Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including ““Pocket God” Is Coming to Facebook”

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• “Pocket God” Is Coming to Facebook
• Apple Announces Black Friday Sale
• FarmVille Loses Number One Facebook App Slot to Phrases, But For How Long?
• Yelp Introduces Check-In Offers
• FCC May Allow You to Send Text Messages to 911
• Startup Puts a Twitter Twist on Real-World Networking [INVITES]
• Does WiFi Kill Trees? Dutch Report Causes Doubt
• Spying from Space: U.S. Launches World’s Largest Satellite
• Viacom Joins the Anti-Google TV Brigade
• 100+ Upcoming Social Media & Tech Events
• Tim Burton Telling Crowd-Sourced Tale via Twitter
• Copia Debuts Social Reading Platform, Kills $99 E-Reader
• Twitter’s Creative Director Talks Design, UX and Inspiration
• Hands-on With iOS 4.2 for iPad and iPhone
• Twitter Plans on European Hires in 2011
• Mobile Apps Track Your Weight, Body Fat and Sleep Patterns
• New Marketplace Helps Musicians Find Opportunities
• 8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education
• Foursquare Boasts 4.5 Million Users, Opens West Coast Office
• Why You Need an iPod Touch This Holiday Season
• Social Good Gets the “American Idol” Treatment Online
• Why SMS Marketing Still Makes Sense for Small Business
• iPhone App Uses Barcode Scans for Product Recommendations
• Google Docs Now Syncs With Microsoft Office
• Netflix Finally Brings Streaming-Only Plan to U.S.
• Amazon’s Price Comparison App for iPhone Falls Just Short of Great
• Interactive Music Video Turns Song Into Coloring Book
• 5 Design Trends That Small Businesses Can Use in 2011
• Spotify Lost $26.7 Million in 2009 [REPORT]
• Find My iPhone Now Free With iOS 4.2

“Pocket God” Is Coming to Facebook Posted: 23 Nov 2010 04:36 AM PST Pocket God, one of the iPhone’s best-selling game franchises, is making the leap into social gaming with its debut on Facebook. The game, originally created by Bolt Creative earlier this year, focuses on giving the user god-like powers over islanders known as Pygmies. Since they obey the user’s every whim, players can be benevolent and give the Pygmies food and fire or be vengeful and summon thunderstorms, hurricanes and T-Rexes. Because of its addicting open-ended game mechanics, Pocket God was the first iOS app to reach 2 million sales. Now Bolt Creative is looking to replicate its success on iOS on the much larger Facebook platform. Pocket God for Facebook brings the same omnipotent gameplay to the world’s largest social network, but adds a social twist or two. Expect to be able to torment Pygmies with your friends, along with gaining the ability to share your progress and your in-game triumphs via Facebook. Bolt Creative has turned to Canadian game development firm Frima Studio to help bring the popular mobile game to the Facebook platform. Frima Studios has built everything from Zombie Tycoon to Build-a-Bearville. It’s a smart move, considering that social gaming isn’t Bolt Creative’s core competency. Part of the fun of Pocket God is being able to manipulate your Pygmies with iOS gestures and accelerometer movements. Without that same functionality in Facebook, the game’s creators will have to rely on social features and new game mechanics to make it stick. Still, given its loyal fanbase, we don’t think Pocket God will have a problem making waves in the social gaming space. The game opens up for closed beta testing on November 30. More About: facebook, iphone, Pocket God, Pocket GodF For more Entertainment coverage: Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Apple Announces Black Friday Sale Posted: 23 Nov 2010 04:12 AM PST Apple has announced a special one-day shopping event on the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, which falls on November 26 this year. No deals have been revealed at this point, but Apple promises “dozens of great iPad, iPod, and Mac gifts” for everyone. Last year, Apple had a similar event on Black Friday. The deals were decent, but not spectacular; at best you could save a hundred dollars on more expensive items such as the iMac or the MacBook Pro. This year will probably be all about the iPad; if you’ve been saving for one, this might be your best chance to keep some of those hard-earned dollars in your pocket. [Apple] More About: apple, black friday, sale For more Apple coverage: Follow Mashable Apple on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Apple channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

FarmVille Loses Number One Facebook App Slot to Phrases, But For How Long? Posted: 23 Nov 2010 01:30 AM PST FarmVille has been unseated as the most popular application on Facebook by an application called Phrases, ending FarmVille’s long domination of Facebook’s top application charts – at least if you look at monthly active users. In February 2010, the massively popular FarmVille game had over 80 million monthly active users, towering not only over all other games on Facebook, but also over all other applications of any kind. Currently, Phrases is on top with 54.4 million monthly active users, followed by FarmVille which has 53.9 million monthly active users. However, since Phrases – a do-it-yourself quiz and trivia application – is not technically a game, FarmVille is still the most popular Facebook game. Digging deeper into the numbers from AppData, which tracks applications on the Facebook platform, reveals that Phrases probably won’t stay on top of the monthly active user charts for long. Looking at daily active users, FarmVille is still well ahead, and Phrases has in fact been losing ground as it recently stopped serving U.S. users. With a sharp drop in daily active users in the middle of November, Phrases is likely to lose the number one spot when the monthly user data gets updated. It’s also important to note that Farmville is a huge time investment, while Phrases is an entirely different type of application, which doesn’t require nearly as much activity from users. As for the rest of the list, Texas HoldEm Poker, FrontierVille and Mafia Wars – the third, fourth, and fifth app according to AppData – are also created by Zynga, which is the company behind FarmVille. Add to that Zynga’s plans to release another FarmVille-style game soon, CityVille, and we can safely say that Zynga is still the absolute king of the Facebook app platform. FarmVille’s temporary slip from the top app position won’t hurt it much, if at all. More About: App, facebook, farmville, game, social network, Zynga For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Yelp Introduces Check-In Offers Posted: 23 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST Foursquare may have pioneered the idea of rewards and specials associated with checkins, but everyone from Facebook to SCVNGR has followed suit. Today, Yelp joins the fray, giving business owners the ability to add “Check-in Offers” to their venues. With Yelp Check-in Offers, business owners can incentivize repeat checkins and reward patrons with three different offer types: percent off, free or fixed price offers. Businesses are able to offer one check-in special at a time, and patrons can redeem earned rewards by presenting a special mobile certificate showing they’ve unlocked a particular offer (as seen below). Yelp business owners can navigate to the “Offers” portion of their business dashboard to specify offer type and check-in terms — a 25% off discount for three checkins, for instance. Patrons can work to achieve an offer with each venue checkin via the just updated Yelp iPhone (awaiting approval) and Android apps. After redemption, users can start earning the offer again. The approach is not dissimilar to SCVNGR’s system for unlocking rewards. Offers are certainly nothing new in today’s location-based mobile app landscape, but Eric Singley, Yelp’s Director of Mobile and Consumer Products, believes the company has a unique opportunity to marry the venue search intentions of application users with offers that influence behavior. “Thirty percent of all Yelp search traffic is happening on our mobile apps, which means people are using the Yelp apps to search for businesses around them … [the apps] are an opportunity for businesses to get in front of users, and checkin offers can help influence their decisions,” he says. Check-in Offers were introduced, for business users, in last week’s revamped Yelp for Business Owners release. The update brings with it new navigation, the ability to manage multiple business listings and additional mobile tracking and analytics, including stats around redeemed offers. It should be interesting to track how both business owners and application users respond to the addition of offers. Currently, Yelp reports that — on average — checkins have grown 50% month over month. While the metric doesn’t tell us much about the overall adoption of checkin features — and Yelp won’t share specifics — it does indicate that interest is growing amongst Yelp’s mobile user base. More About: checkin offers, checkins, location-based service, yelp For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

FCC May Allow You to Send Text Messages to 911 Posted: 22 Nov 2010 11:11 PM PST For many young people, texting might seem like a more quick and intuitive way to communicate thank picking up the phone to make a voice call. And for some people in some circumstances, this relatively new technology may be the only way to communicate. Several U.S. government agencies have for some time been considering how to plan and implement the next generation of 911; the plan has been to incorporate SMS text messaging, images and even video into emergency requests to get “the right information to the right people at the right time.” Now, several outlets are reporting that the FCC is pushing for more technology for 911 — technology that would lead to better, faster responses from emergency workers. In fact, the FCC even says 911 could be automatically notified of possible or likely emergencies by sensors, from OnStar to home alarms and many more. The “Next Gen 911” project, which, according to 911.gov, is actually under the auspices of the Department of Transportation, “draws on the expertise of public safety experts to identify and prioritize digital data, potentially available to first responders… which could best improve their safety and performance,” according to the Transportation Safety Advancement Group, the organization that is tasked with carrying out these changes. While texting 911 when an emergency arises seems like a grand idea (and the next logical step for 911), we have a way to go before this marriage between emergency response and technology is a reality. Look for a white paper from the TSAG in February 2011; this paper will present the recommendations of first responders regarding the kind of information they would want and need from a more digitally oriented 911 service. Image courtesy of Flickr, kenjonbro. More About: 911, emergency, SMS, texting For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Startup Puts a Twitter Twist on Real-World Networking [INVITES] Posted: 22 Nov 2010 08:00 PM PST The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: Hashable Quick Pitch: Track and share all your social and professional interactions and discover who else is out there to connect with. Genius Idea: Networking is an important activity for most of us. In the age of social media, tools like Twitter and LinkedIn help us extend offline networking online, but private beta startup Hashable seeks to both simplify and better track our personal and professional interactions. Hashable helps you document real-world connections with friends and professional contacts by using hashtags to describe interactions. Hashable tracks actions, connections, salutations, props and any other type of hashtag you can dream up. With introductions, for instance, a Hashable user can introduce any two Twitter users or e-mail contacts using the “Make an #intro” feature. Hashable publicly (or privately) notifies both parties via Twitter or e-mail and follows up to verify a connection was made. The “Post a connection” feature lets you specify a hashtag and the e-mail addresses or Twitter names of the people you have connected with offline. With this feature, you can use the system to quickly document all types of exchanges with