Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “First Round Capital Gets the Old Spice Treatment [VIDEO]”

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• First Round Capital Gets the Old Spice Treatment [VIDEO]
• Google Launches Maps 5.0 for Android
• Kobo Looks to Social Reading to Distinguish It From Kindle
• The State of the iOS App Store [INFOGRAPHIC]
• New Facebook Features Exposed in Accidental Update
• The Nexus S Makes Its Debut, But Can It Avoid the Nexus One’s Fate?
• MySpace Launches Fan Management Tools for Bands
• PlayStation Launching Android and iPhone Apps “Very Soon” [PIC]
• Mercedes Promo Seeks “Twitter-Savvy” Drivers
• Hotmail Gets Interactive, Runs JavaScript Within E-mails
• How Twitter Users Changed in 2010 [CHARTS]
• Hands-on With Vevo HD for iPad
• The New Facebook Pages Are Here [UPDATED]
• 10 Free Online Resources for Science Teachers
• Facebook Goes Down Amid Rollout of New Brand Pages [UPDATED]
• Citibank Launches “Bank of the Future” in New York
• How Connected Devices and Consoles Compare [INFOGRAPHIC]
• New Version of Foursquare to Arrive Next Week
• 5 Ways Cities Are Using Social Media to Reverse Economic Downturn
• Leaked Slide Shows Yahoo Is Killing Delicious & Other Web Apps
• London Investment Firm to Launch Twitter-Based Hedge Fund
• 81% of Gen Yers Use Facebook Daily [STUDY]
• Google Explores the Human Body With HTML5
• 5 Great Gadgets for Reinventing Your Road Trips
• Facebook-Powered Logins Get Smarter With New Registration Tools
• What’s Hot in Social Media This Week
• Eliminating “Khaki Diaper Butt” Nets Bonobos $18.5 Million in Funding
• Lipton Brisk Rolls Out Interactive Murals
• MySpace Renews Key Ad Deal With Google
• Win a Holiday MashPack With DJ Hero 2 & 22 Awesome Tech Prizes [GIVEAWAY]

First Round Capital Gets the Old Spice Treatment [VIDEO] Posted: 17 Dec 2010 04:18 AM PST Showing VC firms can have a sense of humor, First Round Capital is celebrating the holidays with an elaborate spoof of Old Spice’s “Smell Like a Man, Man” viral video. I say “elaborate” because the parody runs more than 7 minutes (vs 30 seconds for the original ad) and the firm is even offering response videos. In a show of modesty, however, First Round’s managing partner Josh Kopelman, who plays the Isaiah Mustafa role, decided not to expose his pecs, but wore a body suit instead as did several partners and portfolio companies, including Flurry, SkillSlate and GroupMe. Movie Clips, on the other hand, offered its own twist by grafting co-founders Zach James’ and Rich Raddon’s heads onto Mustafa’s body. More About: First Round Capital, vc, video For more Web Video coverage: Follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Web Video channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Google Launches Maps 5.0 for Android Posted: 17 Dec 2010 01:36 AM PST Google Maps 5.0 – the new version of the app that was recently demoed at the Le Web as well as D: Dive into Mobile conference – is now available for download in the Android Market. Two big new features in this release are 3D view and offline rerouting. The 3D view uses vector graphics to dynamically draw the map on the screen of your device. You can tilt it, rotate it and smoothly zoom in and out the map with finger gestures. Another new feature is the compass mode, which will make the map rotate to match your perspective, so you can get a better idea of where you are. Also, you don’t have to worry (so much) about being offline, as the app now caches the areas next to the one you’re currently in, meaning you’ll be able to seamlessly keep navigating for a while even when offline. If you’re using Google’s turn-by-turn GPS navigation, the app can now calculate a different route, even if you’re offline. You still need a connection to start a route, however. This feature will be rolled out gradually over the next couple of weeks. The new version of Google Maps will work on Android 1.6 devices, but only owners of Android 2.0+ devices will be able to enjoy the new 3D and offline capabilities. More About: android, Google, Google Maps, Mobile 2.0, smartphones For more Mobile coverage: Follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Mobile channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Kobo Looks to Social Reading to Distinguish It From Kindle Posted: 16 Dec 2010 08:40 PM PST This post is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark as a new part of the Spark of Genius series that focuses on a new and innovative startup each day. Once a week, the program focuses on startups within the BizSpark program and what they’re doing to grow. When Borders-backed Kobo launched last December, it was joining a crowd of e-readers that had already aligned themselves with major booksellers. Amazon released its first-generation Kindle e-reader in November 2007, followed by Barnes & Nobles's Nook in November 2009. Kobo wasn’t available in the U.S. until May. As a latecomer, the bookseller has held its own, accumulating 103 million registered users and growing from 10 to 170 employees in its first year. Last week, the company launched its social app, making it the first of its competitors to provide a real-time social experience to its readers. The new app allows readers to check-in to books, earn badges, and keeps track of their reading stats — and share all of these activities to their Facebook profiles. CEO Mike Serbinis recently spoke with Mashable about Kobo’s growth and the potential of social reading to differentiate the company from its growing list of competitors. Gaining Customers With An Affordable Device When Kobo launched its $150 product earlier this year, most e-readers in the market were selling for somewhere around $300. The strategy was to make the Kobo store accessible to people who wouldn’t otherwise buy an expensive reader or tablet. "[Selling an affordable e-reader] was always part of the strategy, but [also] knowing that our own delivery of an e-reader would be mostly about getting customers who, for now, want to use an e-reader rather than a tablet,” Serbinis says. “We knew [the e-reader device] wouldn't' be forever, that it would be focused on getting those customers. So far, it seems like it's working well beyond our expectations." Most of Kobo’s customers read books on multiple devices, and, like the Kindle and Nook, the device has released apps that customers can use to purchase books on different platforms. In other words, it’s not the device that will continue to be important in the future, but content sales. Kobo helped give people a device that was more affordable than tablet and other e-reader options at the time, which — even though Amazon and Barnes and Noble quickly answered by dropping their own prices — was an effective way to gain new customers at launch. Differentiating the E-Reading Experience The price point of its e-reader is no longer a differentiator for Kobo, but the company is hoping that the new social reading component of its app might be. The component rolled out on the iPad app last week and is planned to launch on its iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and e-reader apps in the future. It’s the first serious step any of the major players have taken toward changing the actual reading experience (though Copia did launch a social reading platform last month). Readers can “check in” with specific characters and places in the books that they’re reading and earn badges for activities like late-night reading, reading during rush hour, or finishing a book. The new format also provides an opportunity for brands to partner with Kobo to offer rewards with badges. Reading in Starbucks three times could turn into a branded badge and a free small coffee, for instance. Serbinis is confident that this kind of social interaction is where the future of reading is headed. “Anyone who is not moving in this direction is not going to be around next year at this time,” he says. His argument is that reading has always been social — that’s what book clubs, lending, highlighting and conversations have always been. Whether readers agree is yet to be determined but could pay off big time in Kobo’s favor. Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today. Reviews: Android, Facebook, Mashable More About: e-books, e-reader, kobo For more Startups coverage: Follow Mashable Startups on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Startups channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

The State of the iOS App Store [INFOGRAPHIC] Posted: 16 Dec 2010 06:40 PM PST Quiz: how much does the average iOS app cost? What percentage of apps are free? And can you guess which application has over 1 million ratings in the iPhone App Store? The people over at App of the Day have crunched the numbers and, using data available from Apple and other sources, broken down the iOS app landscape. They have also created an elegant infographic to visualize the data. Some of the results might surprise you. “Using a variety of sources including Apple’s RSS feeds and search APIs, we put together a collection of data that we then analyzed to produce the infographic,” founder Jordan Satok explained to us. According to App of the Day’s analysis, 67% of applications in the App Store are paid apps, and 50% of all apps (not just paid applications) cost less than $3.00. The vast majority of these apps are for the iPhone — a whopping 85% are iPhone-only, while another 8% are “universal” apps for iPad and iPhone. One surprise is that books beat out games as the top category for apps in Apple’s marketplace. The reason for the dominance of books in the App Store is due to one developer who has over 7,000 book apps in the iOS App Store alone. Entertainment, education and lifestyle rounded out the top five categories. Finally, App of the Day analyzed the average prices of apps based on category. Book apps cost an average of $5, while the price of an iOS game (paid and free combined) hovered right around the $1 mark. Unsurprisingly, the most expensive category of apps was the medical sector, whose average price is in the $7 range. We have included App of the Day’s infographic below. Do any of these App Store stats stand out to you? Let us know in the comments. Infographic Reviews: App Store, iPhone More About: app store, apple, infographic, iOS, iOS App Store, iPad App Store, iphone app store For more Mobile coverage: Follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Mobile channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

