therefore make the shopping experience better. “Most of our younger customers spend little time in the store. They go in and out, [and] don’t ask for help or to speak with a manager,” he says. “Because of Tumblr, they have started to send me messages/e-mails/tweets. We have filled item requests, fixed stocking issues and increased customer support more so than without the Tumblr.” Many business users also report that Tumblr has helped them enhance their brand’s presence, drawing more customers into the fold. “It visually presents an image of what the company is and who’s behind it, as well as what products we have to offer,” says Audrey Marshall, VP of Online Marketing/PR for Somebody’s Mother Chocolate sauce. “A couple of our recipe photos, including one for our Chocolate and Raspberry Trifle, have been featured on some food and recipe Tumblrs. One post has generated over 200 notes, so in that sense, Tumblr has helped put the Somebody’s Mother’s name out into the community.” Yes, Tumblr can be a time suck if you don’t have clear objectives — but seeing as how the service is free, if you use it correctly and target your audience, you’re not going to be losing any money by joining. Granted, you probably won’t be pulling in the dollars directly via Tumblr, either, but you will be engaging with your customers, and perhaps building a stronger base for future business. Looking ForwardHaving just scored $30 million in funding, Tumblr is a young company that has a lot of opportunity for growth. Recently, the platform has been ramping up its content curation efforts, building out its fashion community and expressing plans to build out communities in other entertainment sectors as well. As Tumblr continues to facilitate content curation and help its users discover more of what it has to offer, we can see it becoming a ripe playing field for businesses of all stripes. So if you don’t see yourself fitting into the Tumblr ethos at this particular moment, we advise that you check back in a few months to see what’s happening. Perhaps that new “Hunting” channel you’ve been dreaming about will be live by then. Dare to dream. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, pryzmat, Akirastock, eurobanks, luminis More About: blogging, business, small business, tumblr For more Business & Marketing coverage:
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| Wired Fashion: 10 Items of Connected Clothing for Gadget Lovers Posted: 20 Mar 2011 02:23 PM PDT Do you love your gadgetry so much you wish you could wear it? Well actually, you can. There are some rad ranges of great garmentry out there designed especially for the connected consumer. Whether you want built-in headphones, pockets perfect for your iPod or even clothing capable of making calls, we’ve found fashionable options for you. Take a look through our gallery of 10 such items of connected clothing and let us know which ones you’d consider wearing in the comments below. 1. iTee   Said to be "perfect for men and women with a digital lifestyle," the "iTee" from Aussie co iClothing boasts a pouch for your 'Pad. Would you wear it? Cost: Approx $60 2. Rusty Wired Series Swept Away Rusty's "Wired Series" boasts built-in machine washable earphones. The "Swept Away" hoodie is pretty in pink. Cost: $56 3. SCOTTeVEST T-Shirt A classic tee with a high-tech twist, this boasts a zippered chest pocket for an iPod, iPhone, or similar portable gadget, a "Personal Area Network" for built-in wire management, and two further side seam pockets. Cost: $25 4. Rusty Wired Series Noise More from Rusty. This is a cross between a shirt and a hoodie, and includes those cool built-in earphones. Cost: $62 5. iDress Another iClothing offering, the iDress is a sateen LBD with a difference. That difference is, as you've likely guessed, a pouch for your iPad! iClothing claims it will take you "from the office to the cocktail lounge," but we're not sure you'd get that far if the Fashion Police are on patrol. Cost: Approx $90 6. Koyono Work Premier Made for iPod Coat Not only does Koyono's coat have "the perfect number of pockets to manage your gadgets," but thanks to its "Elektex" smart fabric interface, it boasts integrated five-button iPod controls. The future is now, man. Cost: $174.95 7. Rusty Wired Series High Voltage Dress Although in most parts of the world it might be a little chilly to sport this dress, come summer we think this garment, again with built-in, waterproof earphones, will fly off the shelves. Cost: $44 8. Mohan's Custom iPad Suit New York-based custom gentlemen's tailors Mohan's offer an iPad pocket option for a more satorial take on gadget-friendly clothing. Cost: Varies 9. SCOTTeVEST Travel Boxers 2.0 You need not be without your precious phone even when you're down to just your undies with SCOTTeVEST's high tech boxers. The front pocket is designed to fit a smartphone while the back pocket will conceal a passport, credit cards and the like. Cost: $20 10. Cute Circuit M-Dress The M-Dress is not just a garment, it's a "functional soft electronics mobile phone." It accepts a standard SIM card and can make and receive calls. To answer a call the wearer simply lifts a hand to the ear, and to end a call, puts that hand back down. It's due to be available this year, so it might not be long before you hear the once-unlikely line, "excuse me, my dress is ringing." Cost: TBC More Fashion Resources from Mashable