hashtags such as #justmet, #meeting, #breakfast, #lunch, #dinner, #drinks, #coffee, #golf, #tennis, #brunch and #thanks. Hashable supports Twitter and e-mail and will soon support iPhone-app connections. The service employs game mechanics to inspire user engagement, rewarding users with points in the form of “Hashcred” for making introductions and receiving connections; super users are highlighted on the “top connectors” leader boards. The ultimate aim is to create a new data set around person-to-person interactions. The premise is that people already share their breakfast meetings and coffee get-togethers on Twitter, so Hashable wants to capture that information and structure the data for individual user and global insight. It’s the social graph concept that Facebook is working to build around friends, but with relationships and specific interactions in focus. The startup just closed a $4 million round of funding led by Union Square Ventures, giving the company a rumored $30 million valuation, according to All Things D. That’s not too shabby considering the startup pivoted from a financial data site to focus on this idea not too long ago. Hashable is currently in private beta, but the first 1,000 Mashable readers to follow the Hashable Twitter account will receive invites to the site. Image courtesy of Flickr, Tedx SF Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, 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: bizspark, hashable, networking, startup For more Startups coverage: Follow Mashable Startups on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Startups channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Does WiFi Kill Trees? Dutch Report Causes Doubt Posted: 22 Nov 2010 06:17 PM PST Recently, we’ve read a few articles stating that, according to research from Dutch scientists, WiFi is bad for deciduous trees — so bad, in fact, that it’s killing them in urban areas where WiFi networks abound. However, the situation isn’t really so dire — not yet, at least. The question is more complicated than a simple blog headline could convey. The research in question was commissioned by the city of Alphen aan den Rijn, a town in the western Netherlands. To learn more, you can read the abstract (Google Translate will come in handy if your Dutch is rusty) or contact the Plant Cell Biology department at Wageningen University, where the research was conducted. The study determined that radiation from WiFi networks might (might) negatively affect the health of nearby plants. Ash trees near WiFi access points showed “an increasing number of damage such as cracks, bumps, discoloration and various forms of tissue necrosis” over recent years. In seeking to determine whether this damage was due to WiFi networks, the researchers examined trees near known WiFi access points during a three-month period. During this period, leaves within 50 to 300 centimeters of a 100 milliwatt, 2412-2472 megahertz radiation source showed “a metallic luster appearance, a discoloration of the leaves that appeared to result in the disappearance of the outer cell layer of the leaves. The metallic luster was followed by desiccation and death of a portion of the leaf.” The study also found slower growth and delayed flowering in corn plants near WiFi access points. The researchers involved in this study would like to do another study to see if their results can be observed over a longer period of time and at a larger scale, presumably one that would include other locales and proximities to WiFi access points. Their full findings are not yet published and will be discussed in detail at a February 2011 conference. However, some are saying this report — or at least media coverage of the findings — might be a bit too alarmist. Even the scientists involved in the study noted that their initial findings, while enough to warrant curiosity and more research on the subject, weren’t enough to proclaim that WiFi networks are universally bad for trees. The Dutch Antenna Agency says these abnormalities in the trees at Alphen aan den Rijn might simply be due to disease. It also notes that similar studies conducted on other species of trees have not reported the same negative effects. So, does WiFi kill trees? The short answer is that we don’t know yet. More research needs to (and likely will) be done before anyone can make such a sweeping statement. Image courtesy of Flickr, autanex. More About: environment, green, report, Science, study, trees, wifi For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Spying from Space: U.S. Launches World’s Largest Satellite Posted: 22 Nov 2010 04:27 PM PST The United States has just launched the largest satellite ever to orbit earth; while its exact purpose is secret, we know it’s not going to be monitoring the weather. Its mission will be to gather intelligence for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. The satellite, dubbed NROL-32, was sent into orbit yesterday by a Delta 4 Heavy rocket — the largest unmanned rocket with the most powerful liquid-fueled booster. U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Director Bruce Carlson said the NROL-32 would be “the largest satellite in the world.” All this superlative hugeness isn’t likely just a result of Americans’ obsession with size; in fact, the NRO launches almost as many small vehicles into space as it does large ones. More to the point, however, NROL-32 has a very important job: replacing a slew of Cold War-era satellites currently in orbit past their expiration dates. Carlson gave an address (links to a PDF that’s a good read on the bureaucracy of space) last month in which he stated that the agency had adopted a new charter and “a remarkably aggressive launch campaign” to go along with it. Referencing the then-upcoming NROL-32 launch and related launches, Carlson said, “This is the most aggressive launch campaign that the National Reconnaissance Office has had in 20 years… These [satellites] are very important, because they all go to update a constellation which is aging rapidly. We bought most of our satellites for three, five, or eight years, and we're keeping them on orbit for ten, twelve, and up to twenty years.” Carlson also said then that those aging satellites “designed to essentially operate during the era of the Soviet Union… are today doing tactical intelligence collection that leads us to actionable intelligence on bad guys every day. Every day.” We hope the new, huge satellites being sent into orbit will continue to do exactly that, as well as accomplish the NRO’s science and technology goals. What do you think of this satellite launch? Image courtesy of United Launch Alliance, Pat Corkery. Souce: Space.com More About: espionage, reconnaissance, satellite, Science, space, trending For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Viacom Joins the Anti-Google TV Brigade Posted: 22 Nov 2010 03:34 PM PST Add Viacom properties to the ever-growing list of television websites blocked on Google TV. Google’s set-top box product has already received blowback from the major broadcast networks — NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox — not to mention Hulu — but now it looks like cable is joining the party too. GTVHub discovered that Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, and Nickelodeon have all blocked Google TV from accessing full episode streams from their websites. Frankly, we agree with the GTVHub assessment that the only real shocker in this scenario is that it didn’t happen sooner. YouTube and Viacom have a notoriously rocky past. In addition, Vevo, which syndicates content from several major music labels to YouTube, has pulled its music content from MTV properties on the web. Plus, Viacom’s corporate sister CBS already banned Google TV from accessing its web content. At this point, the list of networks that do support Google TV is getting smaller and smaller. It seems that now only TNT, TBS, USA Network, Bravo, and PBS are still supporting Google TV. At the Web 2.0 Summit last week, Google CEO Eric Schmidt discussed the network backlash against Google TV, seemingly shocked by this development. Schmidt said the networks were afraid to embrace the future, rather than being miffed at someone selling advertising on their content without giving them a cut. But that doesn’t change the fact that for IPTV solutions to really work, they need to support content users actually want to watch. The reason that Hulu has been such a success with consumers is that it offers users the ability to get the content they want on their computer, without fuss. That’s also why the barrage of Hulu Plus-enabled devices are already driving adoption. Google TV is about more than just online video — it’s really about cable and satellite content too. Still, if you have to have another set-top box, like the Boxee Box or a Roku, we can’t imagine users flocking to plunk down $300 on a Google TV. Reviews: Google, Hulu, YouTube More About: boxee, Google, google tv, hulu, iptv, mtv, roku, viacom For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

100+ Upcoming Social Media & Tech Events Posted: 22 Nov 2010 03:00 PM PST 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: The Future of Event Planning and Social Media HOW TO: Plan and Promote Events with Social Media 35+ Ways to Find and Plan Events Online 8 Ways to Create Paperless Business Cards 5 Useful iPhone Apps for Business Networking 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 sponsorships@mashable.com for information. 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 2, 2010, New York, NY: @BrandsConf is a new event taking place at the 92Y that will explore the "Humanization of Brands" and the underlying effects this is having on business. For brands, agencies, and their clients, you will hear from creative, out-of-the-box thinkers in the tradition of Jeff Pulver's #140Conf events. The conference will explore a range of topics from best practices to the legal issues to the natural conflict of personal and corporate branding. View the current schedule here. Register with the promo code Mashable to receive a 30% discount. 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 9-10, 2010, Chicago, IL: Rocked the Recession: Startup the Nation is coming to Chicago to bring together entrepreneurs, professionals, and organizations that are not only thriving; they're Rocking! Join us in a two-day conference with some of Chicago's best entrepreneurs and thought leaders. Panels and workshops include: Fighting Recession with Social Media, Video & Your Business: Going Viral, Always Be Social, etc. We have planned two days of discussions to explore innovative companies that balk at the idea of bailouts. We are ready to Rock 2011! Register with the promo code MASHABLE for a $10 discount off your ticket price. 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! December 15, 2010, New York, NY: Vator is bringing its popular Splash event to New York City. The Splash event, hosted by Vator, is a celebration of entrepreneurship. The evening gathering brings together high-profile, successful tech entrepreneurs sharing their lessons and advice alongside promising startups showcasing their innovative ideas. Register and use the promo code Mashable for a 20% discount off both ticket and table packages. 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 17-18 and 20-21, 2011, Singapore & Hong Kong: Join us at this interactive conference on Social Media Marketing to acquire effective techniques for boosting your brand performance and ROI. Find out how Intel, Nokia, Watsons, McDonald's, Volkswagen, HP, Canon, Johnson & Johnson, Wall Street Journal, SMRT and more incorporated social media activities to get ahead of conversations. Through in-depth case studies and workable solutions, learn how to develop coherent platform integration strategies, handle a social media backlash and identify KPIs for the effectiveness of social media campaigns. Register today and save 10% when you enter Mashable under Additional Info. 