New Facebook Features Exposed in Accidental Update Posted: 16 Dec 2010 05:26 PM PST Facebook accidentally went live with a handful of prototype features earlier today, including a site-wide yet short-lived overhaul of Pages. Roughly 45 minutes after the mistaken update, Facebook disabled the site, reverted back to its previous state and then tweeted apologetically about the downtime. But that brief span of time was enough for Facebook members and Page admins to get a sneak peak at new features in the works. Facebook admitted to pushing features before their time. “Also, some internal prototypes were exposed to people and resulted in us disabling the site briefly. It’s now back to normal,” read a tweet from Facebook. So what were those prototypes exactly? Screenshots shared with us and surfaced through other media outlets suggest all of the following: new Facebook Pages (with Questions integration), a “Switch Accounts” feature for Page Admins, a new Memories feature that chronicles photos and status updates from years past and an “Outside World” filter for the News Feed. What follows is a deeper look at what some Facebook users saw today. Update: We’ve added two new prototypes to this post based on your comments: A lightbox UI for Photos and a comment box that no longer includes the “Comment” button. Were you privy to these or other changes? Share your thoughts in the comments. New Facebook Pages Pages got a temporary facelift with a tab-free design — the navigation instead being placed on the left-hand side of the Page — that more closely resembles Facebook Place Pages and member Profiles. We also noticed that Questions were integrated into the Pages experience and that Facebook introduced a “Switch Accounts” feature for Page admins. We initially thought it strange that new Facebook Pages would be released without an announcement from Facebook. Commenters agreed; many of you expressed displeasure at the idea that would Facebook would overhaul Pages without notifying you of the changes first. When pressed for clarification specifically around Pages, a Facebook spokesperson shared the following statement: “While we are always experimenting with new features internally we are not making changes to Pages right now. Organizations invest a lot of time on their Facebook Pages because millions of people find them useful everyday. We remain committed to providing ways for Page owners to customize and control the experience on their Page. If we do make changes, we will provide partners with advance notice.” Memories Several users reported having access to a new “Memories” option listed below Photos in the left-hand menu on their Profile Pages. A Mashable commenter said of the feature, “I was online during the glitch and also saw a new MEMORIES link under my profile pic. It’s gone now but I did get a sneak peek while it lasted. It allowed you to look back at status updates, photos, and new friends…giving a snapshot of each year I’ve been on FB.” The Next Web reporter Courtney Boyd Myers saw the Memories option and described it in a similar fashion. “It showed options for jumping to photos grouped by years: 2010, 2009, 2008, etc. with complementing information like status dated status updates, the number of friends added per year, events attended and Facebook places check-ins,” she wrote. Memories would make for a pleasant (hopefully) walk down memory lane, so we hope this features finds its way back to Profile Pages in the near future. Outside World News Feed Filter We also found some evidence that Facebook may still be testing a filter for the News Feed called “Outside World.” Twitter user @casschin posted a TwitPic of the filter that shows the News Feed with a Most Recent drop-down menu that includes “Outside World” as a filter. FBHive first unearthed the filter back in 2009 and speculated that it was an RSS-like option for the News Feed. At the time, TechCrunch confirmed with Facebook that the filter was for internal staffers only. We’re not quite sure to make of this one just yet. Photos Lightbox UI Several commenters have said they also saw the lightbox UI for Facebook Photos, albeit with a few bugs. The photo included here comes courtesy of Mashable reader Andrew Mrozkowski. The feature was first previewed when Facebook upgraded Photos two months ago. “Any time you click on an image anywhere on Facebook, be it in an album or in your News Feed or on a friend's Wall, you'll see a black box hovering over the rest of the screen with some minimal navigation controls and relevant social features, allowing you to concentrate completely on the image at hand,” said Mashable reporter Jolie O’Dell at the time. Removal of “Comment” Button from Comment Box Facebook may have pushed a premature update to comment boxes earlier today, according to Mashable readers. Readers are reporting that comment boxes temporarily mirrored those in the new Facebook Groups product and did not have the “Comment” button. Without the button, a user simply needs to hit the Enter/Return key to submit his comment. The screenshot above is merely a mock up, but these reports sound about right. Facebook consistently updates older products to match the style of its newer ones. Hat tip to Long Nguyen, Dep and the rest of our astute readers on this find. Images courtesy of TwitPic, ZDNet, casschin Reviews: Facebook, Mashable, Twitpic, Twitter, pages More About: facebook, facebook pages, outside world, social media, trending 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

The Nexus S Makes Its Debut, But Can It Avoid the Nexus One’s Fate? Posted: 16 Dec 2010 04:40 PM PST The second generation of the Google Phone, better known as the Nexus S, officially went on sale today in Best Buy stores across the United States. Is its presence in a major retail chain enough to avoid the sad fate of its predecessor, the Nexus One? Last week, Google officially announced the Nexus S, a “pure” Google phone running Android 2.3, a.k.a. Gingerbread. In addition to a 1 GHz Cortex A8 processor, 16GB of flash memory and front- and rear-facing cameras, it also boasts a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen and design based on the Samsung Galaxy S. Today, Google officially launched the device and reiterated its price and availability. Starting now, the Android phone will be sold in Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores online and in physical, U.S.-based stores. You can acquire one with a two-year T-Mobile service plan for $199 or buy one without contract for $529.99. The Evolutionary Steps of the Nexus The Nexus One was just as much a response to the power of the wireless carriers as it was a response to Apple’s iPhone. The phone was only available through an online store operated by Google rather than through retail stores. The result of that experiment was utter failure. After lackluster sales, Google shut down the web store. The device never even made it to the Verizon network before it was killed. Google has since realized that people like to hold their phones in their hands before buying them. Apple’s popular retail stores have been instrumental to the success of the iPhone, so Google has turned to Best Buy for distribution of the Nexus S Still, the device is held back by its availability on T-Mobile only. AT&T and Verizon have larger networks and greater reach. And with the vast proliferation of high-end Android devices such as the HTC Evo and the Galaxy S, the Nexus S isn’t necessarily the must-have Android phone on the market. Perhaps success for Google isn’t measured by pure sales but by the influence of its device on the market. The device will serve as a “clean” testing and development device for thousands of app programmers. It also sets a high bar for the quality of an Android device, thanks to its fast processor and the use of Gingerbread. It’s not certain what Google is trying to accomplish with the Nexus S and future Nexus devices, but we’re certain it will fare better than its predecessor. While it will likely never reach the proliferation of the iPhone, it may prove to be a powerful weapon in Google’s war with Apple. Reviews: Android, Google More About: android, commentary, Google, Nexus S, Opinion For more Mobile coverage: Follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Mobile channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

MySpace Launches Fan Management Tools for Bands Posted: 16 Dec 2010 03:34 PM PST Every dude with a band has most likely built a MySpace page in an effort to “get into that social media thing, and, like, self-promote, man,” but until now, the site hasn’t offered that much utility for musicians looking to promote themselves. However, the former “place for friends” has recently announced an integration with marketing and promotion platform ReverbNation that will give artists a handy collection of tools that they can use to track analytics (both on MySpace and on other social media sites) and organize and contact their fans. The new contact tools are an extension of Reverb’s Fan Relationship Management application, FanReach. FanReach will allow bands to port all their contacts into the MySpace environment, from which they can reach out to fans from a consolidated dashboard. In a sense, FanReach is an e-mailing marketing service — think MailChip — that lets bands zero in on certain demographics by sorting their fans by age, location, etc and create a more targeted mailing campaign. They can also check open rates, campaign success, etc. This suite of tools will also let artists track activity across social networks like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and share song embeds. We imagine that this new service will cut down on the spammy nature of most MySpace interactions, and allow bands to tap into and monitor the fanbase they have already built on the site. The app is free for all artists, and works the same within both MySpace and ReverbNation. A premium version is also available for musicians who want to use the app’s library of pre-made mailing templates, employ a custom design or who want to e-mail more than 400 fans. Why MySpace? At this juncture, readers may be wondering, “Why the hell would any platform integrate with MySpace? Is MySpace even still around?” The confusion may even grow more intense when one hears that ReverbNation has just hit the one-million artist mark (Translation: It’s not hurting for members). CEO Michael Doernberg is aware of the public opinion of MySpace. “The first question is: ‘Why did we do this deal?’…. MySpace is still the de facto music destination on the web,” he says. “If you want to go to single place to see a comprehensive presentation of a band, MySpace is still the biggest. There’s a lot of fan relationships built up in MySpace. It’s really up to us to try to unlock that MySpace value for the artist,” he says. Efforts like this, along with a renewed multi-year search and advertising deal with Google, could serve to keep MySpace relevant, despite recent financial woes. Check out the new artist tool and let us know what you think of this recent integration. Fan Reach Stats Tools Image courtesy of Flickr, Taylor Burnes Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube More About: music, myspace, ReverbNation For more Entertainment coverage: Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

