Rabu, 22 Desember 2010

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Facebook Rolling Out Redesigned News Feed Filtering Options”

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Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Facebook Rolling Out Redesigned News Feed Filtering Options”

Facebook Rolling Out Redesigned News Feed Filtering Options

Posted: 22 Dec 2010 01:07 AM PST


Facebook has started rolling out a new way to filter your News Feed.

Earlier, the News Feed gave you two options: Top News (which is Facebook’s algorithmic choice of the most interesting stories from your feed) or Most Recent stories, which merely listed the latest stories from your friends as they appear.

Now, the Most Recent option has been turned into a drop down menu which reveals a slew of options. You can now see only stories related to Games, Status Updates, Photos, Links and Pages. You can also choose to see only stories from a specific Group of yours. Finally, the drop-down menu now gives you access to the Live Feed settings, where you can determine whether you want to see more or less stories from a specific user.

The function of individual filters is more or less self-explanatory; Games gives you an overview of game-related content, Status Updates shows you a stream of imageless updates from your buddies, Links focuses on status updates that contain links, Photos (probably the most useful filter) displays only posts with images, and Pages only shows you updates from Pages as opposed to persons on Facebook.

The option is not live for everyone yet, and it’s possible that Facebook is merely testing the feature. The filters are also not entirely new; this is just another in a long line of Facebook’s experiments with the News Feed. We like it, though: the new filters are easily accessible and we reckon many users (especially those with a lot of friends) will find them useful.

[via Inside Facebook]

More About: facebook, feed, filtering, news feed, social media, social networking

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Send & Receive Money From Twitter & Facebook Friends With Dwolla

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 09:23 PM PST


The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Dwolla

Quick Pitch: Dwolla is a peer-to-peer payment platform that allows social network users to exchange money quickly and at a low cost.

Genius Idea: Hey, remember that fellow who spotted you a drink at last night’s social media drinkup? If you want to pay him back but you’re more likely to know his Twitter handle than his e-mail address, Dwolla might be a good service for you to check out.

Dwolla is a simple service that lets you connect to Facebook and Twitter to send and receive funds. Once your checking or savings account is linked to Dwolla and your social network contacts are imported (an automatic process that occurs programmatically behind the scenes), you can send money to any of your Facebook friends or Twitter followers.

Peer-to-peer payments are hardly a new concept, and startup Dwolla isn’t the first company to devise a way to send sums through social networks. Still, this iteration has its merits.

Pay Me, a peer-to-peer payments Facebook app, rolled out back in 2007 with Paypal integration. And TwitPay has been around since 2009. Paypal itself launched a Facebook app called Send Money in 2009. But all of these apps are currently out of commission, as far as their intended purposes are concerned.

Here’s the thing: The second you show people a way to send money online, scammers will find a way to take money online using your app. It’s a principle analogous to Newton’s third law of motion, and nearly as inviolable.

So, many of these social money-sending apps have been repurposed as charitable fundraising apps. But other parties are working on the social money-sending problem, including Buxter (a Facebook app from online payment system ClickandBuy) and Paypal, which announced micropayments and Facebook integration a couple months ago.

While Dwolla bills itself as “Paypal without the fees,” it actually does charge per transaction; however, in this case, it’s the recipient who pays a small fee of $0.25 per transaction regardless of the amount sent.

The startup allows for “hub” pages, microsites any user can create for requesting or sending money.

We’re not at all sure that Dwolla is scam-proof; in the end, users still have to know and trust the people and organizations they’re sending money to — something that should be carefully scrutinized when social networks come into play.

In the end, only time will tell if Dwolla has the sticking power its predecessors have all lacked.

Here’s a demo video of the Dwolla founder sending money to Sean Parker:

Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

Microsoft BizSpark

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

Image courtesy of Flickr, mikemcilveen.

Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Twitter

More About: dwolla, facebook, money, p2p, startup, twitter

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Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg on Why We Have So Few Women Leaders [VIDEO]

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 08:12 PM PST


Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg has a message to all of the young women who want to get the corner office:

The stakes have never been higher in the debate surrounding women in the workplace. The lack of women at the top keeps coming up, and for good reason. The status quo, where men dominate the board rooms and corner offices of technology’s major companies, is unacceptable.

Sandberg, one of the most powerful women in the world, gave a rousing talk at the TED Women conference earlier this month discussing the perceptions that men and women have that are holding so many back from reaching the top.

“Women systematically underestimate their own abilities,” Sandberg stated before citing data that explained why. For example, men tend to cite themselves as the primary reason for success, while women tend to cite external factors. 57% of men are negotiating their first salary out of college, while only 7% of women do the same.

She also had three pieces of advice for women if they want to become the next generation’s leaders:

  • Sit at the table.
  • Make your partner a real partner.
  • Don’t leave before you leave.

Check out the video below if you want a full explanation of her advice:

Reviews: Facebook

More About: facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, TED, TED Women, trending, video, women

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Amazon to Sell More Than 8 Million Kindles in 2010 [REPORT]

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 06:25 PM PST


A new report suggests that Amazon’s Kindle e-reader will blow past estimates and sell more than 8 million units of the devices this year.

According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s sources, Amazon sold 2.4 million Kindles in 2009. If those numbers are accurate, that means the device’s sales have more than tripled in a year. It doesn’t look like the iPad was a Kindle-killer after all.

Amazon is notorious for being tight-lipped about sales of the popular device. The retail giant told us that the Kindle 3 is the fastest-selling Kinde ever, but didn’t provide any numbers to back that assertion up. We’re not certain why Amazon’s so secretive about sales of the device, but clearly it must think it’s a strategic advantage to keep that information under wraps.

Amazon’s newest Kindle, which launched earlier this year, is smaller and faster. But most of all, it’s cheaper with its very affordable $139 price point. That alone is probably a major factor in the rapid rise of Kindle sales. Still, Apple sold 4.19 iPads in Q3 alone, half of Kindle’s 2010 sales. The stage has been set for an interesting battle over the future of e-books in 2011.

More About: amazon, amazon kindle, Kindle

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Analyzing the PalmPad Rumors

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 05:08 PM PST


HP is rumored to be revealing its competitor to Apple’s iPad, the PalmPad, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month. Do the rumors match up with reality, though?

The rumors of the PalmPad’s impending release derive from a story by Fox News’ Clayton Morris, who claims to have obtained the spec sheets for an HP tablet device running webOS. It looks identical to the HP Slate 500, which launched earlier this year. In fact, Morris claims that the PalmPad’s hardware is “a spin-off” of the HP Slate.

The device will reportedly run webOS 2.5.1, run on Sprint’s 4G network, contain a mini-HDMI port and a USB 3.0 port, and features front and rear-facing cameras identical to the Slate. There will be three versions of the device, including 8.9-inch and a 9.7-inch versions.

Does the PalmPad Pass the Smell Test?

While we know that HP is releasing a WebOS-based tablet sometime in 2011, but we have our doubts that it would be unveiled at CES. We also have our doubts that it would share a nearly-identical form factor to the HP Slate, a device that’s already on the market.

Here’s the first issue we have with the rumor: CES is less than a month away. Typically schedules for press conferences and briefings are done well in advance; we’ve been dealing with the CES e-mail flood since October. Unless HP really wanted to de-emphasize the launch of its webOS tablet, it would almost certainly hold a press conference. The technology media would flock to it like insects to a bug zapper.

There’s also a lot of noise at CES. So many companies launch so many products at the January show that it’s easy to get drowned out. HP can just call a press conference in San Francisco and, again, the tech press will come. However, given HP and Palm’s high profile, a CES press conference could also turn out to be one of the show’s big hits, which would benefit the PalmPad. Still, unless Palm is going to make a super surprise unveiling or is just forgoing the press conference altogether, CES seems unlikely.

The other issue we have with the rumor is the use of the HP Slate’s hardware for the PalmPad. Using identical hardware configuration doesn’t add up. It would create market confusion and the HP Slate is built for Windows 7, not webOS.