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%. January 24-26, 2011, London, UK: The Digital Content Monetisation (DCM) Europe 2011 is a forum for media and entertainment specialists to find out how to deliver sustainable strategies to monetise their digital content. You will meet over 200 of your peers across TV, Film, gaming, music, publishing and sports. Mashable readers receive a 10% discount when they register and use the promo code MASH. January 25, 2011, London, UK: If you don't have a plan to offer your mobile services, you could be left behind as consumers increasingly consume entertainment, social media, games and gambling via mobile access devices. Mobile Gaming will present a detailed and exciting roadmap for how gaming companies can take advantage of this new channel that has finally ‘come of age’ and multiply their revenues in the near future. Register and use the promo code MASHMOBILE. January 26, 2011, London, UK: Monetising Social Games will show you how to integrate the phenomenal success of monetised social games into your product mix so you can catch the next wave of explosive customer acquisition and revenue growth via a channel that is legal in the USA, China and other markets inaccessible to traditional online gambling companies. Register and use the promo code MASHMSG. 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 23, 2011, Portland, OR: Join hundreds of your online marketing peers for the Fifth Annual SearchFest Internet Marketing Conference in Portland on February 23, 2011. Thought leaders and industry experts from around the country–including major brands like Intel, REI, and the New York Times–will deliver in-depth presentations on topics including Advanced Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Universal Search, Analytics, Paid Search Marketing and many more. Register with the promo code MASHABLEPDX to save 10% on your General Admission ticket! 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 2, 2011, Berlin, Germany: FEI is Europe's first and only event to solve your industry challenge in real-time. Explore best in class presentations by top multi-nationals, collaborate with world renowned experts, Listen to real-world visionaries choreographing "next" best practices, and participate in a real-time case study where you will tackle industry challenges and work to propel the industry forward. FEI is no ordinary conference — this is truly a catalyst for change. Register and use the promo code FEI2011MASH to save 20% off the standard rate. 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%! April 28, 2011, London, UK: The Augmented Reality Summit is designed to explore this new dynamic reality and provide delegates with the perfect opportunity to uncover Augmented Reality in full and explore the opportunity's AR brings any brand or company. The AR Summit is positioned at the forefront of this exciting continually developing new industry. Whether you are a Brand, Advertiser or Agency, Technology provider or Developer looking to meet key industry figures, keep up with the latest developments, technology's & tools or simply to network with other from the world of AR – Register and use the promo code ARMASH to save 25%! 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. May 17-19, 2011, London, UK: The World E-Reading Congress brings together digital and print publishers with e-reading platforms and device manufacturers to discuss the business models and opportunities provided by the growth of the e-reading industry. Publishers must be prepared for this dramatic industry upheaval. They must learn how to embrace this disruptive technology and the World E-Reading Congress will enable them to discover how they can profit from the E-Reading revolution. Visit our website for more information and register before January to save 10%! 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%. The Mashable Weekly Social Media and Marketing Event Guide is proudly supported by Eventbrite, the Web’s Event Marketplace. Eventbrite is an online events marketplace where tens of thousands of individuals, businesses and organizations of all sizes manage, promote and sell tickets to their events. Make your event a success on Eventbrite. Reviews: Australia, Drupal, Facebook, Google, Gowalla, Linux, Mashable, Path, YouTube, social media, video More About: Social Media Event Guide, Social Media Events Guide For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Tim Burton Telling Crowd-Sourced Tale via Twitter Posted: 22 Nov 2010 02:47 PM PST Ever had the burning desire to collaborate with Tim Burton? Well, now you can, as the director/producer/artist/writer has taken to Twitter to create a crowd-sourced tale to promote an upcoming museum showing of his work. The Twitter project is titled “Tim Burton’s Cadavre Exquis,” which translates to “exquisite corpse.” An exquisite corpse is a game adored by the Surrealists in which a group of people add phrases to a slip of paper in turn to create story. Images can also be used to create eclectic beasts. That’s pretty much how Burton’s Twitter experiment functions. Burton has started off the game with a sentence detailing the adventures of “Stainboy,” and is asking people contribute a line to the story with the hashtag “#BurtonStory.” The best tweets of the day are chosen to continue the story, which will run from today until December 6. This experiment is meant to coincide with an exhibit of Burton’s work that will be opening in Toronto on November 26 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. The exhibit previously opened in New York City at MoMA, where it drew the third-highest attendance of any exhibition in the museum's history. Reviews: Twitter More About: art, Film, social media, tim burton, twitter For more Entertainment coverage: Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Copia Debuts Social Reading Platform, Kills $99 E-Reader Posted: 22 Nov 2010 02:33 PM PST Copia, the subsidiary of DMC Worldwide that caused a stir this summer when it announced its plans to bring a $99 color e-reader to market, has now made its social reading and book shopping platform available to the public. The company has also shelved plans to develop its own line of color e-readers. The platform (also called Copia) is an e-bookstore and social media network rolled into one, combining the full reading, annotating and e-book purchasing functionality of Amazon’s Kindle app (although with significantly less titles) with many of same features offered by shopping sites with Facebook integration and social reading platforms like Goodreads. Users can access Copia by downloading its apps for the desktop and iPad [iTunes link] (apps for Android, Windows 7 and other mobile platforms are coming soon) at thecopia.com. After creating an account, users can immediately begin following and inviting people from their existing social networks, including Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads, and connecting with users with similar tastes as they tag books they like. Users can also join discussion groups that align with their favorite subjects and genres, such as mystery or Victorian, and opt to follow those whose discussions they enjoy most to see what books they’ve read and are reading (privacy settings permitting). The social benefits don’t end there. Those who read e-books using the Copia app will find annotations from their network embedded directly in the margins — a great trigger for discussion. Shopping is also improved. When visiting a book's page, users can preview basic details alongside two ratings: One based on one to five-star ratings to determine whether a book is well liked by Copia’s users, and a second rating, dubbed the “community value rating,” based on how much discussion a given book inspires. Users can also opt to scan the reviews of everyone who has left one, or just those in their network. This is much better than the five-star rating systems of Amazon, Apple and the like, allowing users to discover what people whom they trust and admire think of a book, rather than looking into the opinions of strangers whose backgrounds and tastes are unfamiliar and likely incompatible with theirs. As for the $99 e-reader — that particular plan has been abandoned. The company has instead decided to partner with existing device manufacturers to make their platform as widely available as possible, not dissimilar to the strategy Borders has pursued with Kobo. Like most beta products, Copia has its fair share of bugs; I had a particularly difficult time trying to download free e-books on its iPad app, although the web experience has been smooth thus far. In addition to moving towards a final version of its desktop, web and iPad apps, Copia is also working to create apps for other mobile devices (Windows 7 is currently in very rough beta, a spokesperson for the company told me), and to include newspapers, magazines, music and video to its offerings. Try out the platform yourself and let us know what you think. Reviews: Android, Facebook, Twitter, Windows More About: amazon, copia, e-books, e-reading, Kindle, publishing, social media For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Twitter’s Creative Director Talks Design, UX and Inspiration Posted: 22 Nov 2010 02:08 PM PST The Web Design Best Practices Series is supported by The Bazaar, a marketplace to buy and sell creative objects. Creatives can start setting up their stores here. The Bazaar offers free shipping for all orders this festive season, and can be visited at http://bza.co. In the web design community, Doug Bowman has distinguished himself both as an individual and as a part of big-name creative teams. Currently, he is Twitter’s creative director, a job he took after leaving Google last year. This year, Twitter’s dramatic redesign was the talk of the web — the “new Twitter” is both beautiful and functional. Its addition of new features is perfectly balanced with its subtle aesthetic upgrades. Overall, the design team didn’t just make the product prettier, it made the user experience vastly more interesting, simple and pleasurable. The new Twitter is a clear product of Bowman’s philosophy on web design: “In a world where data bits flow abundantly, our minds have developed filters to sift through the overflow of useless and badly designed information. While design must appeal to our sense of aesthetic, it must not stand in the way of delivery, cause complications or introduce stumbling blocks. “Rather, the presence of design should simplify and facilitate our everyday life, enable us to accomplish our tasks more effectively and help us enjoy them along the way.” We asked Bowman to shed some light on a few subjects, including the redesign. After all, when your application is at scale and users are already accustomed to an experience, how do you change the interface gracefully and well? When to Redesign and Why “Know very well the reasons why the product needs a redesign, or if it does at all,” Bowman told us. “Understand that users are creatures of habit, and change is often hard to move beyond. Allow them time to try and shift over to a new design. “However, don’t be afraid of taking substantial risk with a redesign if the product needs a substantial overhaul to improve the user experience,” he added. “Some redesigns are often appreciated more for what they eliminate than what they add.” Bowman emphasized user experience above all in his notes to us. He’s not the kind of art-for-art’s-sake aesthetic snob who’d sacrifice a user’s needs for a designer’s wants. “As designers, one of our ‘wants’ should always be to help satisfy user needs. [It] kind of goes with the job description when the user experience is so critical to a product’s success. Good designers understand and are attentive to what users need and want to accomplish,” Bowman explained. “Great designers realize that fulfilling those needs can happen in unique and unexpected ways.” How to Build a Design Team In addition to reimagining one of the modern web’s more popular applications, Bowman has also built an extraordinary design team at Twitter. Together, they’ve rolled out a string of successful mobile applications in addition to rebuilding Twitter.com. In a market rife with talent, how do you build a design team that works? “Look for creative folks who understand basic design principles and critical thinking over those who have sought out advanced skills in Photoshop or CSS,” Bowman advises. “Hire designers that are more talented than you,” he added. “Encourage everyone on the team to share their work and think often. With a small amount of guidance, trust that they will create incredible