Mashable: Latest 22 News Updates - including “WARNING: Facebook Clickjacking Attack Spreading Through News Feed”

WARNING: Facebook Clickjacking Attack Spreading Through News Feed
Rotten Tomatoes Now Integrated With iTunes
Seesmic for iPhone Now Available
Facebook and Others Caught Sending User Data to Advertisers
Chatroulette + FarmVille + Facebook = ChatVille
Will Google TV Be a Game-Changer in the Realm of Connected Devices?
EXCLUSIVE: Behind the Scenes at the “Married on MySpace” Wedding [VIDEO]
Facebook Privacy Makes The Cover of Time Magazine
iPads Are Outselling Macs, Analyst Says
TabbedOut Lets You Pay Your Bar Tab via iPhone or Android
Groupon Aims to Raise $1 Million for DonorsChoose.org
What You Need to Know About Google TV
Hulu Unlikely to Run on Google TV
Android Froyo Is a Slap in Apple’s Face
Google TV Has Arrived [VIDEO]
TwitPic Founder Talks About the Future of Twitter Photo Sharing [VIDEO]
“Sesame Street” Unveils E-Bookstore
Adobe Flash 10.1 for Android Enters Public Beta
Google Reveals Android 2.2 and Google TV [LIVE]
CAPTCHA-Inspired Artwork Asks: Are You Human? [VIDEO]
4 Tips for B2B Marketing on Facebook
TweetDeck Adds Foursquare, Google Buzz and Filters
Foursquare Now Adding 15,000 Users Per Day

WARNING: Facebook Clickjacking Attack Spreading Through News Feed

Posted: 21 May 2010 05:28 AM PDT

A new malware attack is spreading via Facebook’s news feed, according to reports from users on Twitter.

The attack consists of a message starting with the phrase “try not to laugh xD,” followed by this link: “http://www.fbhole.com/omg/allow.php?s=a&r=72306″ (don’t open it).

The attack, which seems to repost the message without your permission, uses the oldest trick in the book. Once you click on the link, you’ll see Facebook greyed out and a weird dialog that looks like a Windows error message, containing the phrase “If I don’t, someone else do it”. If you click anywhere on the page, you’ll repost the link because your click will land on a moving iframe with very low opacity. By clicking on it, you’re actually clicking the “publish” button on Facebook.

Interestingly enough, the root index file of the site in question (www.fbhole.com) contains only the phrase “My Facebook” that links to a nonexistent Facebook profile.

We’ve seen similar Facebook attacks before, and although they may be harmless, clicking on suspicious links is always dangerous. If you’ve seen this (or similar) attack on Facebook, please let us know in the comments.

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Tags: facebook, malware, security

Rotten Tomatoes Now Integrated With iTunes

Posted: 21 May 2010 01:07 AM PDT

Popular movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes is now integrated with Apple's iTunes Store, giving viewers the chance to instantly see the rating of a movie in the form of a popularity gauge called the Tomatometer.

Rotten Tomatoes is a popular site that’s been around since 1998, and it’s been acquired by Flixster early this year. It takes the reviews of professional movie critics around the world, counts the positive (fresh) and the negative (rotten) reviews and turns them into a percentage-based grade.

Now, you can see the Tomatometer in movie descriptions on iTunes, along with a couple of blurbs taken from some of the top critics’ reviews. It’s a great way to quickly check out whether a movie is worth watching; if you want more info, you can jump to Rotten Tomatoes for more reviews with a click.

For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Rotten Tomatoes, Twitter

Tags: itunes, Movies, rotten tomatoes

Seesmic for iPhone Now Available

Posted: 20 May 2010 10:57 PM PDT

The long-awaited Seesmic app for iPhone is now available. You can download the app for free from the iTunes App Store.

Just like in its BlackBerry app, Seesmic for iPhone includes baked in support for Ping.fm thanks to its January acquisition. You can also manage multiple Twitter accounts and your Facebook account within the app, along with saved searches, trending topics and Lists.