We don’t doubt the PalmPad is coming, and we don’t doubt that the hardware for it derives from the HP Slate — that makes sense. We just believe there probably have been more changes to the hardware than the Fox News specs show. Our bet is that those specs are outdated.

We’re excited for the eventual launch of the PalmPad. It’s reasonable to question whether it will make its debut at CES next month, though. We hope Fox News is right though; we really want to hold a webOS tablet in our hands.

Photograph of the HP Slate 500

Reviews: Windows

More About: apple, HP, ipad, palm, PalmPad, Tablet

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Vevo’s Top 10 Videos of 2010 [VIDEO]

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 03:33 PM PST


Music video site Vevo has compiled its list of the 10 most-watched videos of 2010. And of course, teen pop sensation Justin Bieber takes the top spot with his video for “Baby.”

The 10 videos were the most popular across the company’s entire platform, which includes Vevo.com, mobile apps on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, connected devices (such as Google TV and Boxee) and syndication partners like AOL, BET, Last.fm and YouTube.

Bieber shows up two more times on the list with “One Time” at number five and “Never Say Never” in eighth place. Lady Gaga — who’s been battling Bieber for the most-viewed YouTube video — is in second place with her video for “Bad Romance.” She makes a second appearance with “Alejandro” in the ninth spot. Eminem and Rihanna’s Grammy-nominated “Love The Way You Lie” is in fourth place; both artists also have individual videos that made this final list. Usher and Shakira are also a part of the group.

Take a look at all 10 videos below:


1. Justin Bieber - Baby ft. Ludacris



2. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance



3. Shakira ft. Freshlyground - Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) (The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Song)



4. Eminem - Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna



5. Justin Bieber - One Time



6. Eminem - Not Afraid



7. Rihanna - Rude Boy



8. Justin Bieber - Never Say Never ft. Jaden Smith



9. Lady Gaga - Alejandro



10. Usher - OMG ft. will.i.am


Reviews: Boxee, YouTube

More About: justin bieber, music, music video, top ten lists, vevo

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Design Community Forrst Launches Credit System for Post Promotion & More

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 03:15 PM PST


Here’s an interesting twist on the online business model: Designer/developer community Forrst is allowing users to purchase “Acorns,” a sort of virtual currency that can be traded in for pageviews on a particular post.

Forrst is a popular site where developers and designers can share code snippets, design snapshots and interesting articles; users can also request community feedback on current projects.

Acorns and promoted posts are a big part of Forrst’s third iteration, which has been rolled out just shy of the site’s first birthday.

Acorns can be bought with Paypal; each one costs $5 and guarantees a specific number of impressions for promoted posts.

Any Forrst user can use Acorns to make sure that his or her important posts, such as job-related posts or promotional posts about new products, are seen by thousands of users in the web development and design community.

The Forrst team says Acorns will also be used for “a few things coming over the next few months,” so we’ll keep our eyes open for whatever goodies Forrst might be rolling out in early 2011.

Other changes include a new homepage (which is much less adorable but much more functional for the first-time user), a redesign of post pages, and an impressive, ground-up rewrite of the site architecture and libraries.

To accomplish this rewrite, the Forrst team wrote a PHP5 framework called Magnus, which they hope to open-source sometime in the next year. We’ll be keeping you posted on that, as well.

Forrst is also integrating with JSFiddle, Pastie and GitHub's Gist for its code snippets.

We’re impressed with the improvements that the Forrst team is rolling out and on the impression the site has made on the web design/development community over the past year. What do you think of Acorns and the other Forrst changes in version three?

Reviews: Forrst

More About: acorns, business, community, design, forrst

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Group Texting to Promote Edgy MTV Show

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 03:06 PM PST


Reasoning that the target audience is likely to be “co-viewing” the show, cell phone in hand, MTV has partnered with group texting site Fast Society to hype the January 17 premiere of Skins.

Starting this week, consumers who join a Fast Society group will see various ads for the show. Branding will appear on the first and last message and there will be a 5-second pre-roll audio ad and a takeover on the iPhone app. This is the second marketing partnership for Fast Society. The company also snagged a partnership with the CMJ Music Festival in October.

Matthew Rosenberg, director of ideas and co-founder of Fast Society, declined to say how many people are using the company’s group texting app. A rival group texting firm, textPlus, claims 25 million people use its service while another competitor, GroupMe, estimates that 200,000 texts go through its system every day.

Michael Scogin, vice president of mobile for MTV, says the network is trying to be creative with promotions for the show, an edgy, scripted look at teens based on a popular British program. “SMS in particular is aimed at a younger audience,” he says. “It’s a big part of their lives.”

Rosenberg says that promotions and sponsorships are the main source of revenues for the company, though it plans to add some in-app purchases in the future. MTV’s not the only media firm to look at group texting as a new way to reach a younger audience; in March, Disney promoted its Alice in Wonderland release with a tie-in with textPlus.

Reviews: Alice, textPlus

More About: fast-society, group texting, Mobile 2.0, mtv

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FCC’s Net Neutrality Order Finally Passes, Many Disappointed

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 02:18 PM PST


The FCC approved net neutrality rules on Tuesday that aim to prevent Internet providers from discriminating against legal content. Net neutrality advocates, Republicans, and Internet providers are all, miraculously, in agreement with their disappointment in the legislation.

Net neutrality advocates have long lobbied for laws that would prevent Internet providers from blocking competitive content, charging for faster connections to certain sites, and a slew of other worse case scenarios. While the Open Internet Order does prevent fixed broadband providers from blocking access to sites and applications, the rules are different for wireless providers and not as clear as advocates would like.

Interest group Public Knowledge’s Harold Feld wrote on the organization’s blog that: “On every single important and controversial question on what an ‘open Internet’ actually means, — such as whether companies can create ‘fast lanes’ for ‘prioritized’ content or what exactly wireless providers can and cannot do — the actual language of the rules is silent, ambiguous, or even at odds with the text of the implementing Order.”

In response to a draft of the Order, net neutrality advocate Free Press joined about 80 other grassroots organizations in signing an open letter to the FCC calling for what it termed “real net neutrality.”

The letter complained that the Order “leaves wireless users vulnerable to application blocking and discrimination,” uses “unnecessarily broad definitions”, and that specialized services would “would create a pay-for-play platform that would destroy today's level playing field.”

Wireless providers, unsurprisingly, also had a problem with the rules. Verizon released a statement that argued government intervention — not Internet provider discrimination — was a fast-track to losing the open web. Republicans were no more enthusastic. Senator Mitch McConnell said that the proposed rule would “harm investment, stifle innovation, and lead to job losses.”

Net neutrality may have passed, but its fate is anything but decided. Politico reported that less than an hour after the FCC approved the rules, the Republican party started planning its repeal, and it’s not clear that the FCC even has the authority to enforce the new laws. When the question came up this April, a U.S. appeals court ruled that the FCC could not stop Comcast from controlling user traffic in instances of peer-to-peer downloading.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, enot-poloskun

Reviews: Internet, iStockphoto

More About: fcc, net neutrality

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The Total Lunar Eclipse As Seen By Twitter Users [PHOTOS]

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 01:55 PM PST


You know that old cliche about how we’re all under the same sky? Well, during last night’s lunar eclipse, old sayings became truth as people nearly all across the world shared pictures of the phenomenon via Twitter.

Last night/early this morning, those with their eyes to the skies were graced with the only lunar eclipse of 2010, which coincided with the winter solstice (for the first time since 1638) and cast the moon in a reddish glow. Such an event occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align — with our blue and white orb in the middle.

Well, it seems several TwitPic users took advantage of the three-and-a-half-hour show, snapping pics and uploading them to the microblogging site. We combed through some of the pictures to find five that best demonstrate the lunar event.