PlayStation Launching Android and iPhone Apps “Very Soon” [PIC] Posted: 16 Dec 2010 03:04 PM PST Sony is set to launch free iPhone and Android apps for Playstation in the very near future, likely in early 2011. According to the company, the first versions of the apps will come to the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and The Netherlands, with more countries expected soon. With the 1.0 versions, users will be able to monitor their PlayStation Network trophies as well as friends' games and online statuses. The apps will also deliver gaming news and PlayStation announcements, and it will let users share news or interesting product details via Twitter, Facebook and email. Basically, you’ll be able to do everything except actually playing games. System requirements are about what you’d expect. iPhone and iPod touch users will need to be running devices with iOS 4; Android device owners will need to be running Android 1.6 or higher. While we’re definitely surprised the apps aren’t going to be available in the U.S. at launch, what we don’t find too shocking is PlayStation’s foray into the world of mobile phones. After all, rumors about the PlayStation Phone have had us and other mobile and gaming bloggers salivating for details for months, and rival Microsoft recently made Xbox Live available to Windows Phone 7 owners. Here’s a first look at the Android version (above) and iPhone version (below) of the app from the PlayStation blog: Reviews: Android, Facebook, Twitter, blog More About: android, gaming, iphone, Mobile 2.0, playstation, sony For more Entertainment coverage: Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Mercedes Promo Seeks “Twitter-Savvy” Drivers Posted: 16 Dec 2010 02:44 PM PST Mercedes is adding some social media muscle to a planned 60-second Super Bowl TV spot with a program seeking “Twitter-savvy” auto enthusiasts to race across country to the game in Dallas. The automaker worked with online casting site GotCast, looking for four two-person teams of drivers. The winning team gets a Mercedes Benz 2012 C-Class Coupe. Teams starting in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Tampa will participate in what the company calls “The World’s First Twitter-Fueled Race.” The team that garners the most tweets and Facebook likes wins. Mercedes announced the initiative today on its Facebook page. Semifinalists will be contacted on December 24 and will be asked to create a short video making their case. Mercedes will announce finalists on January 5. The company plans to run its ad during the fourth quarter, according to Advertising Age. Mercedes isn’t the only luxe brand attempting to skew younger. Lexus today also announced a tie-in with a marathon for Halo: Reach this weekend in an attempt to position the hybrid as edgy. Reviews: Facebook More About: mercedes, Super Bowl, twitter For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Hotmail Gets Interactive, Runs JavaScript Within E-mails Posted: 16 Dec 2010 02:27 PM PST Windows Live has just announced something new for Hotmail: Interactive e-mail. The e-mail giant is allowing developers to embed and run JavaScript from within e-mails; this is the natural next step in e-mail’s evolution from plain text to HTML and beyond. What this means for the average e-mail recipient is that more of the messages they receive will be increasingly up-to-date, and content will be interactive. If the developer sending the e-mail is hip to Hotmail’s changes, you’ll be able to take actions from within the e-mail itself without having to navigate to a slew of other web pages. Basically, the new Hotmail e-mails will look, feel and behave like a web page running within an e-mail. It’s a cool update, and it also has the potential to keep Hotmail more competitive with Google’s Gmail, which offers users previews of content from Flickr and YouTube within e-mails. The problem with running JavaScript in e-mails, of course, is security: How can Hotmail protect users from malicious code? Windows Live Active Views is a product aimed at answering this question. While we’d love to know more about what exactly Active Views is and how it does what it does, all Microsoft has told us so far is that Active Views uses “technology that allows senders to run code securely in their email messages.” That’s a pretty vague statement about a pretty cool feature; we’ll let you know when we learn more. Orbitz and Monster.com will be the first two companies to use the new interactive e-mail platform from Hotmail, with LinkedIn and Netflix jumping on the bandwagon soon. Here’s a quick demo of the product: Reviews: Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube More About: active views, e-mail, email, hotmail, javascript, Windows Live 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

How Twitter Users Changed in 2010 [CHARTS] Posted: 16 Dec 2010 02:23 PM PST Twitter signed on more than 100 million new users in 2010. As they get acclimated to the information network, significant changes in usage are bound to take place. That’s exactly what social media monitoring company Sysomos found when comparing Twitter usage in 2010 to 2009. What stands out the most is that more Twitter users have much higher follower and following counts. Twenty-one percent of Twitter users now follow more than 100 people — that’s up from 7% last year — and 16% now have more than 100 followers, according to Sysomos, which looked at over a billion tweets from 20 million users in 2010 and compared them against data gathered in 2009. Twitter users in 2010 were much more likely to provide a bio (69%), detailed name (73%), location (82%) and website URL (44%) as part of their public profiles. All of those percentages are more than double what they were in 2009, which means the average Twitter user has become more comfortable with sharing personally identifiable information about themselves. Sysomos also found that 80.6% of Twitter users have made fewer than 500 tweets, which likely points to the relative newbie status of the average Twitter user. Also noteworthy is that 22.5% of users are responsible for 90% of all tweets. The report highlights other Twitter-related behaviors, including popular keywords in Twitter bios, and analyzes how the friend-to-follower ratio changes as follower and following counts increase. We’ve included a collection of charts from the Sysomos report below. Twitter Stats 2010 Twitter Growth Users with Bios Users with Detailed Name Users with Location Users with Website URL Change in Friends Change in Followers Follower to Friend Ratio Friend to Follower Ratio One Word Tag Cloud Two Word Tag Cloud Reviews: Twitter More About: social media, stats, sysomos, 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

Hands-on With Vevo HD for iPad Posted: 16 Dec 2010 02:21 PM PST Music video site Vevo has just launched its brand new app for the iPad, Vevo HD. The release of Vevo HD comes four months after the company launched its first mobile app, Vevo for iPhone. Mashable had a chance to put the app through its paces and to talk to Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff about the design, upcoming features and the company’s future plans in the mobile and tablet space. In its first iteration, Vevo HD is a very good example of how to effectively use the additional real estate of the iPad in order to display video. The app [iTunes Link] uses HTTP streaming so that it can adjust playback quality based on what type of connection you are on. Vevo has also incorporated a new iPad-optimized encoding profile to deliver better looking video to the device. You can browse videos by artist, genre or from pre-configured playlists. You can also search for artists or videos by name, and you can create playlists by adding videos to your current queue. The app works in both landscape and portrait mode, and it is easy to navigate. The one jarring feature of the app is that when you click on an option, such as sharing a video or purchasing a song, the video pauses. This was by design. We’re not sure how effective this is in practice and Caraeff tells us that this may change in future versions. Good Start, Big Plans for the Future Another change planned for the next release is the ability to continue to listen or watch a video while browsing through other categories or playlists. Right now, you can browse through related videos or videos from the same artist while playing back content, but moving to a different area or searching will stop the music. In the future, this will be more streamlined. Due to licensing restrictions, Vevo HD does not continue audio playback when you exit the app. The app does, however, support fast-app switching, which means that when you re-enter the app it will pick up where you last stopped watching. Vevo HD does not support Apple’s AirPlay protocol at this time, but provided that Apple opens that API to developers who are using customized media players, the feature will be available in the future. Music Map, or Vevo Goes Hyperlocal One of the coolest features of the Vevo app is the Music Map. This map shows you a near real-time feed of the top videos in your area. You can view the most popular videos in your area and in major cities. You can also dive into different areas of a city to see what is popular there. Clicking on a track will start playing it immediately. Vevo plans to integrate this Music Map experience into its website and into other apps in the future. Live Video Because of its partnership with YouTube and other music providers like CBS, Vevo offers a number of live concerts. You can elect to receive a push notification when the performance starts and thus tune in to the live stream. Future versions of the app will provide a more tailored live schedules and easy access to archived performances. Artist Integration The artists’ section of the app is quite interesting. In addition to showcasing artists’ music videos, you can view their Twitter streams (provided they tweet) — and soon, their Facebook streams. You can also find out if an artist is on tour and if so, access an easy link to buy tickets. Caraeff told us that future versions of the app will provide access to more artist merchandise and other information, making Vevo HD not just a video player, but a full artist portal. This is a good move on the part of Vevo, which is backed by music labels Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI. Vevo mobile apps are the only places users can access the official YouTube versions of these music videos, since YouTube apps and mobile websites don’t support Vevo content. Therefore, this is a great way capitalize on viewer engagement. To that end, Vevo has also integrated advertising into the app that is iAd-esque in style. I asked Caraeff if Vevo had any plans to use iAds in its apps and while the company loves the concept, at the present time, it will stick with its own ad team. On the advertising end, pre-roll trivia loads while videos are loading — a nice touch — and video ads run intermittently through the app. Advertisers can also utilize advertising space throughout the app. Future Plans Caraeff told us that Vevo plans to better integrate its mobile apps, website and television content in the future. Although each app is designed for each specific platform, Vevo is striving for a cohesive brand across its various platforms. Vevo also plans to integrate user sign-ons across platforms so that playlists, ratings and histories can be carried over from the website to the iPad or to the iPhone. As it stands now, Vevo HD is a very nice complement to the website experience. We would liken the app experience more to watching TV rather than surfing the web. This is a huge benefit for Vevo because it means that consumers are likely to stay engaged for longer periods of time. Sustained viewership is a key metric for video advertising. Vevo has plans to release an Android app the first week of January and that app will be optimized to work well on larger screen devices like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Its iPad and iPhone apps will also receive feature updates that will help solidify the entire package. As a first effort, we think Vevo did a stellar job with its iPad app. It’s easy to use, the quality is quite good and the featureset is top-notch. Do you still watch music videos? How do you view them? Let us know. Main Screen Main Screen Featured Artist Featured Artist Main Splash Page Pre-roll Ad/Trivia Portrait Playback Portrait Playback Fullscreen Landscape Playback Fullscreen Landscape Playback Fullscreen Video Information Share Menu Twitter/Facebook/E-mail Twitter Facebook Add to Playlist Related Videos Related Videos Featured Videos Music Map Playback Buy Track iTunes Portrait Playback Volume/Timeline Video Info Share Options Share Options More from Artist Related Videos Playlists Playlists Artists Genres Genres Reviews: Android, Facebook, Mashable, Twitter, YouTube More About: ipad, ipad apps, music videos, vevo, vevo hd, youtube For more Entertainment coverage: Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