Another nice feature is the four-paned splash screen that’s always easy to call up from the upper left of each individual timeline screen. It allows you to easily and quickly toggle between the various accounts you have setup within the app. Similar to the way iPhone app screens are arranged, you can add extra pages of accounts as well for easy switching between views. Just like in the iPhone UI, you can tap and hold an individual account icon on the splash screen to re-arrange the order of the accounts.

The app also integrates with Evernote, allowing you to send important updates and messages right to its cloud-based syncable storage. Check out a demo video of Seesmic for iPhone below along with some screenshots of the app in action.

What do you think of the Seesmic version for iPhone? Let us know in the comments.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Evernote, Facebook, Ping, Seesmic, Tvider Blackberry App , Twitter

Tags: facebook, iphone, ping.fm, seesmic, twitter

Facebook and Others Caught Sending User Data to Advertisers

Posted: 20 May 2010 07:53 PM PDT

The Wall Street Journal is reporting on what could be a major scandal brewing for Facebook, MySpace and other social networks: despite assurances to the contrary, the sites have apparently been sending personal and identifiable information about users to their advertisers without consent.

Large advertising companies including Google’s DoubleClick and Yahoo’s Right Media were identified as having received information including usernames or ID numbers that could be traced back to individual profiles as users clicked on ads. The data could potentially be used to look up personal information about the user, including real name, age, occupation, location, and anything else made public on the profile. Both of the aforementioned companies denied being aware of the “extra” data they were receiving and claim they have not made use of it.

The WSJ goes on to report that since raising questions about the practice with Facebook and MySpace, both companies have since rewritten at least some of the code that allowed transmission of identifiable data. Beyond those two companies, LiveJournal, Hi5, Xanga and Digg made the list of sites identified as sending identifiable information back to advertisers when a user clicked on individual ads.

The Journal found that Facebook went farther than most in sharing identifiable data, by sending the username of the person clicking the ad as well as the username of the profile they were viewing at the time. This news could hardly come at a worse time for Facebook, a company that currently faces a privacy backlash potent enough to make the cover of Time Magazine this month.

Outside of Facebook, the other companies named in the article maintain the data they send to advertisers contains the user ID of the profile a user is visiting when they click on an ad, and not the user ID of the visitor themselves. Both Google and Yahoo made strong statements refuting the idea that they would ever make use of any such personally identifiable data. Yahoo VP of global policy Anne Toth said of the allegations, “We prohibit clients from sending personally identifiable information to us. We have told them. ‘We don’t want it. You shouldn’t be sending it to us. If it happens to be there, we are not looking for it.’”

What do you think: is this another privacy-related stain on Facebook as well as other social networks, or much ado about nothing?

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Digg, Facebook, Hi5, MySpace, Twitter, Xanga

Tags: advertising, digg, facebook, facebook privacy, Google, hi5, LiveJournal, MARKETING, myspace, privacy, trending, xanga, Yahoo

Chatroulette + FarmVille + Facebook = ChatVille

Posted: 20 May 2010 06:57 PM PDT

There’s a new Chatroulette spinoff in town: meet ChatVille. It’s a Facebook app that combines the basic video chat elements of Chatroulette with the game mechanics, badges and leveling up of casual games like FarmVille.

Just like in Chatroulette, you have the opportunity to get paired up with a total stranger — but since the app can also take advantage of your Facebook social graph, you can also invite specific friends to chat with you as well. Plus, in chatting with either strangers or friends, you have the opportunity to earn badges for specific actions, like taking your first screenshot or getting a “compliment” from another user.

The app also features some other extra features like a built-in screenshot function; the screengrabs you take can then be optionally posted on your Facebook wall. Another extra feature quickly turns your webcam into an ad hoc photobooth, with the results also postable to your Facebook wall.