As the months speed by, more and more historical events are being documented via Twitter and social networks — from The New York City Marathon to earthquakes to meteors.

This collection of snaps, however, is gunning for the title of “Most Beautiful.” Check out the gallery and share any pics of your own in the comments.


Iceland




via @hjortur


A Moon In Hand...




via @yannamahkenzzi


Moon Over Manhattan




via @isardasorensen


Wide Angle Shot




via @FLXstrmch8rs


Eclipse Over Space Shuttle Discovery




via @NASAKennedy

Image courtesy of TwitPic, @isardasorensen

Reviews: Twitpic, Twitter

More About: Lunar Eclipse, Photos, space, twitter

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Twitter Acquires Talent Behind Slick Q&A Site

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 01:41 PM PST


Flush with even more funding, Twitter continues to expand its team.

The company announced Tuesday that it has acquired the team at Fluther, Inc. Fluther is kind of like Yahoo! Answers or Quora, but with the ability for question types to be targeted at specific users. The Fluther.com website itself hasn’t been acquired, just the five team members behind it.

Twitter announced the acquisition on its blog and the Fluther team also issued its own statement. Twitter says that the Fluther team members will be focusing on “helping users discover the most relevant content on Twitter.” Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is an advisor to Fluther, which seemingly makes this talent acquisition a natural fit.

That sort of focus makes a lot of sense. The big differentiating feature between Fluther.com and other question and answer services is in how the service can target questions based on a user’s answer history and named interests. In other words, the team has spent some time investing and building a system that aims to connect users with relevant data.

Also, while Twitter makes it clear that Fluther.com is not part of the acquisition — and the Fluther team says it plans to keep the Fluther site running — we expect to see some Fluther feature trickle into Twitter over time.

Reviews: Twitter

More About: acquisitions, fluther, twitter

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So You Got a Nikon D3100 This Holiday Season: Now What?

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 01:27 PM PST


Mashable 10 LogoThis post is part of the Mashable 10, Mashable’s gift guide of the 10 hottest gadgets that our editors think should be on everyone’s wish lists this holiday season. If you were lucky enough to receive one of those gifts, our handy quick start guides should get you up and running. To view the entire gift guide, click here.

So you received — or think you’ll be receiving — a Nikon D3100 for the holidays. If this is your first DSLR of any kind, chances are that you’ll be looking into some accessories and tips for how to use your camera.

We’ve compiled some resources and suggested products for you below. Keep in mind that some of these suggestions could come in handy for any camera brand or, if nothing else, other Nikon models, like the D5000.

The How-To Guides

Photographer at Work

Fancy lenses, flashes and filters shouldn’t be the first thing on your mind when you’re new to the DSLR game. Your main objective should be to learn how to shoot. Spend some time studying your camera’s functions, and try to learn more about shooting in manual mode. You should take a look at your instruction booklet to get a better sense of the Nikon D3100’s particular specs, but you might want to turn to some other sources to understand more about working with your camera. There are tons of photography sites out there where you can get inspiration, and some even offer accompanying tips with their photos. (The Guardian’s Eyewitness page is a photojournalistic example; photographs are typically accompanied by a “pro” tip explaining how they were captured).

Of course, there are a couple of other sites where you can learn the absolute basics of DSLR shooting: Photo.net has a “learning” section, where you can access an online textbook that teaches you about light, lenses and exposure. You can even learn about different shooting environments like the street and studio. DPReview.com is also an excellent resource for well-researched camera reviews and news.

It might also be worth your time to check out the photography section of B&H Insights. B&H, a popular New York City store that’s been selling photography equipment and more since the 1970s, uses this blog to post different views on everything from photo composition to which monopod you should use with your camera. It’s worth taking a look at the latest entries from time to time.

Storage: From Memory Cards to Camera Bags

Billingham Digital Hadley BagAs you use your camera more often, you’re going to need storage — for your photos and your equipment itself. It’s a good idea to invest in some larger memory cards, which are selling for much cheaper prices than they used to back in the day. I personally use an 8GB SanDisk SDHC card with my Nikon D5000, but a 16GB card — or larger — can also be quite handy. Nikon has a list of approved memory cards that it has deemed compatible with the D3100, so the choice is ultimately yours.

As far as purchasing a camera bag, it might not be necessary for you to invest in one right away, depending on the options you have available. But you want to make sure your camera is well-protected, especially if you find yourself on the go with it a lot.

There are some budget options out there: Nikon has a starter SLR camera case for $27.95 on Amazon, and Lowepro sells a variety of bags and cases that may fit your needs. For a more aesthetically pleasing (if pricier, at nearly $200) look, the Billingham Digital Hadley bag might be right for you. Most of these bags have space for an extra lens or two, but you’ll have to decide what’s best for you as your equipment expands.

If you’d like to toss your camera into a large purse or backpack instead of an actual camera bag, you may want to consider the Nikon CF-DC1 Semi-Soft Case, compatible with the Nikon D3100, for a little added protection. This particular case will hold the camera body, along with a lens up to the 18-135mm Zoom-Nikkor. Lens pouches can also always be purchased for your other lenses.

Lenses and Flashes

Nikon 35mm f/1.8G LensLet’s say you’re ready to try working with some new lenses — and possibly even a flash. We’ve got some basic suggestions for you. The Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens (roughly $200 or more) is a prime lens, which won’t let you zoom, but it will allow you to take some great low-light pictures. And you’ll also have more artistic freedom with depth of field. It’s definitely worthwhile to have at least one prime lens in your collection.

If you want more zoom options and you’re still somewhat new to the DSLR, you should probably avoid an intense telephoto lens. However, you may want to consider something like this 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G lens. If you’re willing to spring for something pricier, with a longer zoom range, the 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G lens (list price: $849.95) may be what you want. But as one of my more experienced photographer friends points out, the longer the zoom range, the more complicated the optics — so the image quality may be a little more distorted.

In addition, you may want to consider getting a lens hood and/or a UV filter (“multi-coated” to minimize impact on image quality) to protect your lens.

As far as flashes are concerned, the Nikon SB-400 is a compact piece that’s a good step up from your built-in flash, if not the most serious flash out there. As your flash requirements grow beyond this little one, you could consider units like the SB-600 or higher — both flashes mentioned here are compatible with the D3100.

Editing

You’ve been shooting photos to the best of your ability, but now you’d like to be able to edit them. There are multiple ways to go about that. For quick, budget editing, you can use Adobe Photoshop Express online apps. Of course, if you’re looking for more advanced features, try springing for Photoshop software — Photoshop Elements 9 or Photoshop CS5 — itself. I’ve been using Adobe Bridge in conjunction with Photoshop to stay organized, but Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is great too.

The workflow is a little less cumbersome with Lightroom, even though original-recipe Photoshop is still useful for certain touchups or heavy-duty compositing. That said, with Lightroom, photographers have the ability to organize and touch up photos in a more intuitive fashion — color correcting, filters, photo optimization and great RAW support are all part of the package. You can even use Lightroom to export to online sharing sites like Facebook.

Online Hosting and Sharing Services

Speaking of online sharing, you’ll probably want to share your photos once you start taking more of them. Facebook’s great for sharing with friends, but you may want to consider a few other options too. There are obvious choices like Flickr (with 300 MB of uploads per month for free) and Picasa, which offers 1 GB of free storage. Kodak Gallery is another possibility.

For paid services that allow you to customize your themes, along with some other features you might not find on the aforementioned sites, check out SmugMug and Zenfolio. The latter features a couple of cheaper pricing options than SmugMug does, but both are worth investigating depending on your needs.

There is plenty more that you might want or need as you spend more time with your D3100 (such as a tripod or monopod for certain photography adventures), but it’s best to get to know your camera and build up your equipment from there. We hope these resources will be helpful in the meantime, and if you have any relevant suggestions of your own, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

More Gadget Resources from Mashable:

- So You Got a Laptop This Holiday Season: Now What?
- So You Got an iPod Touch This Holiday Season: Now What?
- So You Got an Amazon Kindle This Holiday Season: Now What?
- So You Got an Android Device This Holiday Season: Now What?
- So You Got an iPad This Holiday Season: Now What?