The New Facebook Pages Are Here [UPDATED] Posted: 16 Dec 2010 01:53 PM PST Update #2: The push appears to have been accidental. A Facebook spokesperson tells us, “While we are always experimenting with new features internally we are not making changes to Pages right now. Organizations invest a lot of time on their Facebook Pages because millions of people find them useful everyday. We remain committed to providing ways for Page owners to customize and control the experience on their Page. If we do make changes, we will provide partners with advance notice.” Update: Pages have been reverted back to the old style, and a new tweet from Facebook suggests that the mass transformation may have been unintentional or caused prototype features to get accidentally pushed as well. “Also, some internal prototypes were exposed to people and resulted in us disabling the site briefly. It’s now back to normal,” reads the tweet. We’ve reached out to Facebook for additional clarification. Facebook ceremoniously launched its new Profile Pages less than two weeks ago. Today, Facebook has gifted Page admins with a similar holiday surprise — a big facelift and feature overall to Pages. Here’s what’s new: Pages now match Profiles and Place Pages in style and design, there’s a new left-hand menu that has been introduced to replace tab navigation and Facebook Questions have been integrated into the experience. Facebook has also included a new feature that lets Page admins quickly switch between accounts. The Account menu option in the upper left-hand corner now includes a “Switch Accounts” option, as seen below. Admins can click it to pull up a menu to log in to any of the other Pages they have access to. Today’s Pages transformation was to be expected, as we initially got wind of the pending changes when the new Profile Pages went live. Still, the unannounced push comes as a bit of a surprise. Reviews: Facebook, pages More About: facebook, facebook pages, 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

10 Free Online Resources for Science Teachers Posted: 16 Dec 2010 01:42 PM PST One of the greatest ways technology can empower teachers is by helping them demonstrate concepts and by making it easier for students to learn through their own exploration and experimentation. Because science teachers are often called upon to teach topics that are too large, too small, happen too fast, happen too slowly, require equipment that is too expensive, or has the potential to blow up a laboratory, the Internet can be particularly helpful in assisting them convey a concept. Universities, non-profit organizations and scientists with free time have put an overwhelming number of resources for teaching science on the web. These are nine of our favorites. 1. The Periodic Table of Videos A group of scientists based at the University of Nottingham added some character to the static periodic table of elements by creating a short video for each one. Hydrogen, for instance, seems much more exciting after you’ve seen what happens when you hold a match to a balloon that is filled with it, and it’s easier to remember the name Darmstadtium after you have seen Darmstadt. The group also puts out a non-YouTube version of the site for schools that have blocked the site. 2. Teach the Earth The Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College has compiled just about every fathomable resource for geoscience educators. By serving as the portal to helpful web pages from dozens of independent project websites, the site provides visuals, classroom activities and course descriptions for everything from oceanography to “red tide and harmful algal blooms.” 3. Stellarium Stellarium is a planetarium for your computer. Just input your location and explore the sky outside or the view from any other location. The program offers up information on stars, nebulae, planets and constellations according to 12 different cultures. In addition to being ideal for classroom astronomy lessons, Stellarium’s open source software is also used to light up the screens of a number of real planetariums. Even though Google Sky won’t give you a view from a specific location, it will direct you to specific galaxies, planets and stars or to a map of the moon that notes where each of the six Apollo missions landed. 4. YouTube “What happens when you put Cesium in water?” is a question that in some cases is best answered by YouTube. YouTube’s archive of demonstrations have the advantage of being safe, clean and unlikely to catch on fire. You’ll find experiments for most concepts just by using the search bar. But if you’re in a browsing mood, check out this list of the 100 coolest science experiments on YouTube. Most schools that block YouTube allow access to educational alternatives like TeacherTube and School Tube. 5. NASA Education NASA has lesson plans, videos and classroom activities for science subjects ranging from Kindergarten to university levels. The best part of this resource gold mine is that it’s easy to search by keyword or to browse by grade level, type of material or subject. Check out the Be a Martian Game, the interactive timeline and the NASA Space Place for some smart fun. 6. Learn.Genetics These resources for learning about genetics by the University of Utah’s Genetic Science Learning Center include interactive visualizations, 3D animations and activities. Student activities include taking a “tour” of DNA, a chromosome or a protein, building a DNA molecule, or exploring the inside of a cell. The university is also building a sister site, Teach.Genetics, with print-and-go lesson plans and supplemental materials for some channels on the Learn.Genetics site. 7. The Concord Consortium The Concord Consortium is a non-profit organization that helps develop technologies for math, science and engineering education. Their free, open source software is available for teachers to download to use in their classes. They include visualizations and models for a broad range of topics. Some examples include: The Molecular Workbench, a free tool that creates interactive simulations for everything from cellular respiration to chemical bonding. Geniquest introduces students to cutting-edge genetics using dragons as their model organisms; Evolution Readiness is a project designed to teach fourth graders about evolution concepts using simulations; and The ITSI-SU Project provides lab-based activities involving probes, models and simulations. To search for classroom activities across all projects, teachers can use the site’s Activity Finder to browse by subject, grade level or keyword. 8. The ChemCollective The ChemCollective, a project that is funded by the National Science Foundation, allows students to design and carry out their own experiments in a virtual laboratory and provides virtual lab problems, real-world scenarios, concept tests, simulations, tutorials and course modules for learning basic chemistry. The project recently won a Science Prize for Online Resources in Education from Science Magazine. 9. Scitable Scitable is both the Nature Publishing Group’s free science library and a social network. Teachers can create a “classroom” with a customized reading list, threaded discussions, news feeds and research tools. There’s also an option to use the material on the site to create a customized e-book for free that can include any of the more than 500 videos, podcasts or articles on the site. Topic rooms combine articles, discussions and groups related to one key concept in science and make it easy to find material that is relevant to your class and connect with people who are also passionate about the subject. What resources did you find most helpful, or what great science tools did we miss? Let us know in the comments below. 10. Impact: Earth! Want to see how a particular projectile from space would affect the Earth? With this tool that was developed for Purdue University, your students can enter the projectile parameters, angle and velocity to calculate what would happen if the object were to actually hit Earth. You can also get the details on the projectiles that caused famous craters. More Education Resources from Mashable: - 8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education - The Case For Social Media in Schools - 7 Fantastic Free Social Media Tools for Teachers - How Online Classrooms Are Helping Haiti Rebuild Its Education System - 5 Innovative Classroom Management Tools for Teachers Image courtesy of iStockphoto, rrocio Reviews: Internet, YouTube, iStockphoto More About: education, education resources, Kids, List, Lists, resources, school, Science, social media, teachers, tech, visualizations, youtube For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Facebook Goes Down Amid Rollout of New Brand Pages [UPDATED] Posted: 16 Dec 2010 01:25 PM PST Update #3 (5:18 p.m. ET): Facebook is now back up. The company tweeted an apology, explaining that “some internal prototypes were exposed to people and resulted in us disabling the site briefly. It’s now back to normal.” Facebook Pages have also returned to their earlier (old) formats. Update #2 (4:58 p.m. ET): Facebook appears to be going in and out of service. Update (4:44 p.m. ET): Facebook appears to be back up for most users. Facebook just began rolling out several new features, including newly redesigned brand Pages (first revealed about a week and a half ago), a new Photos section dubbed “Memories” that allows users to view photos by year, and the ability to switch accounts for managing different Facebook Pages without having to log out. However, at around the time the new features began appearing (4:15 ET), the site went down for many users, including all of us here at Mashable. Per usual, hundreds of users have since turned to Twitter to complain about the outage. We’ve reached out to Facebook to find out the reason for the downtime and will update the post with any additional information. A source close to Facebook said the outage was related to an issue with customized tabs on Facebook Pages, which disappeared an hour before the site went down. In addition, Page owners were unable to determine which tab visitors landed on. When the site reappeared temporarily, customized tabs and landing pages were restored. Reviews: Facebook, Mashable, Twitter, pages More About: facebook 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