Built by the same team that made the popular instant messaging desktop client Digsby, many are already calling ChatVille “Chatroulette done right.” It’s certainly not the first Chatroulette clone we’ve seen, but it is unique for tapping into Facebook as an underlying social platform. Considering it stands to benefit greatly from the built-in virality of encouraging everyone to share their badges and accomplishments within the app, it will be interesting to see if or how fast this spreads as a much less “awkwardly adult oriented” version of Chatroulette.

Have you had a chance to check out ChatVille yet? If so, what do you think of the app — how does it compare to experiences you may have had on Chatroulette?

[via VentureBeat]

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Digsby, Facebook, Twitter

Tags: badges, chatville, digsby, facebook, facebook apps, farmville, game mechanics, games, video chat

Will Google TV Be a Game-Changer in the Realm of Connected Devices?

Posted: 20 May 2010 03:30 PM PDT

For many of us, the most exciting part of Google I/O today was the announcement of Google TV. Google and its partners are trying to make the connected living room a success and bridge the gap between the computer and the television at long last.

Jolie O’Dell has already given us a run-down of what Google TV is, but what does Google TV mean for existing players in this space and the future of connected devices? How does Google TV impact companies like Apple, Boxee, PopBox and others?

Potential to Bring Connected TV to the Mainstream

In its demonstration — which was notably marred by technical problems — nothing presented by Google really blew us away. That isn’t to say that the ideas and technology behind Google TV aren’t impressive — they are — it’s just that other products have been on the market for years that offer the same capabilities.

For instance, with the exception of the stand-alone web browser, practically every feature displayed in Google TV can also be found in the latest TiVo. Now, TiVo isn’t as sexy as it was a decade ago, and the company and its execution have lots of problems. But when you consider that features like viewing photos, streaming music and searching for upcoming programming were possible on TiVo back in 2003, and that viewing content from Amazon Video-On Demand, YouTube and Netflix has been possible since 2006 or 2007, we kind of wanted to see something that was a bit more impressive.

But maybe impressive isn’t the point. Maybe the point is to finally bring this technology — which until very, very recently existed only in the niches of the consumer electronics industry — to the mainstream. I recognize that just because I invested a summer into meticulously and methodically turning my Mac mini into the ultimate home theater PC doesn’t mean that the average person cares all that much.

Google TV offers up lots of potential for users who want a connected entertainment experience. While I still want to see some technical details on how well Google TV will work alongside set-top boxes from various cable companies (does on-demand work, for instance?), the fact that a box can be integrated into an existing set-up and provide one integrated, controllable experience is pretty compelling.

This Is a Competitive Space

Google may have been working on Google TV for two and a half years, but it is entering a very competitive space. It’s great that Sony is on board to bring the Google TV experience to some of its Bravia HDTVs and Blu-ray players, but let’s not forget that Samsung, LG and Panasonic consistently outsell Sony in the LCD TV space and that they all have their own IPTV solutions and partners in the works. LG partnered with DivX earlier this year to bring DivX TV to its Blu-ray players, Samsung and Yahoo have partnered together with Internet@TV, and Panasonic has its Viera Cast system.

Now, this isn’t to say that any of those options are as compelling or complete as Google TV — but if we have learned anything from TiVo, it’s that best features don’t always win, especially if something is included for free.

This is before we even address competing set-top box products like Boxee, PopBox, Roku and others. Boxee, for example, has already established a base of users via its computer and Apple TV platform. When the Boxee Box is released, it has the potential to bring even more users into the fold. While Boxee doesn’t integrate into the live TV experience like Google TV, it does support third-party apps, can do regular web browsing and also seamlessly links to existing media libraries.

And don’t forget about the cable companies! If Google can convince more service providers to follow the Dish Network lead and partner with Google, it could be a tremendous game changer, but cable companies haven’t made their move into connected TV yet. That doesn’t mean they won’t. Again, just as cable company DVRs snuffed out much of TiVo’s fire, it could be a big challenge to any connected TV platform — including Google TV.