Image courtesy of Flickr, Glenn Euloth

Reviews: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Beta, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa

More About: cameras, DSLR, gadgets, gift guide, mashable 10, mashable 10 quick start, Nikon, photographs, photography, Photos, Photoshop, tech

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6 Predictions for Digital Advertising in 2011

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 12:58 PM PST

Jesse Thomas is the CEO and Founder of JESS3, a Creative Interactive Agency. JESS3 designs products and experiences for brands like Google, Nike, Facebook, MySpace, C-SPAN, Microsoft and NASA.

“Likes,” views and followers were all the rage in 2010. Despite the social media community emphasizing engagement instead of reach, media agencies quickly learned that engagement doesn't scale easily, making it difficult to sell. Enter Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. As consumer use of social media spiked, the leading social networks retooled their advertising products to satisfy the newfound demand from brands. Instead of fizzling out like the popular online communities of yesteryear, they are driving toward profitability after several years of trying to figure out what they wanted to be when they grew up.

On the flip side, as consumers incorporate social media more into their daily lives, alternatives to the "big three" in the form of niche and location-based social networks have increased in appeal. Advertisers willing to experiment with media campaigns on these networks will have a distinct advantage moving forward as consumers become desensitized to text, display and even rich media ads. Whether they choose to go big or small, the social web equips advertisers with significantly more consumer data points than ever before to improve the targeting and relevance of online advertising.

Below are six predictions for digital advertising in 2011.


.

1. Local Advertising Becomes Relevant Again With Location

Location-based advertising will continue to grow in 2011 as Facebook expands the technology with its location platform, Places. In addition to Facebook, many other players in the checkin space, including Foursquare, Yelp, Shopkick, and last but not least, Google, will condition shoppers to expect a deal or coupon for alerting friends of their whereabouts. Relevance will distinguish these services from each other as the two biggest players, Facebook and Google, have the most powerful social graph data to customize deals for consumers. Don't count Groupon out, though. It more than makes up for its comparative lack of technology with brand equity and scale, as its massive sales force will remain dominant in 2011 by further monetizing local commerce beyond the recently launched self-service platform.

2. Silicon Valley Will Be the Next Madison Avenue

The coolest job in advertising used to be working for an agency in New York City or Chicago, but these days the dreams jobs are at Facebook and Twitter. Not unlike Mail.ru Group (formerly Digital Sky Technologies) attracting top bankers from Goldman Sachs, as Facebook and Twitter start generating more revenue, advertising and marketing talent will start heading West to cash in.

3. Influencers Will Be the Celebrities of the Social Web

Consumers are constantly scouring the social web to decide where to eat, shop and stay; so it comes as no surprise that brands are desperately analyzing Twitter, blog posts and reviews to understand not only who has the largest audience, but how much influence individuals have. YouTube's Partner Program is being joined by new services such as Klout to create an official layer of social credibility.

Klout scores are being used by The Palms Hotel in Vegas to gauge discounts for hotel guests, including through the "Klout Klub," which “will allow high-ranking influencers to experience Palms’ impressive set of amenities in hopes that these influencers will want to communicate their positive experience to their followers.” Creating thoughtful ways to leverage your influencers is the thing to focus on. People have always said it's cheaper to keep and please the customers you have, than acquire new ones.

4. Small Will Be the New Big for Social Networks

Despite Mark Zuckerberg's unwavering belief that an open and connected social web is best for society, early adopters are starting to experiment with new platforms designed to communicate and share media with smaller audiences. Path has shown us the potential of limiting our social networks to 50 people. Fast Society is a new iPhone communication service that allows the user to create small groups to text with on the fly, and the groups last for three days. Facebook also realizes some of us may prefer communicating with smaller networks. Facebook’s new Groups feature allows us to segment our friends into personal, professional and interest-based communities, and openly engage in conversations not meant for our mother or colleagues to hear. Watch for more of these smaller, closed networks to launch in 2011 as people seek deeper connections online.

5. Brands Will Become More Like Media Companies

Social media has empowered brands to break their own news instead of relying on advertising or PR to disseminate their message. As brands become increasingly comfortable with social media on the whole, more budget and attention will be focused on high quality content created specifically for the social web. We will see more Facebook Pages like Skittles that appear to employ comedy writers to keep the content fresh. It would seem that “a brand’s best bet in social media is randomness.”

6. Facebook "Likes" Will Be Important for Your Brand

While it’s still unclear exactly how much a Facebook "Like" is worth to a brand, the following video sums up why Facebook is so important.

Brands will be tripling down on Facebook advertising in 2011, and the process for acquiring Facebook "Likes" has evolved to accommodate this increase in demand. Instead of doing A/B testing between two photos to see which generates more Facebook "Likes," the savvier brands and agencies are leveraging technology that can simultaneously deploy 10,000+ ad variations to yield the lowest CPA (cost per acquisition) of those "Likes."

More Business Resources from Mashable:

6 Ways to Market on Foursquare Without a Location
HOW TO: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
5 New Online Services Perfect for Small Businesses
4 Top Employers for Social Media Professionals
What Does Web Design Say About Your Small Business?

Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Twitter, Yelp, YouTube

More About: advertising, facebook, MARKETING, Opinion, predictions-2011, social media, social media marketing, trending, twitter

For more Business coverage:

“WikiLeaks” Becomes a Recognized Word in the English Language

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 12:55 PM PST


The Global Language Monitor (GLM) announced Tuesday that “WikiLeaks” has achieved the geographic reach, depth and breadth of usage to be considered a proper English word.

While the organization’s name is properly spelled with a capital W and L, the English word is simply “wikileaks.”

And it’s true that there’s no official governing body for the English language; rather, popular usage itself is the arbiter of new vocabulary.

We’re not surprised by the revelation that WikiLeaks has been on many a tongue recently; people are talking and writing about WikiLeaks at incredible volumes this year.

And the organization’s (and its founder’s) exploits haven’t just captured the minds of the tech set, either. Julian Assange made a faux-appearance on Saturday Night Live this past weekend — if that’s not a zeitgeist for popular culture, we don’t know what is.

Nevertheless, the word has yet to become a trending topic on Twitter; Twitter reps say the mentions of WikiLeaks haven’t yet made the grade when it comes to volume and velocity.

Other words, such as “google” and “friending,” have become commonly used as verbs. While the former was a proper noun and company name, most of us (with the exception of Steve Ballmer and a few others) don’t mind saying that we’re going to google a search term these days.

However, we’re still waiting for “wikileaks” to be used as anything but a proper noun and organizational moniker. How would “wikileaks” be used as a verb, anyhow? Your ideas are welcomed in the comments.

Reviews: Twitter, Wikileaks

More About: english, global language monitor, language, wikileaks

For more Tech coverage:

Salesforce Acquires E-mail Contact Management Startup Etacts

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 12:24 PM PST


Etacts, a Y-Combinator startup in the contact-management business, has been acquired by Salesforce for an undisclosed amount.

The startup’s product attempted to bring advanced customer relationship management to its users’ personal e-mail contacts with a modicum of simple features and a slick Gmail integration.

When we first covered Etacts shortly after its February 2010 launch, we were impressed with the product’s simplicity and usefulness. By parsing Gmail contacts, Etacts was able to provide its users with interesting and actionable data, such as how many e-mail conversations you've had with someone, when you first contacted someone, the amount of days since last contact and even people you’d been out of touch with for a while.

However, the service stopped accepting new users not too long ago and will cease operations entirely within the next few weeks. The founders left a simple message on the Etacts homepage stating, “We have decided to pursue other opportunities and will be shutting down our service on January 31, 2011.”