Citibank Launches “Bank of the Future” in New York Posted: 16 Dec 2010 01:14 PM PST The flagship branch that Citibank opened in New York’s Union Square today is a bit different from banks in its other locations. Instead of picking up a paper brochure, patrons can use one of the six interactive sales walls with touchscreen capabilities to learn more about bank services. Instead of using deposit envelopes, they can use enhanced-image ATMs to deposit checks without them. And instead of waiting for business hours to speak with a customer service representative, customers can use a 24/7 video chat station in the ATM lobby. The digital components of the 9,700-square-foot branch are based on technologies pioneered by Citibanks in Hong Kong and Singapore. Some features of the new bank seem more suited for a cafe or a airport lounge than a bank. Customers can access free Wi-Fi (in a private seating lounge if they are Citigold customers), and “media walls” display news, weather, and information about Citibank. Atmosphere Proximity, Citi’s digital agency, also designed a chip with the bank’s social media team that accesses a special Foursquare feed. Whenever a certain amount of people check in to the branch, an “internal marketing screen” shows which users are inside the branch at that very moment. "We want this branch to be more than just a bank," Brad Dinsmore, Citigroup's head of retail banking in North America, said in a speech at the opening ceremony. "We want this branch to be a place where customers view it as a hub, a center of the community, if you will. A place where they feel warm and welcome, that they can come in and experience our free Wi-Fi access." Citi plans to open other branches that emulate the Union Square experience in other key U.S. markets, including San Francisco, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago. Reviews: foursquare More About: bank, Bank of the future, citibank 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

How Connected Devices and Consoles Compare [INFOGRAPHIC] Posted: 16 Dec 2010 12:55 PM PST As 2010 draws to a close, we’re finally starting to see new and improved connected devices for bringing streaming content to the living room hit the market. Devices like Roku, Boxee Box and Apple TV all promise an affordable way to bring online content to your TV, while consoles like the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii are continually updated to support more programming options like Netflix, Hulu Plus and more. As more and more devices gain connectivity, differentiating one from the other becomes more of a challenge. We’ve already compared how some of these devices stack up to one another in a recent infographic, but the gang at PlayStation have taken it upon themselves to do something similar. The interactive infographic (which is in Flash, sorry mobile users), is meant to highlight what features various game consoles and set-top boxes support. The infographic is obviously designed to present the PS3 in the best light, omitting price and connectivity options from the list. Still, it’s not a bad way to eyeball what services offer access to what. If an individual wants a Blu-ray player and connected content, the PS3 is a good deal. For those who want more streaming content and care less about games, however, devices like the Roku, Apple TV and Boxee Box are more affordable. We should note that while Sony indicates that the Xbox 360 does not support Hulu Plus content, support is expected to come in January. What connected device do you prefer in your living room? Reviews: Blu More About: Apple TV, boxee box, connected devices, connected tv, hulu, infographic, netflix, playstation 3, roku For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

New Version of Foursquare to Arrive Next Week Posted: 16 Dec 2010 12:21 PM PST Foursquare has just announced via Twitter that the next version of its popular iPhone app will hit the App Store next week. “We just found an app approval in our stocking! New foursquare early next week. Thanks #SantaJobs,” the social checkin service tweeted. Expect the next version of Foursquare to get a lot more personal. When I dropped by for an interview with co-founder Naveen Selvadurai at Foursquare’s New York City headquarters last week, he hinted that the next version of Foursquare would begin offering personalized recommendations to users based on where they and their friends had previously checked in — not just for places, but also what they should do at those places. “When [Foursquare] knows you, it should ping you about some amazing store nearby. The goal is to create something that teaches you something about you[rself] and gets you out to discover new places… [When you arrive at a restaurant, for instance, Foursquare] should recommend that your mom order this and that you should get the salad. It should remember that you were there.” Selvadurai also suggested that the game mechanics of Foursquare would shift slightly, with less of an emphasis on competing against others (i.e. for mayorships, or your city’s leaderboard), but against oneself. “We want to make the game more personal,” he said. “The leaderboard is daunting to some people. Going into the next phase of our game mechanics, it’s about making the game more personal. It’s you against yourself,” he hinted. Whether we’ll see any of these more personalized gaming features in next week’s release is unclear. In addition, a recently leaked screenshot suggests that the new edition might include the ability to upload and view photos of various venues. What do you expect or what would you like to see in the next version of Foursquare? Reviews: foursquare More About: foursquare, iphone, iphone apps, social media, trending 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

5 Ways Cities Are Using Social Media to Reverse Economic Downturn Posted: 16 Dec 2010 12:15 PM PST The economic downturn has forced cities and states across the country to be more creative as they compete to attract companies and stimulate local economies. In just the past year, local economic development agencies have turned to social media tools and tactics to enhance their efforts nationally and locally. According to a 2009 survey conducted by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and marketing agency Development Counsellors International (DCI), 57% of IEDC members surveyed said they were using social media tools. Of that, 63% had used them for less than a year. At the time, developers primarily focused their social media efforts on internal or regional uses, such as disseminating news and providing links to resources that support local businesses. LinkedIn was the social network of choice. What a difference a year makes. Since the survey, economic developers have expanded their social media repertoire. Looking beyond localized efforts, they are using blogs, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to attract and interact with site selectors and company decision makers nationally and globally. Here are five ways cities and regions are using social media today. 1. Strengthening or Rebranding a Region’s Image When Orlando was wooing a New York City-based company, it heard a concern that it wasn’t considered "edgy" enough and was too "theme-parkish." To demonstrate an "edgier" image, the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission created a microsite with a YouTube and Flickr presence. The city also sourced stories from their members as well as testimonials about why they love living and working in Orlando through Facebook, Twitter and its e-newsletter. The result? Orlando was shortlisted and matched against the target company’s home base of Manhattan. The company decided not to relocate, but the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission credits social media as part of what helped rebrand their city and make a strong showing in its recruiting efforts. 2. Showcasing Story Ideas for the Media The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) used social media to generate media interest. The DBED launched a new website –- ChooseMaryland -– along with branded social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr. Since launching its social media channels, the DBED has seen its efforts turn into news stories and media opportunities, including a story in the Maryland Daily Record, an interview by tech correspondent Mario Armstrong on his Digital Café radio show as well as retweets and blog posts by reporters from the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun. Further south, the Greater Richmond Partnership, Inc. posts videos on YouTube of CEOs who have successfully relocated their companies, businesses that are growing in the area, and community leaders extolling the benefits of their city — all as promotional tools. They also created a series of videos titled Boundless Creativity specifically for a UK conference for businesses interested in expanding their presence to the U.S. to promote the creative class centered in greater Richmond. 3. Attracting Former Residents Back to an Area In the Midwest, the Republic County Economic Development in Kansas uses LinkedIn and Facebook to locate and reach out to alumni and other former residents. The goal? To entice them back to their region to fill available jobs or to relocate their companies and create new jobs. The organization uses LinkedIn to identify professionals who might match the services that are needed in the county. The hope is that if someone already has a connection to their area, they may have more incentive to return. The agency rounds out its social media efforts with a YouTube channel to promote a positive image about its communities. The county hired Jenny Russell, an external Internet and social media marketer to handle the launch of the social media channels and to manage the day-to-day. As the Republic County Economic Development co-coordinator, Russell estimates that she spends about seven hours per week on social media promotions and management. 4. Linking Job Seekers to Jobs Workforce development is a major aspect of economic development, and social media has been a useful way for economic development groups to promote and get results. In addition to the Greater Richmond Partnership’s (GRP) social media channels for outreach on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, the organization also launched social media channels for its workforce program, RichmondJobNet. Those job-specific channels include a Facebook Page and a Twitter presence. According to Jennifer Yeager, marketing communications consultant for the GRP, of the 21,500 tweets the organization has posted, 90% have been job listings. 5. Promoting Local and Regional Businesses and Assets The Roanoke Regional Partnership catalogued the destinations and activities for its region in a comprehensive website in order to raise interest in outdoor assets like the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway. Then it began using Facebook and Twitter to create or promote events such as scavenger hunts, outdoor expos and a film festival. They also use social media to share new data about outdoor businesses in the region, solicit input from residents for outdoor activities and answer questions for people planning outings. The economic development agency, which represents three cities and four counties in southwest Virginia, has four Facebook accounts and four Twitter pages. According to Thomas Becher, president of public relations and advertising agency tba, within one year of adding social media to its communications mix, greenway use in the area was up 29% and state parks usage rose 12% – four times the average in Virginia. What Does the Future Hold? With social media adoption growing rapidly amongst economic developers in the past year, where else can they go to reach their audience and goals? Louisiana Economic Development has its sights set on mobile with the recent launch of EQ, its quarterly economic report publication for the iPad. The interactive app includes videos, photographs and content showcasing Louisiana’s economic progress, business successes and Q&A’s with industry leaders in the state. "Economic development groups are increasingly turning to social media as a means of communicating both within their communities and externally with key audiences," said Ryan Shell, director of digital and social media for DCI. "The medium has enormous potential for our profession." More Business Resources from Mashable: - What Does Web Design Say About Your Small Business? - 5 Design Trends That Small Businesses Can Use in 2011 - 10 Free WordPress Themes for Small Businesses - 5 Beautiful Tumblr Themes for Small Businesses - 10 Free Drupal Themes for Small Business Image courtesy of iStockphoto, BenGoode Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Internet, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto More About: business, gov 2.0, government, hyper local, 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