Hulu: The Elephant in the Room

While Hulu was shown in the Google TV demo, Hulu was not ever mentioned by name, nor was its programming ever accessed. When Ben Parr asked about Hulu support today, Google dodged the question by saying that it was technically feasible but ultimately up to the content provider.

We find it extremely unlikely that Hulu will openly support Google TV. While we do expect Hulu to come to television sets in a supported way, we imagine it will be through its own set-top box or a licensed software it sells to TV manufacturers or cable companies.

The power of Hulu should not be underestimated; as great as the idea of a connected living room is, the reality is that we care less about watching YouTube videos on the big screen than we do with watching the most recent episode of The Simpsons or a classic episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show or NewsRadio.

A lack of Hulu support doesn’t portend disaster for Google TV, but it still leaves an opening — especially in the U.S. — for whichever company can manage to get Hulu onto their connected TV platform first.

Usability and Reliability Will Matter

While some of the technical problems in today’s Google TV demonstration could be blamed on the fact that Wi-Fi in the building wasn’t great and that so many BlueTooth devices were conflicting with the product — a product, we must add, that isn’t complete — the fact that there were so many problems in that demonstration made attendees very nervous.

As one of the Googlers said in the demo, one of the key aspects of television is that it “just works.” For connected TV to work — whether it be from Google or someone else — it has to be reliable, usable and consistent. I can deal with rebooting my computer if it starts acting weird. I don’t feel the same way about my television set. As it stands, I already curse my cable company provided HD-DVR box for being finicky and having performance issues; if I have to reboot my entire entertainment system because an Internet video gets out of control, I’m not going to be very happy. I also have no desire to have to play tech support for my family when the TV stops working.

Not having had any hands-on time with Google TV, I can’t speak for how well it works compared to the competition — but this is an area that Google needs to absolutely have at 100% at launch. Release early and often may work on the web, but users don’t want to have to troubleshoot their devices in the living room.

Learn From Apple and Microsoft’s Mistakes

Both Apple and Microsoft have tried their hand at the connected TV space, with MSN TV (née Web TV) and Apple TV respectively. Both efforts failed. While Apple continues to sell the Apple TV product, the company still says in conference calls that it considers the product “a hobby.” That’s Apple-speak for “we don’t sell that many.”

MSN TV was an idea that was too ambitious for its time. Dial-up Internet access over the television just wasn’t fun and digital cable was still emerging, which limited web-to-television interaction. Apple TV’s biggest problem has always been that it is just too closed. While you can make your Apple TV really slick by putting Boxee or XBMC on it, the default set-up is just too limited for most users, especially when practically every Blu-ray player on the market is both wireless and supports Netflix.

Hopefully Google and its partners will learn from Apple and Microsoft’s mistakes by not trying to push the market beyond its own readiness and by not limiting its uses. For the latter, it looks like Google has that under control. Google TV runs on a version of Android and will run on third-party applications. Google is also already encouraging developers to optimize their websites and web apps for Google TV.

Whether it becomes the future of TV or not, the company has the financial power and brand recognition to really help sell connected TV.

What do you think Google TV means for the future of IPTV as a whole? Let us know in the comments.

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Reviews: Android, Blu, Bluetooth, Boxee, Facebook, Google, Hulu, Internet, Twitter, XBMC, YouTube

Tags: boxee, connected tv, google tv, internet tv, iptv, popbox, television

EXCLUSIVE: Behind the Scenes at the “Married on MySpace” Wedding [VIDEO]

Posted: 20 May 2010 02:55 PM PDT

Today sees the airing of the Season 2 finale of MySpace’s original web series, Married on MySpace. We got an exclusive chance to go behind the scenes at the actual wedding of winning couple Dehlia and Graeham Ford-Feliz to sneak a peek at what it’s like to get hitched with a little help from the Internet.