experiences.” Finally, we asked Bowman what most stimulates his creativity. He cited nature and architecture as inspiration, and after his focus on UX, we weren’t surprised to find that Bowman is also inspired by “constant cycles of user feedback.” Series Supported by The Bazaar The Web Design Best Practices Series is supported by The Bazaar, a marketplace to buy and sell creative objects. It provides creative talents with the tools and platform to sell and ship their artworks globally. Creatives can start setting up their stores here. The Bazaar offers free shipping for all orders this festive season, and can be visited at http://bza.co. More Dev & Design Resources from Mashable: - 10 Free Web UI Kits and Resources for Designers - A Beginner's Guide to Integrated Development Environments - HOW TO: Be a Hybrid Designer/Developer - CSS Inventor Talks About the Web's Visual Future [VIDEO] - HOW TO: Make Your WordPress Blog More Like Tumblr Image courtesy of Flickr, gorriti. More About: doug bowman, interview, social media, twitter, user experience, UX, web design, Web Design Best Practices Series For more Dev & Design coverage: Follow Mashable Dev & Design on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Dev & Design channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Hands-on With iOS 4.2 for iPad and iPhone Posted: 22 Nov 2010 01:51 PM PST Apple has just released iOS 4.2 for the iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad. iOS 4.2 is a pretty major release because it unifies the iOS platform. Until now, the iPad has had some of the same features as iOS for the iPhone and iPod touch — but has lacked others. Now all iOS devices are running the same version of the OS. The update — which is free — hit iTunes about two hours ago. We’ve been testing iOS 4.2 for the iPad for quite some time and it’s great to have full iOS 4.0 features — like multitasking and a unified inbox — available on the larger device. Apple has also added some iOS 4.2 specific features — namely AirPrint, AirPlay and a few tweaks and changes to the rest of iOS. The iPad: Lots of New Stuff Until the iOS 4.2 update, the iPad has lived in sort of an iOS 3 and iOS 4 hybrid world. Some iOS 4.0 features, like custom backgrounds and device orientation lock, first debuted on iOS for iPad. However, other features, namely multitasking, haven’t been available. Multitasking is primarily useful when playing back video or music on the iPad. Not being able to surf the web while listening to Pandora was always frustrating, but after gaining that ability with iOS 4.0 for the iPhone, not having it on the iPad really hurt. Fortunately, the feature is here and it works just as you would expect. The multitasking bar is similar to that of the iPhone, except it adds in brightness and volume controls, as well as an orientation lock and the ability to pause, and skip forward and backward in a music or video app. Speaking of the orientation lock — much as we dislike the change — Apple has officially made the orientation lock button on the iPad into a mute switch. That means that in order to lock the orientation of the iPad, you need to double tap the home button and then swipe to your right and hit the lock button. It takes more time and annoys us, but at least the UI is consistent across devices. Game Center is also here for the iPad, and a bunch of games have already been updated to take advantage of achievements, leader boards and dual-player action. You can use your same Game Center ID that you use on any other iOS device. The Mail and Calendar apps have also received an update. The unified inbox from iOS 4.0 is here and Calendar for iPad now supports invitations and the new MobileMe Calendar protocol. New For Everyone: AirPlay, AirPrint, Search Options AirPlay and AirPrint were two of the big features Steve Jobs highlighted while showcasing the new additions to the iPod lineup. AirPlay works with the Apple TV, the Apple AirPort Express and new AirPlay certified speakers to wirelessly send music and video from the iPhone or iPad to other devices in your home. If you have an Apple TV, this means you can play video or share photos from your iPhone or iPad directly on the big screen. This is really easy and it’s super fast. You can then use the iPad or iPhone as a remote control for the content — if you want to scrub ahead — or you can use the regular Apple TV remote. What’s nice is that because of the new multitasking feature, sharing video with the Apple TV doesn’t preclude you from surfing the web or jumping into e-mail or doing something else on your iOS device. For music fans, if you have AirPlay compatible speakers, this basically makes your iOS device a little mini-Sonos-esque server. You can also send video or music from your Mac or PC to AirPlay devices, using iTunes. Perhaps one of the most requested iOS features has been the ability to print natively from the device. To this end, Apple has almost given us the full solution, using AirPrint. We say “almost” because there have been some last-minute changes made to how AirPrint and the AirPrint server work that makes the feature not quite as useful as it was originally touted. As it stands, if you have an AirPrint compatible printer — right now limited to HP’s ePrint devices — you can easily print from any official OS app or from upated apps. However, the original goal was to let users print to any Wi-Fi printer on their network or to use iTunes as a print server (meaning as long as you had a computer running iTunes, you could print to a printer). Other printer manufacturers are scrambling to add support for their devices — and some companies like Epson already have iOS printing apps in the App Store — but this isn’t quite the seamless printing experience we were promised. It’s not clear why the better printing functions were removed at the last minute; we assume it was because Apple felt the implementation was too buggy. Still, it’s disappointing to see printing that only works natively on a handful of devices. Another new feature — minor, but nice — is the ability to search for words or phrases within a web page directly from the search button in Mobile Safari. In the past, you had to use a bookmarklet that would use JavaScript to do a “find in page” function, but having it built in is not only faster, but less clumsy for everyone. Walkthrough You can see iOS 4.2 for the iPad and the iPhone in our walkthrough gallery: Home Screen iOS 4.2 for iPad features the same familiar look as iOS 4.0 for the iPhone. The big new feature is Folders -- grouping of icons by category. Multitasking Bar Double click the home button on the iPad and scroll to the right. Just like on the iPhone, this gives you quick access to some music and app controls. With iOS 4.2 for iPad, the screen rotation lock button on the side of the iPad has been switched to an audio mute button. That means that to lock the rotation of the screen, you need to use the new multitasking bar. We wish that we could still use the physical button, but the software button works just fine. A nice touch for the iPad is the ability to control your brightness and control your volume. Brightness controls come in handy when reading books or magazines or playing back video. Speaking of video playback, when you are in the vicinity of an Apple TV, you can activate AirPlay from this menu too. Folders You can store 20 apps per folder. Just like in iOS 4.0 for the iPhone, the folders are named automatically based on what type of apps are inside, but you can also edit the name yourself. Multitasking Double tapping on the home button brings up a list of other applications you can open or switch to in iOS 4.2. Apps that support fast-app switching will let you seamlessly switch back and forth without losing your place. If you are listening to music or watching a video, the audio continues to play when you open another app. Game Center iOS 4.2 for iPad includes Game Center. Just like iOS 4.1 for iPhone, Game Center lets you compare scores, earn badges and play games with your friends or with a random stranger across the Internet. Game Center Games Game Center shows you what Game Center games you have used on your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone. You can compare your scores and leaderboards with your friends. Unified Inbox Just like iOS 4.0 for the iPhone, the iPad now has a unified inbox. You can view all your accounts at once or view each account separately. Unified Inbox E-mail Printing You can now print an e-mail message to an AirPrint compatible device. Printing The bookmark bar in Mobile Safari has a new option: Print! Printing Clicking on Print will let you select your printer (AirPrint printers are auto-discovered) and select how many copies you want. Search in Web Page One of the new features with iOS 4.2 is that you can search for a word or phrase within a web page. Type text into the search bar and below the search suggestions is a new option: "On this Page." Search in Web Page Results You can find every instance of a word or phrase within a web page. The word or phrase in question is highlighted and clicking "next" will take you to the next instance of the text on the page. Search in Web Page Results You can find every instance of a word or phrase within a web page. The word or phrase in question is highlighted and clicking "next" will take you to the next instance of the text on the page. Printing on the iPhone Just like on the iPad, clicking the bookmark button in the web browser or in supported apps will bring up a new "Print" option. Print Options iPhone You can then select how many pages you want to print and select or search for an AirPrint compatible device on your network. Print Landscape Print Landscape Search in Page iPhone Search in Page Results iPhone Reviews: App Store, Pandora, Sonos More About: airplay, AirPrint, apple, iOS, iOS 4, ios 4.2, ipad, iphone For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Twitter Plans on European Hires in 2011 Posted: 22 Nov 2010 01:18 PM PST It looks like Twitter will be expanding its staff to more international quarters in the coming year. As a Twitter spokesperson told us, “Twitter plans to have a small number of people on the ground in Europe in 2011. We’re currently researching locations and potential candidates.” The company hasn’t elaborated further on these points, but TNW Europe speculates that the new job roles will primarily focus on sales and business development. This seems to be based on Twitter’s remarks — made during a September visit to the UK — that the company was looking to be less U.S.-centric in its monetization efforts. Twitter revealed earlier this year that more than 60% of its users live outside the U.S. The site is now available in a variety of languages, including Spanish, French, Italian and German. More About: europe, hiring, twitter For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Mobile Apps Track Your Weight, Body Fat and Sleep Patterns Posted: 22 Nov 2010 12:38 PM PST Digifit has updated its mobile fitness apps for iOS to integrate with the Withings WiFi Body Scale and Zeo Personal Sleep Coach gadgets to provide users with a single dashboard to monitor their health. Digifit users, who also own one or both of the third-party devices, will now be able to connect their accounts and use the Digifit dashboard to get a comprehensive look at their workouts, weight and sleep behaviors in a single view called the “Health Triad.” The free Digifit mobile apps [iTunes link] already work to track a slew of metrics, including heart rate and calories burned, for cardio workouts, and can map runs and bike rides. The service is meant to combine the functions of multiple fitness devices — heart rate monitors and run trackers — into a single app experience. Users can purchase additional sensor hardware for more accurate tracking. The Withings WiFi Body Scale is a next-gen scale that records body weight, lean and fat mass and calculates body mass index. The scale is already capable of auto-tweeting and updating Facebook. With support for the Digifit system, users can have the scale automatically share and upload their weight information to their Digifit dashboard. The Zeo Personal Sleep Coach is an in-home system for tracking and analyzing sleep patterns, with online visualization tools that include a bedside display and wireless headband. This data can now also be shared with a user’s Digifit dashboard. The enhanced Digifit apps offer users a sophisticated health monitoring system. Of course, with the holidays upon us, it’s likely a system most of us would prefer to use once we resolve to eat better, sleep more and workout harder. Health and fitness apps are becoming more competitive and advanced in the ever-growing genre for mobile devices. Earlier this year, Nike released its Nike+ GPS app for runners and Runkeeper updated its app to support automatic Foursquare badges for real-world fitness accomplishments. Image courtesy of Flickr, whoaitsaimz Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, RunKeeper More About: fitness, ipad apps, iphone app, Mobile 2.0 For more Startups coverage: Follow Mashable Startups on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Startups channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