Etacts’ investors include an all-star list of successful entrepreneurs and angels, including Ron Conway, YouTube founder Jawed Karim, Delicious founder Joshua Schachter and others.

Salesforce’s last acquisition was Heroku, a cloud platform for Ruby devs.

Reviews: Delicious, YouTube, gmail

More About: acquire, acquisition, Etacts, Salesforce, startups, y combinator

For more Business coverage:

Get Travel Tips From Facebook Friends on TripAdvisor

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 11:54 AM PST


Facebook has teamed up with travel website TripAdvisor to let users get advice and reviews from friends when planning trips. Once a user is logged into Facebook, the TripAdvisor site shows a list of Facebook friends, along with the places they’ve visited.

TripAdvisor’s new Facebook integration makes it easy to find friends’ reviews and learn from their experiences in the same locale. Zoom into any area of the map on TripAdvisor, and pushpins show you where your Facebook pals (who’ve used the “Where I’ve Been Facebook” app) have traveled. It’s a simple matter to click on one of those pushpins and see friends’ reviews of that destination.

It’s not surprising that TripAdvisor would team up with Facebook in this way, given that the company bought the “Where I’ve Been” Facebook app in 2007 for $3 million. It seemed like a high price at the time, but maybe now that investment is coming into fruition.

TripAdvisor was already the world’s largest travel site according to comScore, and now with Facebook integration, users will find it even more useful, discovering if those restaurants and hotels are actually worth visiting. We like the way this new app makes it easy to find reviews and comments from trusted friends.

Reviews: Facebook

More About: facebook, Facebook Integration, travel, trip planning, tripadvisor

For more Social Media coverage:

Apple Pulls Unofficial WikiLeaks App For Being “Harmful”

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 11:44 AM PST


Add another company to those disassociating themselves from WikiLeaks: Apple. Today, the technology giant removed an iPhone and iPad app from the App Store that allowed users to check out content from the WikiLeaks site as well as follow its Twitter account.

According to The New York Times, Apple’s reasoning for nixing the app was as follows: “Trudy Muller, an Apple spokeswoman, said the company had removed the app ‘because it violated our developer guidelines.’ Ms. Muller added: ‘Apps must comply with all local laws and may not put an individual or group in harm's way.’”

Apparently, the WikiLeaks content itself was more of an issue to Apple than the fact that the app — created by developer Igor Barinov — was unofficial and charged users $1.99 for content that’s readily available for free elsewhere.

The move makes sense given both WikiLeaks’ and Apple’s track records. WikiLeaks has been the victim of DDoS attacks ever since it started releasing secret embassy cables, and several U.S.-based web companies, including Amazon, PayPal, and its DNS service provider, EveryDNS.net, have denied WikiLeaks service. Bank of America was the most recent company to take an anti-WikiLeaks stand. The site is now functioning mostly as a series of mirrors set up by sympathizers around the globe, but it’s still releasing new secret cables on a daily basis.

Apple, for its part, is known for the strict limitations it puts on developers who sell apps in its store. On-demand music service Grooveshark was pulled from the store amid record label complaints, Esquire’s November issue (featuring revealing pictures of "sexiest woman alive” Minka Kelly) was barred from the store for a spell for being too sexy, and a Pulitzer Prize winner’s satirical app was similarly rejected.

What do you think of WikiLeaks getting the heave-ho?

Reviews: Amazon.com, Apps, Grooveshark, Wikileaks

More About: App, apple, ipad, iphone, wikileaks

For more Apple coverage:

Can You Make an Ad Good Enough for TED?

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 11:40 AM PST


TED Conferences, the initiator of its eponymous symposiums, is throwing down the gauntlet to the advertising community. The challenge? Make an ad that people will like so much that they’ll want to share it with their friends.

While the idea is hardly foreign to modern advertising creative executives, TED and its curator, Chris Anderson, (pictured) are hoping its imprimatur will spur some competition. TED’s Ads Worth Spreading Challenge, announced today, dangles the chance to get exposure at TED2011 on February 28 in Long Beach, Calif., and run on the company’s home page on March 21-27, which, the company claims, will result in 2 million impressions. To sweeten the deal, TED also has an arrangement with YouTube, which plans to run the 10 winning ads on its home page. One member of the winning team will also get to attend a day of TED2011.

For those interested, videos should run 30 seconds to 5 minutes, though TED will consider non-video submissions that “introduce new online advertising solutions.” The deadline for submissions is February 7.

While shareability seems to be the main criteria for a successful entry, TED’s judging panel will choose the winners based on factors like “innovation, intelligence, authenticity, humor [and] craft,” according to a statement from the company. More information here.

For the uninitiated, TED conferences are star-studded affairs celebrating creativity. Past attendees include Al Gore, Richard Branson, Bill Clinton, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, among others.

Reviews: YouTube

For more Business coverage:

How WikiLeaks Became the Story of the Year in 2010 [VIDEO]

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 11:26 AM PST

Arguably the most controversial website of 2010, WikiLeaks has changed the way the world thinks about information and the Internet.

For some, like Vice President Joe Biden, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a “high-tech terrorist.” Others feel Assange and his site exemplify what the web is all about: The free flow of information.

Whether you love it or hate it, the concept of WikiLeaks is a digitally driven revolution that’s here to stay, and its effects on governments, journalists and the public are widely felt. We put together a video overview of the saga, including analysis from the Mashable editorial staff. Watch to see how some of us weighed in on WikiLeaks — and be sure to share how you feel about the site and its enigmatic founder in the comments below.

Reviews: Internet, Mashable, Wikileaks

More About: citizen journalism, governments, information, Joe Biden, journalists, julian assange, media, politics, video, web video, wikileaks

For more Web Video coverage:

Instagram Catapults to 1 Million Registered Users

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 10:08 AM PST


Photo-sharing app Instagram has just hit a major milestone: 1 million registered users.

The free iPhone app hit the App Store in early October, gaining an impressive 100,000 signups in its first week. Clearly, that trend has remained steady, as just 10 weeks after its debut, the app has passed the 1 million registered user mark.

Earlier this month, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom told us that the photo-sharing app was seeing two to three photo uploads per second.

Instagram’s continued success is indicative of a much larger mobile photo sharing trend. As Mashable’s Jennifer Van Grove wrote, “mobile photo sharing products from Picplz, Instagram and Path represent the next boom in photo sharing.”

Thanks to a combination of ever-improving smartphone cameras and the ability to instantly share photographs to social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare, these photo sharing apps often provide the simplest way to share photos as soon as they are taken.

Instagram has been particularly proactive in adding features to its app, including support for more networks, more filters and more language translations. Inline support of Instagram-tweeted images has even been added to Twitter.com.

Keep in mind, Instagram is still an iPhone-only application. Unlike competing services like Picplz, Instagram doesn’t offer the ability to browse or share photos outside the context of the app. To us, that makes that 1 million registered user mark even more impressive.

I know that on a personal level, I’ve started to use Instagram as my default photography app. Why? Because it’s super fast and I can instantly share with my various social networks in one step. Moreover, I find myself spending more time looking at my friends’ photos within the app, getting a better glimpse at what they are seeing and experiencing.

What do you think of Instagram and the overall trend of mobile photo sharing apps and services?

[via The New York Times]

Reviews: App Store, Facebook, Mashable, Path, Twitter, foursquare, instagram

More About: instagram, iphone, iphone apps, mobile photo sharing, Photos

For more Startups coverage:

5 Predictions for Small Business in 2011

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 10:02 AM PST


Over the course of 2010, Mashable has offered quite a few small business resources, ranging from tips on social media and marketing to resources for web design and development.

As this year wraps up, we’d like to look back at the technological advancements that small businesses have benefited from and predict how those technologies will affect entrepreneurs in 2011.

Here are my five predictions about how small businesses will continue to adapt to changing technologies as we move into the new year.

Read on and let us know what you’d add to the list in the comments below.