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| Posted: 20 Mar 2011 01:21 PM PDT   AT&T, criticized and even despised for its inability to keep up with growing mobile data usage, thinks it has found the solution to its network woes. And all it will cost the telecom giant is $39 billion and months (or even years) of regulatory hurdles. In a stunning move, AT&T has acquired T-Mobile USA for a whopping $39 billion from Deutsche Telekom. Along with acquiring approximately 8% of AT&T, Deutsche Telekom will also be gaining a seat on AT&T’s board of directors. The new combined entity, if it can garner regulatory approval, will be largest carrier in the U.S. by leaps and bounds. AT&T and T-Mobile USA combined have over 25% more subscribers now than Verizon (125+ million vs. 93+ million). This acquisition isn’t about subscriber bases, though; it’s about improving AT&T’s reliability and preparing it for the 4G era of wireless communication. The Spectrum Problem AT&T’s press release tells a very clear story of why AT&T bought T-Mobile and why T-Mobile bought AT&T. It’s no secret that AT&T has a tattered reputation. The iPhone may have brought it millions of new customers and billions in revenue, but the vast increase in data usage has also strained the network to unacceptable levels. There wouldn’t have been so much hype surrounding the Verizon iPhone if AT&T’s network didn’t drop so many calls and upset so many customers. And while AT&T is investing billions to upgrade its network, it takes years to get the approval to build new towers, especially in metropolitan areas such as San Francisco. Without a dramatic move, AT&T’s network wasn’t going to get better anytime soon. Two sections of AT&T’s press release are devoted specifically to this problem. It’s a testament to just how crucial this problem is to AT&T’s future. The first problem it addresses is spectrum: The wireless carrier simply doesn’t have enough wireless spectrum to fuel the accelerating growth it has experienced over the last few years. “AT&T's mobile data traffic grew 8,000 percent over the past four years and by 2015 it is expected to be eight to 10 times what it was in 2010,” AT&T explained in its announcement. “Put another way, all of the mobile traffic volume AT&T carried during 2010 is estimated to be carried in just the first six to seven weeks of 2015.” AT&T believes it will take years until more spectrum is opened up by the U.S. government for mobile broadband use. The simplest way to get its hands on precious broadband is through acquisition, and T-Mobile USA has the most GSM broadband spectrum after AT&T. The Infrastructure ProblemThe second problem is infrastructure. AT&T simply can’t build towers fast enough, and the approval process to build the unsightly things acts as a major roadblock to the company’s efforts to boost its network reliability. So if you can’t build towers fast enough, what’s the next best way to get them? That’s right: You acquire them. “At closing, AT&T will immediately gain cell sites equivalent to what would have taken on average five years to build without the transaction, and double that in some markets,” AT&T notes in its press release. “The combination will increase AT&T's network density by approximately 30 percent in some of its most populated areas, while avoiding the need to construct additional cell towers.” $39 billion is a lot of money to buy some towers, but because T-Mobile USA utilizes GSM technology (rather than the CDMA technology employed by Verizon), it can immediately use them to boost its network. If the deal is approved, expect AT&T to quickly offload some of its mobile data traffic on T-Mobile’s infrastructure. AT&T may be talking a lot about 4G in its press release, but T-Mobile has no LTE technology or infrastructure to offer. No, today’s acquisition is all about bolstering AT&T’s network and beginning the process of repairing its reputation. More About: 4G, acquisition, att, Deutsche Telekom, GSM, T-Mobile, t-mobile usa, verizon For more Business & Marketing coverage:
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| Is the AT&T/T-Mobile Deal Good for Consumers? [POLL] Posted: 20 Mar 2011 12:43 PM PDT   AT&T just made an agreement with Deutsche Telekom‘s T-Mobile USA, buying the company for $39 billion in cash and stock. AT&T insists that the U.S. wireless industry is “one of the most fiercely competitive in the world, and will remain so after this deal.” Maybe you think otherwise. Let’s take a poll and see how Mashable readers feel about this enormous and shocking new deal:
More About: acquisitions, att, deals, poll, T-Mobile For more Business & Marketing coverage:
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| AT&T Buys T-Mobile for $39 Billion Posted: 20 Mar 2011 11:59 AM PDT   AT&T just announced a definitive agreement with Deutsche Telekom to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion in cash and stock. In a press release, AT&T said the agreement has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors. If the deal meets regulatory approval, AT&T will be the largest wireless provider in the United States. The company says the transaction will allow it to expand its 4G LTE network to 95% of the population of the United States, and touts enhanced “quality in the near term” for AT&T and T-Mobile customers. Those of a patriotic bent will be glad to know that the transaction will make T-Mobile USA a U.S.-based company instead of a German telecom company that ironically calls itself T-Mobile USA. However, if you want to use a GSM phone, you won’t be left with many choices if this deal does go through. But in AT&T’s press release, the company emphasized how the U.S. market will continue to be competitive even after this deal:
Is this good news or bad? Both, according to Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin, who told Mashable minutes ago:
Let us know in the comments what you think of this deal. More About: att, business, T-Mobile, Wireless For more Business & Marketing coverage:
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| New Website Crowdsources Japan Radiation Data Posted: 20 Mar 2011 11:33 AM PDT   Still in the throes of a nuclear disaster, Japanese residents need reliable information about radiation levels throughout the country. Now a website was just started to crowdsource radiation data collected by private citizens. The site, RDTN.org, urges its visitors to purchase a radiation detection device, take readings in their area, and then post those readings to the site for all to see. To submit those readings, the site offers a form to enter which equipment was used, when the reading was taken, and the longitude and latitude of the location. Then, the purveyors of the site plan to add that data to places on its map, coordinating it with readings from the government. They hope the result will be a more detailed and timely look at radiation levels throughout the country. Says the site, “With conflicting reports of radiation levels in affected areas, we wanted to build a way to report and see data in an unbiased format.” Those at RDTN.org emphasized that their crowdsourced information is not intended to replace government data, but hope that “data sets from various sources can provide additional context to the official word in these rapidly changing events.” Great idea. However, these radiation detection devices aren’t cheap — from the links provided on the site, you’d have to spend hundreds of dollars for a good one, if you can find one that’s not backordered. At the same time, people living in the most afflicted areas probably have basic survival issues to deal with, taking priority over purchasing some pricey gadget to measure radiation. That said, even if only a dozen additional readings are submitted to the site, that’s important information that could serve to verify government data. [via Boing Boing] More About: crowdsourced, japan, Nuclear, Radiation, RDTN.org, websites For more Social Media coverage:
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| World’s Cutest Baby Alternates Between Terror & Delight [VIRAL VIDEO] Posted: 20 Mar 2011 10:02 AM PDT Watch along with us as baby Emerson shows us his huge range of emotions, going from horrified to elated in a split second. Says Emerson’s mom: “My five-and-a-half-month old son Emerson isn’t sure what to think when I blow my nose. Sometimes he’s terrified, then he can’t stop laughing.” Imagine the world from Emerson’s point of view, where people are engaging in seemingly illogical and possibly dangerous things every other minute. If you’ve only been around for less than half a year, some human actions must be horrifying, making you feel relieved when such mysteries don’t result in your own physical harm. The delight of babies is contagious, no doubt boosting this video on YouTube to its current explosively viral status. Already at nearly 7 million views, it’s still trending upward:   Want to find graphs and statistics like this on YouTube? Click the little “show video statistics” icon next to the number of views: More About: baby, Emerson, viral video, youtube For more Video coverage:
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| 4 Innovative Ways to Use Web Video for Small Business Posted: 20 Mar 2011 08:33 AM PDT   This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. You’ve seen videos of people doing ridiculous things on the Internet. But you probably haven’t seen too many videos of small businesses sharing their good work. Web video is more or less the domain of the ridiculous — whether that means something cute or something painful. Even top ads and commercials have a touch of the absurd (Old Spice, Dos Equis, I’m looking at you). So how does a small business compete with disturbingly low attention spans and a whole Internet of viral videos? Read on for five ways that small businesses can take advantage of web video without blowing their budgets and let us know your own success stories in the comments below. 