Leaked Slide Shows Yahoo Is Killing Delicious & Other Web Apps Posted: 16 Dec 2010 11:52 AM PST A screenshot leaked minutes ago on Twitter shows an interesting juncture at Yahoo’s all-hands meeting Thursday. According to the slide, it is “sunset” time for bookmarking service Delicious, Yahoo Buzz, AltaVista, Yahoo Picks, Yahoo Bookmarks, MyBlogLog and a few other web-based services owned and operated by Yahoo. Other products, such as Yahoo Events and Yahoo People Search, are being merged. And still other services, including Yahoo Deals and the 2008 acquisition Inquisitor, are set to become bigger features in the Yahoo landscape. The decision to streamline and focus on trendier features makes sense in light of recent rumors surrounding Yahoo. We’ve heard that the company may cut 5% of its staff, and Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz hinted at Web 2.0 Summit last month that some product changes were ahead, stating that Yahoo had been a “static entity” for far too long already. Here’s the full list of companies, as per the leaked slide: Is Yahoo axing the right products and promoting ones that might help the company gain ground on the social web? Let us know what you think in the comments. Reviews: Delicious More About: delicious, Yahoo For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

London Investment Firm to Launch Twitter-Based Hedge Fund Posted: 16 Dec 2010 11:46 AM PST A London-based investment firm is getting ready to launch a hedge fund using Twitter as a stock market predictor. Investors have been playing with the idea of Twitter as a stock market analysis and speculation tool for some time now. After all, one of the first big hits in third-party Twitter apps was StockTwits, which features graphs and the ability to filter messages by company or stock exchange symbol. Startups like Chart.ly and Covestor operate in the same space, roughly. But this is the first time we’re seeing a literal and real application of cash to Twitter sentiment. Derwent Capital Markets explained its scheme to The Next Web. Basically, as Twitter users reveal themselves to be more worried, upset, happy, content, etc., the market fluxuates with rough correlation, rising on calm days and falling on anxious ones. Currently, Twitter is about 87.6% accurate for predicting stock market fluctuations. Derwent’s new fund will invest according to our Twitter-supplied general mood swings beginning in February 2011. Reviews: Twitter More About: business, finance, investment, stock market, twitter For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

81% of Gen Yers Use Facebook Daily [STUDY] Posted: 16 Dec 2010 11:38 AM PST More good news for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and not-so-great news for purveyors of traditional media: 81% of upscale Gen Yers use Facebook every day, nearly twice the number who watch TV or read newspaper content, according to a report from L2 Think Tank. The report, based on a survey of 535 “high-achieving and high-earning” Gen Y adults (average age: 27), also shows that blogs and newspapers are both a part of their daily news mix; about half of respondents read both on a daily basis. The parity between old and new was also underscored by another finding in report, that web sites are viewed as equally influential in shaping Gen Y sentiment, second only to friends’ opinions. Meanwhile, the report also found that 42% of millennials are watching TV programs online, while 27% watch movies online. Other findings: 63% use social media to engage with brands and more than 50% say that Facebook, blogs and brand videos affect their opinions about products. 24 hours prior to being polled, 56% of respondents had watched a video on YouTube; 19% on Hulu and 13% on a mobile device. Men and women in the group chose The New York Times as their favorite newspaper/magazine, followed by The Wall Street Journal and The Economist, in both cases. Men chose The Office as their favorite TV show, while women preferred Modern Family. Apple topped the list of the “last prestige brand purchase” for men and women. Image courtesy of Flickr, rishibando. Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Hulu, YouTube More About: apple, facebook, gen y, hulu 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

Google Explores the Human Body With HTML5 Posted: 16 Dec 2010 11:02 AM PST Google has just soft-launched its latest browser experiment, the Google Body Browser, which is basically Google Earth for the human body. Think of it as a three-dimensional, multi-layered browser version of those Visible Man/Woman model kits. Or a virtualized version of Slim Goodbody, if you will. Google showed off the app at the WebGL Camp. WebGL is a cross-platform low-level 3D graphics API that is designed to bring plugin-free 3D to the web. It uses the HTML5 Canvas element and does not require Flash, Java or other graphical plugins to run. If you visit bodybrowser.googlelabs.com in a supported web browser, you’ll get a three-dimensional layered model of the human anatomy that you can zoom in on, rotate and search. WebGL support hasn’t hit mainstream browsers, but the beta versions of Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox all support it. Once you’ve got a compatible browser, visiting the Body Browser home page shows off the human body. You can adjust the various layers of skin, muscles, tissues and the skeletal system. What’s really cool is that if you type in an organ or bone or ventricle system, you are taken directly to that area in the anatomy, zoomed in. You can turn labels on or off and the app supports multitouch so users of trackpads (Magic or otherwise) or multi-touch mice can zoom in with ease. This is a pretty cool display of new web technologies. Presumably the use case is for the healthcare industry, but educators and students can benefit from this kind of demonstration too. [via PeriVisioN] Reviews: Firefox, Google, Google Chrome, Safari More About: google body browser, HTML5, webgl For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

5 Great Gadgets for Reinventing Your Road Trips Posted: 16 Dec 2010 10:38 AM PST This post originally appeared on My Life Scoop, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about using social media and technology for a more connected life. If you don’t live in a bustling city with ample public transportation options, chances are that you spend a fair bit of time in your car, so you want to make that time as pleasant as possible. That’s where tech can step in to help entertain you, keep you connected, make sure you’re charged up and even help you get wherever it is you’re going. We’ve picked five fantastic gadgets that will help you get the most out of your time on the road. Have a look through the list below and let us know in the comments what your motoring must-have device is. 1. Griffin iTrip FM Transmitter An FM transmitter enables you to play the tunes from your phone or your MP3 player on your car stereo. This model from Griffin works with all iPhones (apart from 4) and most iPods. It automatically beams your music via the best FM frequency it can find. Griffin also offers a companion iPhone app, the iTrip Controller, that provides easy-to-use controls for the device. Cost: $49.99 2. TomTom Ease In-Car GPS Once you use in-car GPS, you’ll soon wonder how you ever found your way around without it. If you’re looking for a standalone device, you can’t go wrong with the entry-level, and therefore affordable, TomTom Ease. It’s compact and easy to use and offers A-to-B, turn-by-turn navigation (including street and place names) across the U.S. and Canada. Cost: $109.95 3. Jabra Cruiser In-Car Bluetooth Speakerphone A speakerphone will help you stay on the right side of the law if you have to take or make a call when driving. The Cruiser from Jabra clips onto your sun visor and, once you’ve paired it with your phone via Bluetooth, enables you to chat and drive. It offers dual microphones for better sound quality and 10 hours of battery life (13 days standby time), so you should have plenty of juice for long journeys. Cost: Approx. $45 4. Coffee Cup Power Inverter Shaped to fit conveniently into your car’s cup holder, this clever gadget converts your car’s power into two 120-volt AC outlets for charging your electronics on the go. It also offers an incredibly useful USB charging port. It can juice up three gadgets at once, so you’re pretty much protected from flat-battery-gadget-hell on a road trip. Cost: $29.99 5. XO Vision Overhead Monitor An overhead video monitor will transform your vehicle into a mobile movie theater. The beauty of the overhead design, of course, is that the equipment stays out of reach of little fingers. This model boasts a 9-inch screen and can play DVDs with the audio coming through your car’s speakers. Other features of note include USB and SD card slots and AV input for hooking up other electronic devices. Cost: $127.81 Your Picks These five devices are a great start for gearing up for better trips in your car, but we’re sure you have a few go-tos yourself. Let us know in the comments about your must-have car gadgets. More Gadget Resources from Mashable: - 10 Comfortable Lap Desks for Cozy Computing - 5 MP3 Players for Pumping Up Your Workouts - 5 Fun iPhone Accessories for Kids - 5 Beautiful Keyboards to Spice Up Your Boring Desk - 10 Great Watches for Gadget Lovers [PICS] Image courtesy of John Schanlaub Reviews: Bluetooth More About: accessories, car gadgets, gadgets, iphone accessories, List, Lists, tech, travel For more Tech coverage: Follow Mashable Tech on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Facebook-Powered Logins Get Smarter With New Registration Tools Posted: 16 Dec 2010 10:31 AM PST Thanks to a new bit of technology from Facebook, the need to fill out endless registration and sign-up forms when using a new site or app might soon become obsolete. It was once a big deal that you could log in to any given website or app using Facebook. Now, Facebook will be able to give third-party sites even more of the typical details you might use to sign up for a new account. With the new tool for developers, signing up for a new website or web app account can take seconds rather than minutes. User data, when available, can be grabbed from Facebook and inserted into the form. Think of it as Facebook’s version of Google’s autocomplete tools. Facebook engineer Paul Tarjan wrote today on the Facebook developer blog that these permissions work out well for everyone involved, including end users as well as website owners: “By minimizing the friction associated with signing up for a new account and making it easy for people to bring their friends with them, we've seen that people are more likely to complete the sign up process, stay on sites longer, share more content and come back more often. For example, in beta tests with FriendFeed, Facebook sign ups increased 300%.” Better still, the new registration tool is as simple to start using as a single line of code. It’s an iframe that can be customized to include any fields you need for your particular sign-up form. If the user signing up for your site or app is logged into Facebook and has the relevant information filled out in his Facebook profile, your form should be programmatically completed with a bow on top. Developers can get users’ names, e-mail addresses, locations or other information stored on Facebook. They can also add custom information. Users will be able to control what information is shared, as well. They can also choose to fill out registration forms manually rather than through Facebook’s tool. As Tarjan writes, “Because the tool works through an iframe, no data is shared with the website until the user clicks ‘Register.’” Developers should be able to make registering for new sites and apps a lot faster — and make the site/app experience more personal — with this new tool. Interested devs can check out Tarjan’s post and the documentation to learn more about implementing the registration tools on their sites. Reviews: Facebook, FriendFeed, Google More About: facebook, facebook connect, facebook login, registration 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