1. Increased Spending on Websites

Small businesses are predicted to increase online marketing spending, with websites taking the front seat, according to a recent survey. The survey found that 54% of respondents indicated that their businesses currently have websites. Unfortunately, most of those websites contain nothing more than general information, and less than half of them incorporate customer service features.

The importance of being easily findable on the Internet has still not been fully recognized by small businesses, but increasingly, smart entrepreneurs are taking notice. Next year will be marked with increased spending on website development, lifting small business sites from their current iterations as online brochures to more prominent positions as useful resources for customers.

Those making valuable upgrades to their online presences will increase functionalities revolving around e-commerce, reservation systems, corporate blogs and social media integration. Furthermore, we may see increased attention on better web design.

2. Smartphone Revolution

A whopping 49% of small business owners use smartphones, outpacing the rest of America in smartphone adoption, according to a recent Forrester study.

As more small business owners are exposed to smartphones on a daily basis, it’s inevitable that they will begin to innovate with mobile technologies. In 2010, business owners were tweeting on the go, using location-based services and investing in mobile advertising.

In 2011, the smartphone revolution will continue to ensue, with ever increasing smartphone adoption. Mobile devices will continue to change the way that companies of all sizes do business. With most business needs at the tips of their fingers, small business owners will experience more flexibility than ever before.

3. Social Shopping and E-Commerce Advancements

While a number of small businesses benefited from social shopping in 2010, others were left wondering if group buying was really worth the risk.

Regardless, it’s evident that e-commerce is a huge advantage for small businesses taking part in it. Offering their products online, businesses have widened their customer bases beyond their local markets.

While only 30% of small business websites currently incorporate e-commerce abilities, the increased buzz around online and social shopping will probably push more small business owners to experiment with the medium in 2011.

4. More Focused Social Media Efforts

This year was a time of social media experimentation for many small business owners. Testing many social media services in the past year, small businesses are becoming more knowledgeable about which platforms their customers use most and how their companies can benefit from staying connected on each platform.

It isn’t uncommon to visit a small business’s website to find a mass of social icons pointing to less-than-utilized profiles all across the web. It seems that anxious entrepreneurs have spread themselves thin in the social media realm this year, trying out every platform that got buzzed up.

The simple truth is that not every platform is right for every business — it’s all about where your customers are.

Having answered quite a few social media questions from small business owners this year, I have a feeling that next year is really going to be about paring down to the essentials based on proven successes and strong metrics.

5. Increased Adoption of Cloud Computing

Earlier this year, a group of Internet and tech experts and social analysts predicted that Internet users will “live mostly in the cloud” by 2020. While I don’t have the expertise to analyze that prediction, I can point to the fact that I and many of my friends and co-workers already do live and work mostly from web-based and mobile apps, relying less on software installed on our desktops.

Cloud services have already simplified many processes for businesses. Google Apps and Google Docs, for example, make hosting and collaborating on spreadsheets, presentations, forms and word processors much simpler. Box.net and Dropbox have also made online file sharing and collaboration much easier. Meanwhile, 37signals supports a full line of business tools for project management, CRM, internal communications and group chat.

In 2011, businesses will be increasingly exposed to cloud services as tech companies introduce more and more products geared toward moving our digital lives into the cloud.

More Small Business Resources from Mashable:

- 5 Essential Web Apps for the Lean Small Business
- 5 New Online Services Perfect for Small Businesses
- What Does Web Design Say About Your Small Business?
- 10 Customizable Holiday Gifts for Your Tech-Savvy Office
- 10 Ways Business Leaders Can Turn Ideas Into Execution

Images courtesy of Flickr: Horia Varlan, quinnanya, rishibando, turtlemom4bacon, laurajo

Reviews: Box.net, Dropbox, Flickr, Google Docs, Internet

More About: business, cloud computing, e-commerce, List, Lists, Mobile 2.0, predictions-2011, small business, smartphones, social media, social shopping, websites

For more Business coverage:

Remix a Classic Bob Dylan Track With Your Own Music [APPS]

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 09:56 AM PST


Sony’s giving users a chance to perform a remix of the classic “Subterranean Homesick Blues” by Bob Dylan, and whoever does the best job of re-creating the song wins a trip to South by Southwest in Austin in March.

Each of Dylan’s recorded tracks are separated for your mixing pleasure. Individual Dylan vocals, drums, electric guitar and bass lines, along with dozens of other tracks performed by various artists, can all be mixed together for a unique result.

This is tons of fun. Once you get the hang of it, it feels like you’re actually creating a new piece of music.

The Remix Project Flash app allows more talented users to record their own musical tracks to add to the mix. It gets really interesting when you take a look at the remixes people have already created — these are sorted on the site using a filter for most recent or most watched, along with an offer to search for a username.

A panel of Sony judges will decide which remixes are the best, and the company will announce the top 10 remixes on January 24 via its Facebook Page. Visitors to Sony’s Facebook Page will also be invited to vote for their favorites.

This is a brilliant piece of viral marketing from Sony, shining the light on the brand without forcing the issue. It’s not surprising, given Sony’s history of creating fun apps and games to call attention to its brand. For example, look at the company’s spy-themed Facebook app from last May.

More About: Bob Dylan, Flash, Remix Project, sony, sxsw

For more Entertainment coverage:

Squarespace Takes Blogging on iPad to the Next Level

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 09:33 AM PST


Web publishing platform Squarespace has released the first version of its iPad app.

Squarespace for iPad [iTunes link] is a free app that lets Squarespace users not only create and edit blog posts, but also moderate comments, view site statistics and manage multiple accounts. Similar to Squarespace’s excellent iPhone app, Squarespace for iPad has an intuitive design and some interesting features that really help set it apart from some of the other blogging tools in the App Store.

We had a chance to talk to Squarespace about the app and get a sneak peek of the blogging client in action.

Squarespace is a hosted website platform. It’s similar to TypePad, Blogger or WordPress.com in that they provide the hosting and the backend software. Users can edit and modify their blog, website or portfolio, but Squarespace takes care of the heavy lifting.

The iPad app is very attractive, matching both the iPhone app and the overall style of the Squarespace.com interface. Users can sign into their accounts on the app or create a new account from the login page. Squarespace is not a free platform, but users can give the system a try for 14 days to see how they like it.

Once logged into the app, users are presented with the option to switch between posts and comments. Posts are previewed as they appear on the blog and you can scroll through your contents or drafts, view a preview in the app or choose to open the entry in Safari on the iPad.

Comments can be marked as read, marked as spam, approved or unapproved. Users can also send an e-mail to a commenter (provided he or she included one) directly from the app, as well as make their own comment replies.

In addition to viewing comments and posts, users can also view site statistics. These stats include things like unique visitors, RSS subscribers, search terms that led to a post, referrals, number of page views and more. The way that stats are displayed is very similar to Shaun Inman’s Mint, one of my favorite analytics services.

When viewing a post, a user can choose to edit the post on the iPad. This is where Squarespace really differentiates itself from many of the other publishing clients on the iPad. Because Apple hasn’t really allowed developers to integrate a true WYSIWYG type of interface into text entry boxes, most blogging apps on the iPad (and the iPhone for that matter) are more lacking in terms of the ease in which people can insert links, make things bold or italicized and so forth.

Squarespace has an interesting, and we think, elegant solution to the problem. Squarespace supports plain text entry, HTML, Textile and Markdown. If an editor chooses to edit a post in HTML, Markdown or Textile, selecting text offers up a context menu that allows for some modifications. There are also buttons in the editor that can be used to apply styles to selected text. The text output is then updated in whatever format a user is editing in.

Previewing the entry will show the markup with these modifications applied. This isn’t true WYSIWYG, but it is a lot better than many competitor offerings. Additionally, the ability to natively support Markdown and Textile really makes the platform as a whole more versatile.