New Marketplace Helps Musicians Find Opportunities Posted: 22 Nov 2010 12:18 PM PST Are you an unemployed, funemployed or underemployed musician? Well, music collaboration platform Indaba Music has your back, as it has just launched an “Opportunities Marketplace” for band folk in need. Indaba, which we’ve referred to previously as a “LinkedIn of music,” boasts more than 500,000 musicians, provides musically inclined folks with a place to build a profile, promote their tunes and collaborate with other musicians from around the world. It also has a ton of contests and work-for-hire opps that can garner some serious pocket dough for bands. Twenty-six recordings sourced through Indaba Music have been released by major record labels, and unknown bands have scored the chance to collaborate with the likes of Linkin Park and Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo. Now, Indaba is making it easier for bands to find opportunities by launching a dedicated platform on which musicians, brands, marketers and others can connect. Big-name artists can host remix contests (a staple of Indaba), A&R reps can find new content, those in the entertainment biz can seek out music for TV and film, etc. Think of it as a bulletin board in a coffee shop — with a lot better opportunities than the chance to play bass in someone’s mediocre synth/jazz band. "Musicians now have even more ways to get discovered and earn a living using Indaba Music," says Indaba co-founder Matthew Siegel.  "The core of Indaba is about collaboration and content creation, which can be a recreational activity; but in the case of the Opportunity Marketplace, we can also generate serious recognition and income." Right now, the Marketplace only features contests, but more opportunities will be added soon, we’re told. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, shulz Reviews: iStockphoto More About: Indaba Music, MARKETING, money, music For more Entertainment coverage: Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education Posted: 22 Nov 2010 11:32 AM PST The Education Tech Series is supported by Dell The Power To Do More, where you’ll find perspectives, trends and stories that inspire Dell to create technology solutions that work harder for its customers so they can do and achieve more. Don Knezek, the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, compares education without technology to the medical profession without technology. "If in 1970 you had knee surgery, you got a huge scar," he says. "Now, if you have knee surgery you have two little dots." Technology is helping teachers to expand beyond linear, text-based learning and to engage students who learn best in other ways. Its role in schools has evolved from a contained "computer class" into a versatile learning tool that could change how we demonstrate concepts, assign projects and assess progress. Despite these opportunities, adoption of technology by schools is still anything but ubiquitous. Knezek says that U.S. schools are still asking if they should incorporate more technology, while other countries are asking how. But in the following eight areas, technology has shown its potential for improving education. 1. Better Simulations and Models While a tuning fork is a perfectly acceptable way to demonstrate how vibrations make sound, it's harder to show students what evolution is, how molecules behave in different situations, or exactly why mixing two particular chemicals is dangerous. Digital simulations and models can help teachers explain concepts that are too big or too small, or processes that happen too quickly or too slowly to demonstrate in a physical classroom. The Concord Consortium, a non-profit organization that develops technologies for math, science and engineering education, has been a leader in developing free, open source software that teachers can use to model concepts. One of their most extensive projects is the Molecular Workbench, which provides science teachers with simulations on topics like gas laws, fluid mechanics and chemical bonding. Teachers who are trained in the system can create activities with text, models and interactive controls. One participant referred to the project as "[Microsoft] Word for molecules." Other simulations the organization is developing include a software that allows students to experiment with virtual greenhouses in order to understand evolution, a software that helps students understand the physics of energy efficiency by designing a model house, and simulations of how electrons interact with matter. 2. Global Learning At sites like Glovico.org, students can set up language lessons with a native speaker who lives in another country and attend the lessons via videoconferencing. Learning from a native speaker, learning through social interaction, and being exposed to another culture’s perspective are all incredible educational advantages that were once only available to those who could foot a travel bill. Now, setting up a language exchange is as easy as making a videoconferencing call. 3. Virtual Manipulatives Let’s say you’re learning about the relationship between fractions, percents and decimals. Your teacher could have you draw graphs or do a series of problems that changes just one variable in the same equation. Or he could give you a “virtual manipulative” like the one above and let you experiment with equations to reach an understanding of the relationship. The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, run by a team at Utah State University, has been building its database of these tools since 1999. “You used to count blocks or beads,” says Lynne Schrum, who has written three books on the topic of schools and technology. “Manipulating those are a little bit more difficult. Now there are virtual manipulative sites where students can play with the idea of numbers and what numbers mean, and if I change values and I move things around, what happens.” 4. Probes and Sensors About 15 years ago, the founders of the Concord Consortium took the auto focus sensor from a Polaroid camera and hooked it up to a computer graph program, thereby creating the ability to graph motion in real time. Today there are classrooms all over the world that use ultrasonic motion detectors to demonstrate concepts. "I've taught physics before, and you spend a lot of time getting these ideas of position, and what is velocity, and what does motion really mean and how do you define it," says Chad Dorsey, the president and CEO of the Concord Consortium. "And you end up spending a lot of time doing these things and trying to translate them into graphs. You could spend a whole period creating a graph for an experiment that you did, and it loses a lot of meaning in that process. By hooking up this ultrasonic motion detector to a graph right away…it gives you a specific real-time feel for what it means to move at faster rates or slower rates or increasing in speed or decreasing in speed and a much more foundational understanding of the topic than you could ever get by just drawing the graph by hand." Collecting real-time data through probes and sensors has a wide range of educational applications. Students can compute dew point with a temperature sensor, test pH with a pH probe, observe the effect of pH on an MnO3 reduction with a light probe, or note the chemical changes in photosynthesis using pH and nitrate sensors. 5. More Efficient Assessment Models and simulations, beyond being a powerful tool for teaching concepts, can also give teachers a much richer picture of how students understand them. “You can ask students questions, and multiple choice questions do a good job of assessing how well students have picked up vocabulary,” Dorsey explains. “But the fact that you can describe the definition [of] a chromosome … doesn't mean that you understand genetics any better … it might mean that you know how to learn a definition. But how do we understand how well you know a concept?” In Geniverse, a program the Concord Consortium developed to help students understand genetics by “breeding” dragons, teachers can give students a problem that is much more like a performance assessment. The students are asked to create a specific dragon. Teachers can see what each student did to reach his or her end result and thereby understand whether trial-and-error or actual knowledge of genetics leads to a correct answer. The organization is also developing a program that will help teachers collect real-time assessment data from their students. When the teacher gives out an assignment, she can watch how far along students are, how much time each a spends on each question, and whether their answers are correct. With this information, she can decide what concepts students are struggling with and can pull up examples of students’ work on a projector for discussion. "What they would have done in the past is students would make a lab report, they'd turn it in, the teacher would take a couple of days to grade it, they'd get it back a couple of days later, and two to three days later they'd talk about it,” Dorsey says. “But they've probably done a couple of lessons in between then, [and] they haven’t had time to guide the students immediately as they learned it.” 6. Storytelling and Multimedia Knezek recently saw a video that was produced by a group of elementary students about Bernoulli’s Principle. In the video, the students demonstrated the principle that makes flight possible by taking two candles and putting them close together, showing that blowing between them brings the flames closer together. For another example, they hung ping pong balls from the ceiling and they pulled together. "With a simple assignment and access to technology, researching and also producing a product that would communicate, they were able to do deep learning on a concept that wasn't even addressed in their textbook, and allow other people to view it and learn from it," Knezek says. Asking children to learn through multimedia projects is not only an excellent form of project-based learning that teaches teamwork, but it’s also a good way to motivate students who are excited to create something that their peers will see. In addition, it makes sense to incorporate a component of technology that has become so integral to the world outside of the classroom. "It's no longer the verbal logic or the spoken or written word that causes people to make decisions,” Knezek says. “Where you go on vacations, who you vote for, what kind of car you buy, all of those things are done now with multimedia that engage all of the senses and cause responses.” 7. E-books Despite students’ apparent preference for paper textbooks, proponents like Daytona College and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are ready to switch to digital. And electronic textbook vendors like CourseSmart are launching to help them. E-books hold an unimaginable potential for innovating education, though as some schools have already discovered, not all of that potential has been realized yet. “A digital textbook that is merely a PDF on a tablet that students can carry around might be missing out on huge possibilities like models and simulations or visualizations,” Dorsey says. “It takes time and it really takes some real thought to develop those things, and so it would be easy for us as a society to miss out on those kinds of opportunities by saying, ‘Hey look, we're not carrying around five textbooks anymore. It's all on your iPad, isn't that great?’" 