What’s Hot in Social Media This Week Posted: 16 Dec 2010 09:57 AM PST Welcome to this week's edition of "What's Hot in Social Media," a series in which we revisit the week’s most popular stories concerning social networks. We're keeping our eye on three interesting developments this Thursday. Facebook Brings Facial Recognition to Photo Tagging Facebook released a new feature, Tag Suggestions, that automatically suggests whom users should tag in photos based on facial recognition technology. The feature will begin rolling out to U.S. users next week. China Launches Communist Version of Twitter China launched a state-sponsored, Twitter-like service called Red Microblog Wednesday, the first step in a plan for local governments to master new media. WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Released on Bail Met with cheers from inside and outside the court, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted bail Tuesday, with conditions that include a curfew, an electronic tag and surrendering his passport. Facebook on Track for $2 Billion in Revenue in 2010 Sources close to Facebook financials say the social network is close to reporting revenues of $2 billion for 2010, more than double what the company pulled in last year. Twitter Enables Smaller Brands to Advertise Twitter released a new version of its Business Center Wednesday, which includes a form that lets all businesses — rather than select partners — apply to advertise via Promoted Tweets, Trends or Products. YouTube Launches Front Page Redesign YouTube has rolled out a new site design, transforming its homepage into a giant newsfeed. Blogging on the Decline, Study Reveals According to a recent study from Pew, blogging is largely on the decline among teens (down 60% since 2006), although those between the ages of 18 to 33 are blogging slightly more than they were four years ago. Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, Wikileaks, YouTube More About: blogosphere, facebook, Red Microblog, twitter, wikileaks, youtube 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

Eliminating “Khaki Diaper Butt” Nets Bonobos $18.5 Million in Funding Posted: 16 Dec 2010 09:34 AM PST Online men's retailer Bonobos — whose initial claim to fame was its better fitting men's pants that eliminate what they call "khaki diaper butt" — has landed a fresh round of funding totaling $18.5 million. The New York-based company, founded in 2007 by Andy Dunn, has since expanded beyond pants to offer dress shirts, suits, shorts and other men's apparel featuring the company's unique fit. Bonobos has also taken a Zappos-like approach to customer service, offering free shipping across the U.S. and a lenient return policy. The company also does fittings at its headquarters and through partners across the country. The approach seems to be translating into solid revenue growth; a company spokesperson tells Mashable that Bonobos did $1.3 million in sales in November, up from $830,000 two months prior and a representing a run rate of better than $15 million annually. In 2009, the company is estimated to have done about $4 million in revenue. The Series C round was led by Accel Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed and Sameer Gandhi of Accel joining the Bonobos board. Reviews: Mashable More About: bonobos, clothing, fashion, funding, venture capital For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Lipton Brisk Rolls Out Interactive Murals Posted: 16 Dec 2010 09:28 AM PST Lipton’s Brisk Tea has rolled out a program with Stickybits that celebrates urban artists with interactive murals. Four street murals — two in Los Angeles and two in New York — are based on various artists’ interpretations of new 24 oz. Lipton Brisk cans. The effort follows the launch of cans sporting artwork from Tristan Eaton, Sopa and McFaul Studio earlier this year. In an interactive twist, each mural contains a scannable Stickybits barcode, which, when scanned with the Stickybits app [iTunes link], serves up a time-lapse video of the mural’s creation. After that, users are prompted to scan a Lipton Brisk can to enter to win an Xbox 360. That’s not the only mobile push for Lipton Brisk right now. The brand also has a program running in Hess convenience stores where consumers can check in to get a special deal and enter to win free gas for a year. More About: Lipton brisk, Pepsi, stickybits For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

MySpace Renews Key Ad Deal With Google Posted: 16 Dec 2010 09:13 AM PST Google and MySpace have signed a new multi-year search and advertising deal that means Google will continue to power MySpace search. The renewed deal is said to be an expansion of the former relationship as Google will also power additional display advertising services. The parties announced the newly cemented agreement Thursday morning. Google and MySpace are keeping deal specifics under wraps. The original deal, which went into effect in the fourth quarter of 2006, was for a guaranteed $900 million in ad revenue so long as MySpace met traffic minimums. That deal expired at the end of June this year and there was speculation that MySpace’s fall from grace would prevent the two from signing a similar agreement. The deal did get done, but we’d be surprised if the terms were as favorable to MySpace this time around. It's safe to say that MySpace, the former social networking giant turned entertainment destination, needed to lock down a fresh search and advertising deal after the lucrative Google pact expired. Still, the rebranded social entertainment site has its work cut out for it; News Corp. has previously indicated that it's looking for a swift turnaround and may be ready to dump the site should numbers not improve soon. Reviews: Google, MySpace More About: advertising, Google, myspace, Search For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