Users can insert photographs, though at this time it isn’t clear if other types of media uploads, like video, are supported. Photos can also be rearranged in the case of a gallery.

We would like to see enhanced page support in the app — for the individuals who do more than just blog — and more supported media types. As a personal, more geeky request, it would be great if TextExpander touch support could also be added.

Competing publishing services — we’re looking at you, WordPress — might want to take some notes on how to elegantly get around Apple’s WYSIWYG limitations. Squarespace users should be happy with the offerings in this app.

Do you blog on the iPad? If so, what apps do you use?

Reviews: App Store, Mint, Safari, SquareSpace, TypePad, WordPress, blogger

More About: blogging services, ipad apps, publishing tools, squarespace, squarespace for ipad

For more Social Media coverage:

Apple Opens Up iAd Creation to the Masses

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 09:21 AM PST


In an indication that the company will no longer be so tight-fisted about control of its iAd creation, Apple today rolled out iAd Producer, a free desktop app that lets third parties make iAds.

iAd Producer “makes it easy for you to design and assemble high-impact, interactive content for iAd,” the company writes on its Apple Developer page, adding that the app “automatically manages the HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript” behind iAds.

By making the creation of iAds available via a graphic user interface, the app effectively removes the need for advanced development acumen.

Apple introduced the iAd platform in April with the goal of changing the face and quality of advertising. Since then, Apple has been very restrictive about who can use iAd. According to a report published earlier this year, Apple charged between $1 million and $10 mililion to the likes of Nissan and Disney to use the platform. The first iAd showed up on iPhones in July. Last week, Apple rolled out the first iAd for iPad, which promoted Disney’s TRON: Legacy.

Of course, even though Apple is helping developers with the new app, Apple is still the intermediary for running iAds on its iPhones and iPads.

More About: advertising, apple, iAd, MARKETING, Mobile 2.0

For more Dev & Design coverage:

5 Essential Web Apps for the Lean Small Business

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 08:43 AM PST


Donna Wells is the CEO of Mindflash.com, software that provides the best online training for small businesses. It makes employee training easier, faster and more cost-effective than ever before.

As consumers, we're adopting cloud-based apps and tools rapidly. But we're still at the beginning of the curve in applying the same kinds of low-cost tools to running small businesses. I managed about two-thirds of all of my work at my previous company, Mint.com, on inexpensive web applications. At my new company, it's closer to 100%. Why? There’s been an explosion of well engineered, secure apps that facilitate almost all of my accounting, marketing, project management, and other business tasks at a small fraction of the cost and time required by their enterprise predecessors.
 
Here are five cool tools I've learned to love that cover some important bases for any business — from basic file sharing and team communication to user testing and content management. Are there countless others worth trying? You bet. But here are a few I consider keepers.

1. Ethnio, & 2. Usabilla


What it is: On-demand user research.

Why you need it: Without an intimate understanding of users, our businesses wouldn't thrive (or even exist). User feedback is the most valuable dataset we can get our hands on. As a one-two punch, Ethnio and Usabilla deliver great insights quickly and cheaply.

I recently had lunch with a product-VP, and we both had a good laugh over the fact that it used to take him nearly four days to set up a single day of product usability research. Between the manual labor of finding and qualifying the users, then organizing the process, it had become one of his most time-consuming and expensive tasks.

Ethnio allows us to grab and vet potential candidates through website pop-ups. Usabilla then pulls the best candidates from the Ethnio session to work through questions, product concepts and sends feedback and analysis to the business.

Set up properly, this nifty duo works almost entirely hands-off, allowing the site to motor along while continually mining data. And it keeps our top research and product talent focused on interpreting the results – not collecting them.

What it replaces or complements: Focus groups, traditional user testing

Cost: Ethnio: Free to $800/year; Usabilla: Free to $139/month

Other options: Loop11, Usertesting.com

3. Yammer

What it is: A walled, instant-messaging service geared for office communication and collaboration.

Why you need it: Yammer is commonly referred to as "Twitter for businesses," only without the 140-character maximum.

A few weeks ago I had to cancel a 9 a.m. company-wide conference call on short notice — at about 10:30 p.m. the night before. (It should also be noted that half of the company works remotely.) Instead of a blast e-mail or calendar change, I simply "Yammed" the change of plans. The update went out instantaneously, got read, and no one wasted time dialing in the next morning.

What it replaces: Instant messaging, e-mail

Cost: Free to $5 per user/month

Other options: Present.ly, Campfire

4. KISSinsights

What it is: Deep-drill insights that Google Analytics doesn't deliver.

Why you need it: Most everyone uses Google Analytics to measure website activity and track important metrics. But we've recently deployed KISSinsights in our online training app to also get critical, qualitative feedback that GA doesn't collect.

By embedding a few lines of KISS code, we can now pop contextually relevant questions to users within a live session. This allows us to learn what users like and don't like about the app's features and design, what they may be confused by, what's missing, etc. It's feedback that is becoming priceless for our company's success at an incredibly low cost.

What it replaces: It doesn't replace Google Analytics, but it's a vital complement.

Cost: Free to $300/year

Other options: ClickTale, Crazy Egg

5. WordPress

What it is: A complete content management system.

Why: In a past life, I worked for a big company with a huge e-commerce website in which all content was entirely hard-coded. We had to work through an engineer to do something as simple as altering a sentence of copy. Needless to say, this made my life hell and made the company uncompetitive compared to those that had built sites with functional content management systems.


My current company runs our public website on WordPress, meaning anyone in the company can quickly update and alter content nimbly, efficiently and cheaply.

What it replaces: Flat, HTML design, expensive enterprise-level CMS

Cost: Standard version is free, but you'll still need basic design and development to customize; VIP Hosting: $2500/month.

Other options: Drupal, Joomla

More Business Resources from Mashable:

- 6 Ways to Market on Foursquare Without a Location
- 5 New Online Services Perfect for Small Businesses
- What Does Web Design Say About Your Small Business?
- 10 Ways Business Leaders Can Turn Ideas Into Execution
- 7 Tips for Building a Better Branded App

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, kemie

Reviews: Drupal, Google Analytics, Joomla, Loop11, Mint, UserTesting.com, WordPress, Yammer, iStockphoto

More About: apps, business, business applications, cloud computing, google analytics, List, Lists, small business, usabilla, web apps, WordPress, yammer

For more Business coverage:

YouTube’s Most-Viewed Ads of 2010 [VIDEOS]

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 08:29 AM PST


The Old Spice guy ruled the day in 2010. Isaiah Mustafa’s video for the Procter & Gamble men’s grooming brand got 24.2 million views for the year, an impressive achievement though still a bit behind what looks to be the all-time winner — Evian’s Roller Babies, which was released in July 2009 and is edging close to 45 million views if you add the international and U.S. versions.

This year’s lot (provided to Mashable by YouTube), which for the sake of variety excluded other well-viewed Old Spice videos, is a fairly random list. The only common theme seems to be that it helps to have famous athletes on board (as four of the most-viewed ads did, assuming you count pro rally racer Ken Block as an athlete) and that goofy, random humor seems to go along way (as Old Spice, Kia and Geico, to name a few, discovered.) On the other hand, as the ad for European correction fluid maker Tippex showed, drama can work, too.

Click below for the full list of 12:


Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like



HD - Nike Commercial - Write The Future



Ken Block's Gymkhana THREE, Part 2; Ultimate Playground; l'Autodrome, France



NSFW. A hunter shoots a bear!



Amazing Roger Federer trickshot on Gillette ad shoot



SWAGGER WAGON



NEW E*TRADE Baby - Girlfriend



Doritos® - Crash the Super Bowl 2010 Winner: House Rules (Doritos)



Piggy - GEICO Commercial



adidas Originals - Star Wars™ Cantina 2010



Google Chrome Speed Tests



2010 Kia Soul Hamster Commercial | Black Sheep Kia Hamsters Video


Reviews: Mashable, YouTube

More About: advertising, trending, youtube

For more Web Video coverage:

SoundCloud Comes to Android

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 08:12 AM PST


Android-toting musicians rejoice — the newly revamped SoundCloud app has finally come to Android devices — kind of. This new addition to the SoundCloud family sadly lacks a few essential features, which makes us wish the audio platform had held its horses a bit when it came to getting this release out of the gate.