8. Epistemic Games Epistemic games put students in roles like city planner, journalist, or engineer and ask them to solve real-world problems. The Epistemic Games Group has provided several examples of how immersing students in the adult world through commercial game-like simulations can help students learn important concepts. In one game, students are cast as high-powered negotiators who need to decide the fate of a real medical controversy. In another, they must become graphical artists in order to create an exhibit of mathematical art in the style of M.C. Escher. Urban Science, the game featured in the above video, assigns students the task of redesigning Madison, Wisconsin. “Creative professionals learn innovative thinking through training that is very different from traditional academic classrooms because innovative thinking means more than just knowing the right answers on a test,” explains The Epistemic Games Group’s website. “It also means having real-world skills, high standards and professional values, and a particular way of thinking about problems and justifying solutions. Epistemic games are about learning these fundamental ways of thinking for the digital age.” These eight technologies are redefining education. Which technologies would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below. Series Supported by Dell The Power To Do More The Education Tech Series is supported by Dell The Power To Do More, where you’ll find perspectives, trends and stories that inspire Dell to create technology solutions that work harder for its customers so they can do and achieve more. More Education Resources from Mashable: - The Case For Social Media in Schools - How Social Gaming is Improving Education - Why Online Education Needs to Get Social - Social Media Parenting: Raising the Digital Generation - HOW TO: Help Your Child Set Up a Blog Image courtesy of iStockphoto, BanksPhotos Reviews: iStockphoto More About: Children, education, Education Tech Series, Kids, schools, teachers, technology in education, technology in schools For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Foursquare Boasts 4.5 Million Users, Opens West Coast Office Posted: 22 Nov 2010 10:41 AM PST Location-based social network Foursquare announced Monday that it has registered more than 4.5 million users. To complement its growth, the startup has also opened an office in San Francisco. The reason? Foursquare is vying for engineer talent in the Bay Area. And it’s not the only one — Twitter and Facebook have been on hiring sprees lately, and Google has more than 2,000 open positions, the bulk of which are located in Mountain View. Foursquare has been working out of mobile credit card reader Square’s offices for the past few months, and now they’ve “free[d] up more room for us to hire a full team of West Coast engineers,” the company explained in a blog post. Reviews: Facebook, Google, Twitter, foursquare More About: foursquare For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Why You Need an iPod Touch This Holiday Season Posted: 22 Nov 2010 10:40 AM PST This post is part of the Mashable 10, Mashable’s gift guide of the 10 hottest gadgets that will be on everyone’s wish list this holiday season. We’ll be publishing one new post each weekday until November 26. We really did our damnedest to select only one Apple product for the Mashable 10, but try as we might, we just couldn’t omit the iPod touch. For nearly a decade, Apple’s iPod line has largely defined the world of portable media players. When it comes down to it, the iPod is still the king. The original iPod was designed to do one thing: Play music. The iPod shuffle and the iPod nano are evolutions of that basic idea — and both are stellar music players. With the iPod touch, however, you get more than just a music player — and more than just a video player — you get a bona fide pocket computer. Here’s why we think it deserves a place on your wish list this year. Audio Player, Video Player, HD Video Camera The iPod touch is one of the most versatile gadgets on the market. As an audio player, it’s pretty fantastic — after all, this is an iPod. Playing back video is equally impressive, especially with the new retina-display. Like the iPhone 4, the iPod touch has a new display that is super clear, meaning that text, images, games and video all look amazing. The fourth generation iPod touch also includes dual cameras — just like the iPhone 4. Although the still camera on the iPod touch is lacking, it takes great looking 720p HD video. It also features a front-facing camera, which works with Apple’s FaceTime. What continues to blow us away about the iPod touch is just how thin and light Apple manages to make the device. I thought my second generation iPod touch was small — but the latest model is even thinner (how?) and lighter. It also has a longer battery life. Apps Ahoy If you’ve got an Android smartphone, the iPod touch is a great way to still get to experience all the apps and games available for iOS. That means that you have access to the 300,000+ apps in the App Store. Virtually every app for the iPhone also works for the iPod touch. From Facebook to Flight Control, there really is an app for almost everything. There are also some very high quality games. Nintendo and Sony might publicly scoff at the notion that the iPod is a threat to the Sony PSP or the Nintendo DSi, but both companies have every reason to be scared. The fact is, more and more high profile game companies are flocking to iOS, and thanks to the new display, the updated processor and the powerful graphics engine, the iPod touch is a great portable gaming device. Titles like RAGE HD and Dexter the Game easily rival anything you’d see on a handheld console. Plus, with Game Center, you can compete with your friends or with strangers across the Net. What’s more, Apple updates the iOS software a few times a year, adding in new features and enhancements. iOS 4.2 was just released, adding AirPlay and AirPrint support to the mix. In short, the iPod touch is a lot more than a poor man’s iPhone 4 — it’s a pocket powerhouse. Let us know how many iPods you have owned over the years in the comments. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, hatman12 Reviews: App Store, Mashable, flight control, iStockphoto More About: app store, apple, gadgets, Gifts, iOS, ipod, iPod Touch, mashable 10, tech For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Social Good Gets the “American Idol” Treatment Online Posted: 22 Nov 2010 10:08 AM PST Charity work and non-profits are getting a shot of reality-TV inspired, crowdsourced, social gaming goodness just in time for the holidays. Yoxi, pronounced “YO-see,” is a new website that challenges teams of everyday people to create solutions for pressing social issues such as food, health, education and the environment. Yoxi picks a social issue and teams submit videos for their ideas. An online audience then gets to vote for their favorites in a manner similar to voting systems on reality shows like American Idol. However, instead of creating the next Kelly Clarkson, Yoxi hopes to create some real change. Rather than just a crowdsourced free-for-all, the teams will receive guidance from famous judges and industry experts. Once chosen by the audience to advance to the final round, two teams will receive marketing support from top advertising agencies. The winning team will receive a cash prize from $5,000 to $40,000. Teams are currently facing off in the first competition called, “You Are What You Eat,” challenging them to reinvent fast food. There are no limitations to the ideas, which can range from ad campaigns to technology, or even proposed school programs. Yoxi has also added incentives for the audience to vote by introducing a social gaming aspect to the site. Users start at level one, with one vote and a limited amount of “energy,” a way to pace participation. As they continue to participate, they rise in levels and receive more votes, influence, and “energy” to perform more actions on the site. The ties to online video and reality shows shouldn’t come as a surprise; founder Sharon Chang worked closely with the teams behind both American Idol and Hulu. She and her team have taken those two worlds and blended them into social good. “One of the reasons started this is because people don’t do things,” Chang says. “It’s like pulling teeth to get people to want to take action.” Wary that people are constantly asked to vote or rate things like concerts or restaurants, Chang wanted to make those votes special again. “You only have one vote,” she says. “And it’s very important. You have one, you have to choose.” It’s also a smart move; projects will need to recruit a wide base of fans rather than relying on spamming the site or trying to game the system. Chang also says that while video quality will obviously be considered, projects are considered based on their merit and the strength of their ideas. The judges and experts can help guide the voting public to see these values over a poor idea with great production values or editing. Yoxi’s larger goal is to bring social good into mainstream conversation. It’s a refreshing shift away from page views and ad pages. “This isn’t about driving traffic, about creating a destination site,” Chang says. “We want it to be a movement, and a movement has followers, not ‘traffic.’” Are you interested in Yoxi and it’s approach to social good? How can tech help bring social good into mainstream? Do you think it’s possible, or is it already part of everyday life? Reviews: Hulu More About: american idol, Crowdsource, hulu, sharon chang, social gaming, social good, video, yoxi For more Social Good coverage: Follow Mashable Social Good on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Good channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Why SMS Marketing Still Makes Sense for Small Business Posted: 22 Nov 2010 09:52 AM PST The International Business Series is brought to you by UPS. Discover the new logistics. It levels playing fields and lets you act locally or globally. It’s for the individual entrepreneur, the small business, or the large company. Put the new logistics to work for you. Mobile texting paradoxically sounds like “old news” as far as new technologies are concerned. After all, we were able to send each other texts before our mobile phones even had color screens. While the Western world has focused on smartphones and flashy apps that let you pull up RSS feeds, find information, or fling exploding birds at structures, SMS marketing is still a hugely important part of our mobile lives. Consider that while smartphone adoption has been slower than anticipated, nearly every mobile phone user in the U.S. is capable of sending and receiving text messages. Additionally, SMS has become increasingly important in developing countries where the penetration of feature phones far outnumber smartphones. Companies or small business that can nail down their SMS marketing strategy, especially when the space is still ripe for innovation, can open up a number of opportunities. We spoke with four mobile experts for some tips, advice and insights on how to include SMS in a global business strategy. Small Businesses Can Reach a Broader Consumer Base There’s a huge population of consumers in the U.S. who do not own smartphones, notes Tom Cotney, CEO of mobile marketing firm Air2Web. “And if you’re going to provide some kind of customer service capability on mobile phones, you really need to reach as much of the population as possible.” That isn’t to say that mobile apps are useless, but having a way for text to complement or introduce those services can help you reach a larger base of people. This is especially true in developing countries where the percentage of smartphone users is even smaller. Even though it may seem like global mobile marketing is just the purview of large, international companies, small businesses can also jump in. “We are a small business with no outside funding,” said John Pelphrey, CEO of One-Txt, an SMS broadcast service. “The trick is to find the right niche, something that you’re knowledgeable about and have some connections in and work it from there.” Pelphrey saw opportunities on continents like South America and Africa where cell phone access