Win a Holiday MashPack With DJ Hero 2 & 22 Awesome Tech Prizes [GIVEAWAY] Posted: 16 Dec 2010 09:12 AM PST This year, Mashable has been getting into the holiday spirit by showcasing some of our favorite holiday wish list items in the Mashable 10 gift guide. But what spreads holiday cheer more than the gift of giving? That's why we're giving away a MashPack filled with awesome social media and tech prizes every weekday through Friday, December 17. Since it’s the second to last day of our two-week giveaway, today’s collection of prizes is one of the best yet. Today’s grand prize is for the music lovers: DJ Hero 2 and Mix Master Headphones. Other big prizes include a myTouch 4G and E-Ink watch. You’ll find a list below detailing the 22 other fantastic prizes in today’s MashPack — and see information on how to win. Yesterday’s MashPack went to Jessica Mullen from Austin, Texas. (Congratulations, Jessica!) For those who didn’t win yesterday’s prize pack, go ahead and try your luck today. Happy holidays from Mashable! How To Win Today’s MashPack Tweeting for today’s MashPack will end Friday, December 17 at 12 p.m. ET. Please use your real identity in the submission so that we may contact you via e-mail, Twitter or Facebook to let you know that you’ve won. We’ll contact the winner after the contest closes. The contest is limited to those 18 and older in the U.S. For contests and prizes, also make sure to “like” us on Facebook. DJ Hero 2 A follow up to the award-winning 2009 game, DJ Hero 2 promises to transform living rooms into nightclubs with an enhanced music-gaming experience. It has new DJ and vocal multiplayer modes, including battles, and more than 80 mixes featuring the biggest dance, pop and hip-hop hits. The game can even become a party accessory with the ability to have two DJs on each turntable and a vocalist on the microphone, and Party Play mode, which plays the mixes while you mingle. Skullcandy Mix Master Headphones Skullycandy has created headphones that meet the premium sound standard of one of the top DJs in the world: Beastie Boys’ Mix Master Mike. The Mix Master headphones come complete with twin audio inputs, a mute button, and dual channel cue control to custom fit whatever beats you might be dropping. The Coil Cable is perfect for action behind the turntables, while the straight cable lets you hook up to whatever audio device you happen to be rocking. T-Mobile myTouch 4G Today’s grand prize is a myTouch 4G Android phone. The new myTouch features a 3.8-inch WVGA display, a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, an 8 GB microSD memory card, and a 5-megapixel camera capable of recording 720p video. It was designed by HTC, and it runs the latest version of Android: 2.2. It also has a second, front-facing camera and video calling capabilities, as well as Wi-Fi and HSPA+ connectivity. The myTouch 4G has made a name for itself in Hollywood with pop star Pink and her husband Carey Hart, both fans of the phone. Phosphor E-Ink Watch Phosphor’s new World Time Curved E-Ink digital is on the cutting edge of time telling devices. It has a dual time zone display and provides a selection of 24 time zones. This means you can chose one of the 24 zones for the main display, while displaying a second time zone simultaneously. The watch can also be configured to display just the time of day or both the date and time in either over-sized or conventional-sized segments. There are five total display options. It’s curved case is sleek and ultra-thin, measuring 9.3mm thick. The Phosphor World Time Curved E-Ink watch’s assortment of different functions and display modes can’t be beat! Sony MHS-TS10 Bloggie Touch HD Camera Sony’s Bloggie Touch camera captures Full HD video and 12.8-megapixel still shots with the simple touch of its single record button. The large touch screen showcases your photos and videos, which are stored on built-in memory. Its size makes it readily available from your pocket or purse, and you can easily upload your photos and videos to your favorite social networking sites while you’re on the go. Aperion Audio: Audio Link The Home Audio Link (HAL) by Aperion transmits high-quality uncompressed audio up to 100 feet. This means you can stream music from your computer, home theater, MP3 player or any other audio source to almost any speaker system in your home — wirelessly! With additional HAL receivers, you can stream a single audio source to up to three listening zones, giving you true whole-house audio without running wires across rooms. iPom The iPom from Speakeal is a 2.1 stereo speaker system that plays music from a USB Memory stick, SD cards or any other music device that has a 3.5mm output, such as an iPod. You can adjust the volume and which song you’re listening to just by touching the device. It has three speakers that are strategically positioned for 360 degree sound separation and distribution. Bass is adjustable and the airflow design is optimized for consistent sound performance. It has a 3.5mm AUX input jack to connect to your TV, gaming Console, MP3 player or other music sources. It comes in several colors for brightening up your listening experience! Griffin Technology PowerDockDual Your iPad and your iPhone (or your iPod) get seats of honor in PowerDock Dual’s built-in charging dock, while the valet dish is a resting place for your change, keys and whatever else might live in your pockets. It has an AC power supply with four international plug adapters, 10 watt (2 amp) charging for your iPad and 5 watt (1 amp) charging for your iPhone or iPod. The screens and speakers are unobstructed while the batteries get charged, so you can listen while you watch. It’s perfect side table entertainment! Griffin Technology AirCurve Play The AirCurve Play acoustically amplifies the speaker of your iPhone without batteries, cables or electricity. It collects the sound from the built-in speaker of your iPhone, amplifies it in a built-in coiled waveguide, and projects it out into the room. AirCurve’s transparent polycarbonate body lets you appreciate the waveguide’s graceful curves, inside, that do all the work. Its internal engineered waveguide requires no power, making it a perfectly portable audio/video conference phone, and self-contained music player and video viewer. Caseable Custom-Designed Mashable Laptop Case Caseable, a startup based right in Mashable HQ’s backyard — Brooklyn, New York, creates handmade, customized cases for just about any size laptop or tablet. You can get any look you’d like by handpicking your colors for each detail — even the zipper! Caseable made specialized 15-inch Mashable cases exclusively for our holiday MashPack winners. They’re quite snazzy, if we might say so ourselves. Picaboo Madison Photobook Picaboo photo books can be fully customized by dragging-and-dropping photos and captions anywhere on your pages. You have complete creative control with powerful-yet-simple editing options. The Madison’s heavyweight, archival quality lay-flat pages are ideal for highlighting panoramic, two-page spreads, and the paper's pearlescent sheen coating adds a luminous glow to your photos. The elegant custom cover features a photo of your choice under a protective laminate and a full-grain glove leather wrap around the spine and back cover is available in five colors. Skullcandy Earbuds Skullcandy headphones are known for their funky fashion and durable design. Their style is in line with an impressive list of celebrities who endorse the brand, including rap czar Snoop Dogg; snowboarding legends Terje Haakonsen, Mark Frank Montoya and Devun Walsh; skate pros Lizard King, Theotis Beasley and Greg Lutzka; surf rulers Mick Fanning, Owen Wright, Kolohe Andino, the Gudauskas brothers, and Clay Marzo; as well as free-ski greats Tanner Hall, Kaya Turski, and Tom Wallisch. Merkury Innovations Universal Square Stereo Speakers The Universal Square Stereo Speakers are just one example of Merkury Innovations’ fun and stylish electronic accessories. These battery-free speakers will work with audio devices featuring a 3.5mm audio jack. The slim design and exciting metallic colors can complement any decor. Their compact size make them convenient for toting from room to room in the house or packing up for a friend’s party. Ben Folds’ Lonely Avenue Deluxe Album Lonely Avenue contains 11 new songs featuring music by Ben Folds with words by Nick Hornby for what The Huffington Post calls “one of the most interesting collaborations of the year.” This special deluxe edition includes the album on CD and vinyl, four short stories by Nick Hornby and 15 images by acclaimed photographer Joel Meyerowitz, all in a hardbound, 152-page book. Hard Candy iPad Case Hard Candy Cases merges fashion and function to distinguish and protect mobile phones and now tablets from the wear and tear of daily use. It’s one of the fastest growing brands in the Apple accessories industry with distribution in the United States, Singapore, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, France, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Indonesia, Ireland, UK and Malaysia, among others. ZAGGsparq 2.0 The ZAGGsparq 2.0 is a mobile device charging unit that plugs into a standard outlet and provides two USB ports to plug devices into. When it’s unplugged, the ZAGGsparq 2.0 carries four complete recharges, so even the most power-hungry smart phones can live on while you’re on the go. It can be used for just about everything portable and chargeable, be it a cell phone or a hand-held gaming device. It also works with iPad, bringing it from 0% to 60% at the same rate as the iPad wall charger. Desk Pets Skitterbots The Skitterbot is a speedy legged robot that travels at one foot per second and is controlled by a unique patent pending five button USB remote controller/charger. Made by Desk Pets, it moves forward, backwards, turns left and turns right and stops. The Skitterbot comes in four different colors and four different frequencies, so they can race, battle and explore together. Thirty minutes of charge gives you 15 minutes of play. Power Support USA iPad Leather Sleeve Constructed with premium quality leather, the Power Support USA iPad sleeve protects while complimenting the aesthetics of the device. The sleeve’s soft inner lining prevents scratching while using this sleek carrying case. Its clean design and superb manufacturing techniques make for high-quality iPad protection. Power Support USA iPhone 4 Anti-Glare Films Power Support USA films protect your iPhone 4 screen from scratches, dirt and dust while reducing glare, fingerprints and smudges. It’s specially formulated to be compatible with retina display and resist glare and fingerprints while protecting your screen. The static cling adhesive film leaves no residue if film is removed. Power Support USA iPhone4 Designer Collection Cases Power Support has teamed up with cutting-edge designers Tibi, Rachel Pally and Rory Beca to create a set of super stylish air jackets. Measuring under 1 mm, the jacket snugly hugs the back of your iPhone 4. You can keep your phone protected from dings and scratches while looking fashionably fresh with the Power Support Designer Collection. It’s a win-win for any iPhone 4 owner! Smartfish ErgoMotion Laser Mouse The Smartfish ErgoMotion Laser Mouse isn’t your average desktop mouse. It provides the fluid, air-like comfort of the patented ErgoMotion pivot system. The mouse pivots with your natural wrist movement for comfortable and relaxed flexion, preventing cramping, fatigue and injury while promoting comfort and productivity. Like and Dislike Stamps Preloaded with ink good for 5,000 assertions, the Like and Dislike stamps let you make your opinion known on tangible things in real life. The idea for the stamp was born in summer 2010 after a joke image of a wooden-handled “Like Button Stamp” circulated on the web. Soon after, the Jailbreak Collective and Nation Studio in the U.K. collaborated to create real Like and Dislike stamps. It’s a formidable duo of approval and distaste. Twournal Twitter Journal Twournal allows you to create, buy and sell Twitter books printed from your tweets. All Twournals have color covers, can include replies and Twitpic/Tweetphoto/Yfrog pictures in color or black and white. You can choose a custom picture for your front cover. Select which tweets you want to start and end at. And you can add a dedication message to appear after your title. Reviews: Android, Facebook, Mashable, TweetPhoto, Twitpic, Twitter, dj hero More About: contest, dj hero 2, gadgets, giveaway, Holiday, mashpack, mashpacks, prizes, 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 Android, iPhone and iPad

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