There’s no denying that SoundCloud’s iPhone app is a rad tool — it was recently named one of Apple's top cloud apps of 2010 — which is why we’re a bit disappointed with the Android version.

The other week, we reported on SoundCloud’s newly minted “Record” feature, which allows users to record from both in-browser and in-app. This feature lets musicians and casual users alike store recordings on SoundCloud, tagged with pictures, locations and descriptions. At the time, we were struck by how useful this feature would be for journalists, students attending lectures and anyone else who needs to record and store info on the fly.

Well, now Android users can get in on the action as well. That’s the biggest plus of the brand-new app: Users can record and store recordings both in-app and in-browser.

Now for the downsides: 1). You can only record for five minutes in-app — the iPhone app has no such limit. 2). You can’t add your location via geo-location, as in the iPhone app. You must type it in. 3). You can’t add comments to your recordings or those of other users (another iPhone app feature). 4). You can’t share recordings to your social networks (guess which OS lets you do that).

Of course, Android users won’t be among the have-nots for too long. According to an announcement from the company, “Today's release is the start of an iterative process that will see additional updates, including comment and sharing features, made to the Android app over the coming months.”

Still, it seems like a poor move on SoundCloud’s part to release an app that is not, in essence, done. In all honesty, we would rather have waited a few more months for a more complete experience.

Reviews: Android

More About: android, iphone, Mobile 2.0, music, soundcloud

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Apple TV Sales to Reach 1 Million This Week

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 06:59 AM PST


Apple announced that it expects sales of its redesigned Apple TV, introduced this September, to top 1 million later this week.

The latest version of Apple TV offers support for Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe, as well as content streaming and affordable rental pricing for TV shows, at a price of $99.99. It seems that Apple’s new strategy worked, as 1 million units sold in three and a half months. Apple also claims that iTunes users are now renting and purchasing more than 400,000 TV episodes and more than 150,000 movies per day.

It’s also another slap in the face for Google, whose Google TV, which was once perceived as a chief rival to Apple TV, is not doing nearly as well. Several major broadcast network have banned it from accessing their content, and a recent report from The New York Times revealed that numerous manufacturers will hold off from displaying their Google TV devices at CES as Google needs more time to tweak the software.

Reviews: Flickr, Google, MobileMe, YouTube

More About: apple, Apple TV, sales, tv, video

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Microsoft Reveals Windows Phone 7 Sales Figures

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 06:45 AM PST


Microsoft is out with its first official sales number for the new Windows Phone 7 smartphones: 1.5 million in six weeks.

The number was revealed by Achim Berg, vice president of business and marketing for Windows Phones, in a Q&A posted to Microsoft's website. Berg says the number is, "in line with our expectations – especially when compared to other new platform introductions."

While that's a fraction of the sales being reported by Google and Apple (there are currently around 300,000 Android devices being activated daily and 3 million iPhone's were sold in the device's first three weeks on the market), it is perhaps better than some were projecting given Microsoft's unwillingness to talk numbers in recent public appearances by executives.

Earlier this month at All Things Digital's D: Dive Into Mobile conference, Microsoft Corporate VP for Windows Phone Joe Belfiore acknowledged it would likely be years before Windows Phone 7 comes close to rivaling the market share of its competitors. At least we now have a starting point by which to draw comparisons.

Reviews: Android, Google

More About: microsoft, smartphones, trending, windows phone 7

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4 Innovative Social Good Campaigns for Education

Posted: 21 Dec 2010 05:57 AM PST

The Education Tech Series is supported by Dell The Power To Do More, where you’ll find perspectives, trends and stories that inspire Dell to create technology solutions that work harder for its customers so they can do and achieve more.

Non-profit organizations and passionate individuals have found a slew of creative ways to leverage social media and the Internet to make the world a better place. Online campaigns help provide clean drinking water, food and malaria-preventing bed nets to people who need them.

Creative uses of the web are helping to provide and enhance education. These four projects, for instance, found innovative ways to help build schools through digital campaigns.

1. Epic Change


Epic Change has become a model for raising money using social media. Since 2008, its annual TweetsGiving has asked people to tweet about what they’re thankful for while making a donation. The strategy was so successful that #tweetsgiving became a trending topic on Twitter during the first year’s campaign.

Starting out, the benefactor of TweetsGiving was a school in Tanzania that was founded by Mama Lucky Kamptoni, a passionate local woman who started the school using money she earned from her poultry business (now there are two more benefactors). Epic Change wanted to help her rebuild and expand the school.

The organization also launched To Mama With Love, a website where users can make a donation by creating a "heart space" for a mother they care about. The "heart space" is a collection of photos, videos and words dedicated to that mother. Other people who care about that mother are invited to donate in her honor.

From one of the classrooms that was built using donations from these campaigns, the students now tweet and connect with the rest of the world.

“So often, we hear the stories of children in the so-called ‘developing’ world from the perspective of the media, non-profits or friends who have traveled or volunteered,” explains the Epic Change Blog. “What happens now – when these students can share their own stories, and build relationships with the rest of the world, for themselves? How will the world be different when these children, who live so geographically far away, move into our virtual backyard? What difference will it make in their lives to know that their voices will be heard?”

2. Stillerstrong

When Ben Sitller launched the Stillerstrong campaign on YouTube, Twitter and a branded website, he did it with a video that poked fun at Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong campaign. It was hard to tell if he was kidding.

But the campaign, which sells Stillerstrong headbands and accepts donations by text message and credit card, has raised about $300,000 to help provide temporary schools for Haitians displaced by January’s earthquake. At the time the campaign was announced, the organization and its partners Causecast and the Global Philanthropy Group were expecting each school to cost between $45,000 and $55,000.

3. TwitChange

Instead of auctioning off celebrity memorabilia to support a charity, TwitChange hosts eBay auctions for celebrity Twitter interaction. The donation’s bidders put down to have a celebrity follow them, retweet their tweet, or mention them in an update. The proceeds go to aHomeInHaiti.org, which will use them to build a home and school for children with disabilities in Haiti.

The first auction in September raised $531,640.25. The website instructs us to “stay tuned for the celebrity tweet auction coming this holiday season.”

4. University of the People

univeristyofthepeople

Less of a “campaign” than a full-blown effort to democratize education, University of the People provides tuition-free higher education through an online campus.

Since launching last year, the university has accepted about 700 students from 100 different countries to its three- to four-year programs for business and computer science. Recently the university opened computer centers in Haiti so that students with limited Internet access could enroll in its courses.

“I do believe that if we take the millions of people around the world who could not afford going to university and teach them tuition free, we're not only changing their lives, and their family's lives, we also change their communities, their countries,” founder Shai Shai Reshef says. “And if we have a lot of them, we will change the world for a better world.”

Series Supported by Dell The Power To Do More

The Education Tech Series is supported by Dell The Power To Do More, where you’ll find perspectives, trends and stories that inspire Dell to create technology solutions that work harder for its customers so they can do and achieve more.

More Social Good Resources from Mashable:

- How Online Classrooms Are Helping Haiti Rebuild Its Education System
- Why Social Media Is Reinventing Activism
- 5 Creative Social Good Campaigns for the Holiday Season
- 4 Real Challenges to Crowdsourcing for Social Good
- 9 Creative Social Good Campaigns Worth Recognizing

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, urbancow

Reviews: Internet, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto

More About: education, Education Tech Series, epic change, haiti, List, Lists, schools, social good, Stillerstrong, To Mama With Love, tweetsgiving, TwitChange, university of the people

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