is more common than landlines or even open Internet access. “Their first access to the outside world is their cell phone,” Pelphrey added. The Mobile Phone is an Intimate Technology It’s one thing to say there are opportunities in global mobile texting. It is another thing to come up with a plan and put it into action. For Pelphrey, a successful strategy is about intimacy and immediacy: “To have the right information for the right person and at the right time.” Most expert advice focuses on capitalizing on the intimacy of a cell phone. “The mobile phone is the most personal form of technology there is, barring hearing aids and other medical technologies,” Cotney said. Rather than sending out a text blast, treat your messages like a conversation with the customer while offering them value: “You really need to offer consumers a foundational benefit as the primary reason for having a mobile relationship with you.” Limitations Of course, mobile texting isn’t all just sunshine and rainbows. There are some key limitations to consider before jumping in. First, SMS is necessarily limited by its character limit. In the U.S., text messages are limited to 160 characters — which is fine if you’re checking in with friends but more difficult when you’re trying to connect with or sell to consumers. That limit further varies by country. While Asian countries are closer to 70 characters, their individual characters usually have more meaning than Western letters. There’s also the problem of getting your message to its destination. “There’s no single international body that goes and hands out short codes,” said Andrew Kenney, Chief Operating Officer at ONEsite. “You have to get one for a specific region. Carriers won’t deal with the particular brands.” After that middleman, it’s important to think of how your audience receives your messages. Not everyone has premium messaging or unlimited texts, Kenney warned. Texts can be expensive for your consumers, so make sure there’s value to make it worthwhile. Ideally you could set up regional offices to best understand the communities you’re contacting. If that’s out of the budget, try to set up a contact already living in that community or do your research to make sure you know what times of day people are most social or what kind of information or language will be most effective. “Every country, every tribe, they’re all going to be different,” Pelphrey said. “You can’t take the lessons you learned in South America and take it to Africa. Those cultures are so distinct even within a few miles of each other.” Is SMS Marketing Here to Stay? One hesitation businesses have when it comes to SMS is determining if it is a dying breed of marketing, especially when faced with smartphones or the increasing emphasis on mobile apps. While SMS has greater reach, it also has less interactivity. “It’s certainly possible to set your DVR using text, but it’s not a great user experience,” said Griswold. Anyone worried about text disappearing as a marketing tool should consider that 2008 was the first year that text messages outnumbered cell phone calls. Cotney cited a study that showed users get mobile text alerts seven times more than they used to with feature phones. “Text is not just a technology, it’s an actual type of interface,” Cotney said. “Usually the older a technology, the less frequently it will be used, but text will be around for a long time.” Tips and Tricks There are a lot of ways to approach SMS marketing, whether you’re a big company or a small startup looking to branch abroad. There are basic tips like offering your consumers real value, emphasizing intimacy, and being conscientious of cultural norms and traditions. Part and parcel, Kenney advised that “people should go do their research and they should pick partners that they can trust to build long-term relationships.” Cotney emphasized reach, namely, how many people is your mobile strategy going to touch? While mobile apps may look nice, they can sometimes be a case of prioritizing new technology over a real strategy. “Have a strategy and incorporate how many people you’re going to be able to reach when the product actually gets out there.” Still, it seems that the most pervasive advice was just to get started. “If businesses think they may want to do text, it’s never too early to collect numbers for the opt-in lists. There are lots of ways to do it…” Paul said. “You don’t have to have everything in place. By the time you do start, you’ll have a head start.” The cell phone is really the first piece of technology that people started carrying with them all the time, Kenney said. We use it to find our friends or find information on a daily basis. That personal proximity and it’s social capability allow us to have an intimate relationship with our phones and what they can do. SMS is an immediate way to capitalize on those qualities without having to worry about downloading an app or compatibility issues. SMS, if done properly, is an effective way to reach customers both domestically and globally. Series supported by UPS The International Business Series is brought to you by UPS. Discover the new logistics. It levels playing fields and lets you act locally or globally. It’s for the individual entrepreneur, the small business, or the large company. Put the new logistics to work for you. More Business Resources from Mashable: - 5 Tips for Marketing Online to an International Audience - HOW TO: Build Your International Business Network Online - 5 Tips for Developing a Global-Friendly Website - HOW TO: Optimize Your Mobile Site Across Multiple Platforms - 15 Mobile Translation Apps for the International Businessperson Image courtesy of iStockphoto: fotosipsak & spxChrome Reviews: Internet, iStockphoto More About: cell phone, dumbphone, feature phone, international, international business, International Business Series, Mobile 2.0, mobile marketing, mobile texting, smartphone, smartphones, SMS, text messaging, texting For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

iPhone App Uses Barcode Scans for Product Recommendations Posted: 22 Nov 2010 09:19 AM PST Blake Scholl and Jason Crawford are two Amazon alumni transferring their e-commerce background and social product discovery experience to mobile in the form of Barcode Hero, an iPhone application that is receiving a massive update today. Barcode Hero is designed to be a community where people share product recommendations through barcode scans. The application [iTunes link], a product of Scholl and Crawford’s KimaLabs, originally launched in August. Today’s update better surfaces those recommendations to help app users make more informed purchase decisions while shopping. In version 1.0, Barcode Hero users could scan barcodes on products, leave short product comments and give their review in the form of a thumbs up or thumbs down. The application was built to be incredibly social in nature, so users could find and follow friends, post products to their social networks and compete Foursquare-style to become the king or queen of each of the 50,000 product categories. With version 2.0, the focus shifts from sharing to recommendations, so users can now scan products to see recommendations from friends. For instance, users can scan a bottle of wine to see reviews on that bottle, but also uncover the most highly recommended wines in the same category, according to the community. Of course, there’s also price comparison additives to ensure that users aren’t getting ripped off. The updated app now supports browsing and search for products, photo uploads for additional points and the ability to discover if users’ address book contacts are using the app. Scholl was reluctant to share specifics around application users or downloads, but he did disclose that users are very active — 30% leave thumbs-up product recommendations and 10% leave short product comments. Apple also plans to feature Barcode Hero in a list of featured holiday shopping apps beginning today, which should cause a spike in downloads and activity. Barcode Hero resembles a slew of other applications including Stickybits and myShopanion. What makes it unique is its core purpose is to help people choose amongst products. The founders also don’t plan to add rewards in the immediate rewards, which prevents the app from infringing upon the store scanning and rewards zone that Checkpoints and Shopkick occupy. Barcode Hero has raised $770,000 in seed funding from top notch backers including Ron Conway’s SV Angel and former MySpace CEO and Amazon alum Owen Van Natta. The company will likely raise an additional round next year. Image courtesy of Flickr, littleREDelf Reviews: Flickr, foursquare More About: barcode hero, barcode scanning, product discovery, product recommendations, social media, startup For more Startups coverage: Follow Mashable Startups on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Startups channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Google Docs Now Syncs With Microsoft Office Posted: 22 Nov 2010 09:01 AM PST Google has transformed one of its acquisitions into Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office, a new tool that lets users simultaneously edit an Office doc via the cloud. Launching in beta today, Google Cloud Connect is an add-on for Office that syncs documents, spreadsheets and presentations from Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 with the “Google cloud.” In other words, it takes data on the desktop and makes a backup copy in Google Docs, gives it a unique URL and constantly syncs the data with anybody else that might be sharing the same document. The technology behind Google Cloud Connect derives from DocVerse, a productivity tool that Google acquired earlier this year that lets multiple users collaborate and edit Microsoft Office documents. Originally, DocVerse was just focused on syncing Word docs with each other so that users could collaborate. Here’s what we originally wrote when we first reviewed it: “This sidebar is where all of DocVerse's magic happens. You can invite friends and colleagues to collaborate on any documents. As you and others make edits, those changes are synced to the cloud. In addition to a hard copy, the plug-in automatically saves a web-based version of the doc that others can see to make collaboration easy.” Cloud Connect doesn’t take away any of that collaboration functionality while adding Google Docs to the mix. A business team can edit a document from either Microsoft Office or Google Docs simultaneously. Google Docs also saves all of the revisions, so if someone messes up someone else’s edits, it’s easy to revert them. Today’s launch is all about getting Office users to slowly switch to Google Docs. The search giant wants people to switch from Office to the cloud, which eventually leads to Google. By dipping their toes into the waters of Google Docs via their business colleagues and friends, loyal Office users will get used to Google’s offering and eventually discard Microsoft’s productivity suite for good. At least, that’s what Google hopes. Does Google’s plan make sense? Yes. Will it actually work? Probably. Is Cloud Connect a win for users? Absolutely. Reviews: Google, Google Docs More About: docverse, Google, Google Cloud Connect, google docs, microsoft, microsoft office, microsoft word For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Netflix Finally Brings Streaming-Only Plan to U.S. Posted: 22 Nov 2010 08:50 AM PST Americans have one less thing to envy about life in Canada starting today: Netflix is now offering its streaming-only plan in the U.S. As predicted last month, the plan costs $7.99 per month and allows for unlimited video on-demand. The pricing is exactly the same as the revised rate recently released for Hulu Plus. While it was clear that Netflix streaming was popular, this news revealed just how crucial on-demand is to the future of the company. Jesse Becker, the Netflix VP of marketing, said: “You might also wonder why we haven’t introduced a new plan that includes only DVDs by mail. The fact is that Netflix members are already watching more TV episodes and movies streamed instantly over the Internet than on DVDs, and we expect that trend to continue. Creating the best user experience that we can around watching instantly is how we're spending the vast majority of our time and resources. Because of this, we are not creating any plans that are focused solely on DVDs by mail.” To that point, Netflix has raised the prices of all of its unlimited DVD rental plans. The two most popular plans, which include one or two DVDs out at a time, increased by $1 each to $9.99, and $14.99, respectively. Rental plans including three to eight DVDs out at a time each had incremental increases, as represented in the chart. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, CEFutcher Reviews: Internet, iStockphoto More About: DVDs, hulu plus, netflix, on-demand, streaming, streaming video For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Amazon’s Price Comparison App for iPhone Falls Just Short of Great Posted: 22 Nov 2010 08:29 AM PST Amazon has released a free new price comparison app for iPhone that allows users to quickly compare in-store prices with the prices of Amazon and its affiliated merchants by snapping a photo, scanning a barcode, or speaking or typing in the name of a product. If said product is cheaper, users can then purchase the item for delivery in a single click. While we love the search and quick purchase options, the app [iTunes link] ultimately isn’t that useful because it only allows users to compare a single store price with the prices of Amazon and its sellers. RedLaser [iTunes link] (which was acquired by eBay in June and has now been fully integrated into eBay’s primary iPhone app), on the other hand, lets users scan an item’s barcode and compare it with a full range of nearby stores and online merchants to determine the best price. What do you think of the app? Do you have a favorite app for comparison shopping? More About: amazon, amazon price check, iphone, Mobile 2.0 For more Mobile coverage: Follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Mobile channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Interactive Music Video Turns Song Into Coloring Book Posted: 22 Nov 2010 08:17 AM PST Here’s something to keep you occupied this pre-holiday Monday morning: a new video from Brooklyn-based indie band Au Revoir Simone that functions as an interactive coloring book. The video for “Knight of Wands” — off of the band’s third album, Still Night, Still Light — premiered today on a dedicated Flash website. The in-browser experience is quite similar to Arcade Fire’s “The Wilderness Downtown,” but doesn’t utilize HTML5 as that project did. Once you click “Play,” you are taken to a coloring book page featuring band members Heather D'Angelo, Erika Forster and Annie Hart standing in what appears to be a haunted house. A palette of colors to the left allow you to fill in the world they inhabit, and, as you paint, a phantom flits through the frame, adding to the eerie atmosphere created by a song drenched in keyboards, dreamy vocals and periodic handclaps. The video, directed by Eli Stonberg (who has worked with bands like Passion Pit and Nada Surf) and illustrated by Chris Sanchez is a creative effort that asks audience members to directly interact with the music and the world the band has spun via melody. Videos like this — and those created by musicians like Arcade Fire and Andy Grammer — demonstrate how the oeuvre of the music video is changing as the web continues to become a destination for music and entertainment. More About: au-revoir-simone, Flash, music, video For more Entertainment coverage: Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

5 Design Trends That Small Businesses Can Use in 2011 Posted: 22 Nov 2010 07:44 AM PST This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. In the past 12 months, we’ve seen a lot of changes in the world of web design. Growing popularity in the mobile device space — including smartphones and tablets like the iPad — have refined the way many users access and interact with content. Likewise, the formal adoption of web standards like HTML5, web fonts and CSS3 by browser makers means that more and more users are now able to take advantage of the latest and greatest features on the web. It’s often tough for small businesses to stay up on the latest web design trends because of the cost involved with redesigns and the necessity of being accessible by a broad range of users. Still, there are some great web design trends from 2010 and leading into 2011 that small businesses should consider incorporating into their sites. We’ve already written about some of the aesthetic web design trends that small businesses should keep an eye on, so this list is more about some of the technological trends taking place in the world of web design. 1. Lose the Flash Regardless of where you stand in the war over Flash, the fact remains that more and more sites and web developers are moving away from Flash-only solutions for video, animation and navigation. Flash still excels when it comes to building fully interactive designs and Rich Interactive Applications (RIAs), but for small business owners who aren’t showcasing or providing that sort of experience, trading Flash for HTML5, JavaScript and CSS3 might just make more sense. The fact is, Flash is not accessible on most mobile devices. Even the mobile devices that do support Flash don’t support each element reliably. As a customer, there is nothing worse than visiting a website from my mobile phone and finding out I am unable to access the contact information, list of products and services or location information because the navigation or core content was built in Flash. Flash is a great tool for certain types of work, such as sites that can capture audio or video, do complex animations or run web games. If you’re still using an old circa-2005 Flash template, 2011 might be a good time to upgrade to something more modern. 2. Web Fonts Typography is an important — I would argue crucial — component of any web design. Historically, customizing the typography you use on a website has been a complicated and headache-inducing process. As a result, most designers were reduced to either using the small selection of web-safe fonts or using workarounds like text images or Flash as text replacements. The good news is that in the past 12 months, the situation with fonts and the web has improved quite a bit. Thanks to services like TypeKit, Fonts.com Web Fonts and Google Web Fonts, it’s now possible to use web fonts on your own site with very little effort, for either free or very nominal costs. You can also check out some of the latest trends in web fonts. 3. Mobile Compatible/Optimized Sites More and more websites — big and small — are taking the time to make their sites small screen friendly. Having a mobile compatible or mobile optimized website means that not only will your site load faster over cellular data connections but that content will be better formatted for the screens of smaller devices, making it easier to access and understand. As smartphone adoption continues to soar, more and more of our online time is spent on our phones. For small businesses, making sure that that experience is fast and pleasant can be a great way to improve your website’s effectiveness. There are a slew of tools and services that make it easy to optimize your website for mobile devices. 4. Inspired By Tumblr The popular microblogging platform Tumblr is a great way to quickly and easily post updates, share content and garner direct visitor feedback. Tumblr has become a really popular platform and more and more small businesses are using it for their own company blogs or sites. And while Tumblr has some great themes geared toward small business users, Tumblr itself is also having a pretty big impact on web design as a whole. Even if you don’t use Tumblr for your company website or blog, you can incorporate elements of the Tumblr style — distinctive icons for post type, big, beautiful typography for titles and headings, and a minimalist layout. 5. Touches of the Future: HTML5 and CSS3 As I stated in the introduction, it can be difficult for small businesses that aren’t in a design-related field to adopt many of the cutting-edge web design trends for fear of shutting out parts of their potential audience. And while it is true that there are still some corporate networks and a smattering of home users using old, decrepit and nearly extinct browsers, the latest versions of the major web browsers — Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera — all support CSS3 and HTML5 features and elements. Additionally, practically every modern smartphone supports advanced CSS3, JavaScript and HTML5 features, too. At this stage, it’s OK to experiment with HTML5 or CSS3 elements on your small business website. The great thing is, it’s possible to use techniques that will offer an enhanced view on modern browsers but degrade elegantly on systems that don’t support the latest and greatest. There are even some great projects that make it easier to get started. Trends You’re Watching What trends in web design are you watching for in 2011? Let us know in the comments below! More Design Resources from Mashable: - 4 Winning Web Design Tips From Ryan Carson of Carsonified - Essential Web Design Advice From a Wireframing Master [INTERVIEW] - 10 Free Drupal Themes for Small Business - HOW TO: Make Your WordPress Blog More Like Tumblr - HOW TO: Build an App for Your Small Business Image courtesy of iStockphoto, marekuliasz Reviews: Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Tumblr, iStockphoto More About: css3, design, HTML5, List, Lists, mobile web, trends, web design, Web Development, web fonts For more Dev & Design coverage: Follow Mashable Dev & Design on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Dev & Design channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Spotify Lost $26.7 Million in 2009 [REPORT] Posted: 22 Nov 2010 07:23 AM PST Spotify, the first music service to enable free music streaming on the iPhone, has been operating in several European countries for more than two years. But how is the company doing from a business perspective? The answer is: Not so good. Music Ally has picked apart its 2009 financial report and the numbers show significant losses. Spotify’s revenue for 2009 was £11.32 ($18.1) million, but the cost of sales and distribution, as well as expenses, resulted in a net loss (after taxation) of £16.66 ($26.7) million. Of course, 2010 is well underway, and it’s possible that Spotify’s business results are already showing improvement. "2009 saw us focus on establishing a new and innovative music service and bringing it to millions of people across Europe. The groundwork laid in our launch year has been crucial to the significant achievements made in 2010. Further strengthening and expansion of the service remains our top priority," a Spotify spokesperson said in a statement to Music Ally. Spotify’s optimism can be backed by its expanding user base: Spotify ended 2009 with 7 million users in Europe, a sevenfold increase from the beginning of the year. More than 250,000 of them are paying subscribers. In September, however, Spotify reached 10 million users, which means its growth has somewhat stalled compared to 2009. Is Spotify growing fast enough to sustain its business model? It’s a tough call, but one thing is certain: The company needs that U.S. launch, and it needs it as soon as possible. Reviews: Spotify For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Find My iPhone Now Free With iOS 4.2 Posted: 22 Nov 2010 06:52 AM PST Apple has made Find My iPhone, a service that was previously limited to MobileMe subscribers, free to all owners of iOS devices with the release of iOS 4.2. Find My iPhone allows users to pinpoint their device on a map, so it can be easily recovered. To date, it has been one of MobileMe’s most popular services, so its release to the public will likely once again fuel speculation that MobileMe is going free. BlackBerry, Motorola and Windows Phone 7 each offer free apps to locate missing devices. The Find My iPhone app is available now in the App Store [iTunes link]. While iTunes does not yet reflect its new price, Apple has confirmed that it will, in fact, be free. Reviews: App Store, BlackBerry Rocks!, MobileMe, Windows Phone 7 More About: apple, find my iphone, geolocation, iOS, ios 4.2, ipad, iphone, iPod Touch, Motorola For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

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