For those not familiar with the show, think of it as a reality show for the web in which one couple is chosen to have their wedding ceremony planned and prepared with the help of the MySpace community. Fans get to vote on specific details like ring and dress styles, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and even the entertainment at the reception.

Married on MySpace represents a strategy surrounding original web programming we’re likely to see more of from the company in the future, said VP of Video & Entertainment Jason Kirk in an interview. Following the success of the first season, which garnered about a million views per episode and enthusiastic response from advertising partners, the show was renewed. Television veterans Endemol USA returned to provide production duties for the series, with JC Penney, HP, The Knot, Hearst and Fox Searchlight’s Our Family Wedding coming on board as sponsors.

So far Season 2 has been “tracking pretty similar in terms of views and engagement,” according to Kirk, “which makes me quite happy because when you replicate something you don’t always have the same success.” He spoke to the participatory nature of an online reality series as something of particular interest to the demographic MySpace primarily wants to serve, the young high school and college-aged user. For advertising partners too, the show offers a unique opportunity for “authentic integration into the show.”

“Audience involvement is a key attribute of our young demo, so we want to look to continue to do things that can showcase that, and I think that original programming does that,” said Kirk. “I think you’ll see us continue to do more of that in the coming year.”

Check out our behind the scenes video footage from the season finale big day, including an interview with the bride and groom as well as wedding planner Anja Winikka of The Knot. Traditional wedding it certainly was not, but outside of the omnipresent cameras and [spoiler alert!] hot dog suits, we were fascinated to attend a reality show marriage ceremony that felt surprisingly normal. You can check out how the finale turned out and catch the rest of the season at MySpace.

For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, video

Tags: Endemol, Fox, hearst, HP, JC Penney, MARKETING, married on myspace, myspace, reality tv, social networking, the knot, tv, video, web series

Facebook Privacy Makes The Cover of Time Magazine

Posted: 20 May 2010 02:06 PM PDT

Time Magazine’s May 31 issue will hit newsstands with a cover and feature story dedicated to the “scary” side of Facebook.

The cover art pays homage to the Facebook generation with a mosaic of 1,295 Facebook profile photos, accompanied by a blurb from the feature article: “Facebook …and how it’s redefining privacy. With nearly 500 million users, Facebook is connecting us in new (and scary) ways.”

The feature article by Dan Fletcher delves inside Facebook and its methodologies for hooking new users and explores the historical events leading up to present-day privacy concerns around Open Graph and instant personalization.

At first glance, the feature story appears less critical than the cover makes it out to be. But Fletcher lends a sharp eye to Facebook’s grand vision and enormous growth, and eventually concludes that Facebook is on the path to become “the Web’s sketchy Big Brother, sucking up our identities into a massive Borg brain to slice, dice and categorize for advertisers.”

Although Time Magazine no longer has the same distribution it once did, the print piece — with its online duplicate — is bound to get traction from a very mainstream audience. Unfortunately for Facebook, it looks like the controversy around its approach to user privacy isn’t going away anytime soon.

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: facebook, facebook privacy settings, time magazine, trending

iPads Are Outselling Macs, Analyst Says

Posted: 20 May 2010 01:35 PM PDT

One analyst’s forecast shows that iPads are flying off retail shelves almost twice as fast as Macs at a nearly 2-to-1 ratio.

The data collected by Mike Abramsky of RBC Capital Markets estimates that Apple sells in excess of 200,000 iPads each week in the U.S., as opposed to the estimated 110,000 Macs it sells each week.

These stats would place the iPad just below the iPhone 3GS in terms of sales; Apple’s latest iPhone has been selling around 246,000 units per week in Q1 2010.

In a note to investors yesterday, Abramsky wrote that retail inventories right now “show widespread iPad stockouts at Apple retail stores and Best Buy.” He predicts the company will sell around eight million iPads this year.

What remains to be seen is whether interest in and sales of the iPad will taper off as its novelty wears off — and whether upcoming Mac upgrades will boost Apple’s less mobile offerings.