1. Request User Submissions“Going viral” is a frustrating term both for its elusiveness and effectiveness. Viral videos can quickly get your product and brand out to a wide audience, but there is also practically no guaranteed way to “make” a video viral. Save yourself the trouble and get your audience to do the work for you. Ask your fans or customers to send in videos of themselves using your product. For some, this can be a guaranteed hit. Such is the case with Michael Di Pippo, inventor of Pen Fishing Rods, a telescoping fishing rod that collapses to the size of a large pen. If that didn’t spark your interest, check the above video of someone actually catching a fish with it. Di Pippo bet that the shock value of it actually working would inspire customers to take videos using his product. The result was a motivated user-base and free publicity. You might not be selling something as unique, but you can still encourage your clients to send in videos of them using whatever you’re selling. It’s a good way of extending the relationship past the point of sale and building a community. Alternatively you can try to create a viral sensation like Blendtec’s Will It Blend? series. Rather than testing their blenders on tomatoes and walnuts, they started blending strange products like glowsticks, an iPad, and a crowbar. As a result, the videos (and Blendtec’s product) received millions of views and all it took was a little creativity. And a crowbar. 2. Replace ContentTry making a video instead of writing out your business updates. It’s easier for people to click play on a ~5 minute video than read a 500-word news brief. It helps to have some experience with basic editing and a decent camera, but people will ultimately tune in because your content is interesting or useful. Try offering deals or discount codes through your videos, while also talking about your product or service. Using video to share business news or deals will help your business feel more personable as customers get accustomed to seeing you speak. This choice isn’t for everyone and every business, but it can help make your updates easier to digest and give your homepage a boost of personality. 3. Teach Them and They Will Come Product demos are fun, but may not work for every type of business. For example, it could be tough to do a “demo” if you sell quilts or home garden supplies. Instead think of ways to teach and give back to your customers while also using your product. Selling quilts? Try a “How To” video on how you sew your quilts. Garden supplies? Make a video on how to plant a variety of bulbs and seeds using the products you sell. If you’re business isn’t based around a physical product, think about doing a webcast or video on how to use your advanced features or set up the service. 4. Make Some Face Time If you’re a small business, you can make your size work for you with video services, like Skype or even video calling on Gmail. Huge corporations like PepsiCo and Virgin are constantly trying to make their outreach more personal by attaching real people and real names to their customer service and social sites. To get even more personal, create a business Skype or Gmail address (or any other service that allows you to video chat). Let customers know they can call you for some digital face time if they have any questions about your product or need help troubleshooting it. Doing so will help you build a stronger relationship with your customers and make your business feel more approachable at the same time. More Business Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of Flickr, svennnn, tim ellis* More About: business, small business, video, web video, youtube For more Business & Marketing coverage:
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| Facebook Acquires Snaptu to Bring Social Networking to Feature Phones Posted: 20 Mar 2011 08:14 AM PDT   Facebook has acquired Israeli startup Snaptu, a creator of simple mobile applications for feature phones, for an estimated $70 million. Snaptu’s technology is designed to bring web service such as Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn to almost any phone through a series of applications it has designed. The company’s Java-based apps replicate many of the features of smartphone apps, but make them accessible to the millions of people that don’t own a smartphone. In fact, Facebook tapped Snaptu earlier this year to create its feature phone app, which provides an almost smartphone-like experience that includes contact syncing and a homescreen that will be familiar to users of the social network’s iPhone and Android applications. One of the reasons Facebook chose Snaptu is because its technology works on more than 2,500 different mobile devices. “We soon decided that working as part of the Facebook team offered the best opportunity to keep accelerating the pace of our product development,” Snaptu said in blog post. “And joining Facebook means we can make an even bigger impact on the world.” The deal, which will close in the next few weeks, was first reported in several Israeli publications. Snaptu was founded in 2007 as Mobilca and has raised funding from Sequioa Capital and Carmel Ventures. More About: acquisition, facebook, Snaptu, trending For more Business & Marketing coverage:
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