If you had the option to purchase either a Mac or an iPad, which would you choose right now and why?

For more Apple coverage, follow Mashable Apple on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: apple, ipad, mac, sales

TabbedOut Lets You Pay Your Bar Tab via iPhone or Android

Posted: 20 May 2010 01:11 PM PDT

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

Name: TabbedOut

Quick Pitch: TabbedOut is an app that allows patrons to securely open, review and pay bar and restaurant tabs from a smartphone.

Genius Idea: This app for iPhone (available on iTunes) and Android smartphones will let you open, monitor and close bar tabs without ever pulling out your credit card. Participating bars grab payment information from the customer’s phone over the web thanks to a customer code.

When you go to a bar, you can locate it in the app using your phone’s GPS. You open a tab with the app but place your orders by speaking with the bartender. With each new tab you’ll get a code; show that code to the bartender and he or she will be able to find it on his or her computer if the bar works with TabbedOut. Your bartender will add each drink you buy to the tab, and then when you’re done you can enter a tip percentage on your phone and tap a button to close out the tab.

The app even warns you if you type in an outrageous tip number — a good idea, given that some users will be tipsy enough that they’ll have trouble typing into their phones. Your credit card payment information is stored securely on your phone (you can store more than one card, too) and only the last four digits are displayed on the screen. Developer ATX Innovation believes this is more secure than flashing your card around or leaving it with the bartender.

TabbedOut launched in Austin, but it’s expanding beyond that area. Right now you can also use it at bars in Dallas, TX, and Chico, CA.

Info for Consumers

With the Sony television sets, hardware will be integrated.
For non-Sony HDTVs, external hardware will use HDMI.
Hardware will be available exclusively from Best Buy.
Once you buy the hardware, the service will be free.
Google TV will eventually integrate with Sony Playstation.

Tech

Google TV is more robust than web TV or Apple TV; it’s not just a browser or a guide.
Instead of a “guide,” you’ll be able to search for and navigate both TV and online content.
You’ll be able to download and run Android apps from your TV.
You’ll be able to control your TV from your Android mobile device, including voice-activated searches.
Required bandwidth will depend on the kind of content you consume, but good performance can be expected from 3MB/s connections.
The technology “stack” is the Android OS (2.1 to start) with the Chrome browser.

Timelines

Developers can work on Google TV projects starting today.
Google TV will be available to consumers by fall 2010 in the U.S.
Aggressive international expansion is planned for 2011.
Android Market for Google TV will launch in early 2011.
Google TV APIs will be available in early 2011.
In summer 2011, Google TV will be open sourced.

We’re very excited to see and use Google TV ourselves, and we’re very curious as to what the exact price point will be. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

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Reviews: Android, Android Market, Chrome, Facebook, Google, Twitter

Tags: google io, google tv

Hulu Unlikely to Run on Google TV

Posted: 20 May 2010 12:02 PM PDT

Google TV has arrived and will begin bringing the Internet into living rooms this fall, but we are all wondering: Can it play Hulu?

For the last few days, I’ve been testing out Adobe Flash 10.1 for Android. While almost every Flash website worked for us, Hulu did not. When we questioned Adobe on the issue, the company told us that it wasn’t a technical issue, but a licensing one.

Hulu is unique in that its content is restricted by a multitude of licensing deals with major networks. That’s why only certain episodes are available on Hulu and why it isn’t available internationally. That’s also why Hulu doesn’t work on Android; Hulu only has licensing rights for the desktop.

We pressed Google and Adobe about whether Hulu would work on Google TV, given that it doesn’t work on Android. Google VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra responded by saying that Google TV and Flash 10.1 are technically capable and ready to run Flash on your TV screen. However, the final decision of whether to allow content to run on a platform like Google TV resides with the content provider.

Given Gundotra’s response, we doubt that Hulu will work on Google TV when it launches this fall. Hulu makes less money streaming a TV show to you than it does showing it to you through cable or satellite — the rates are simply higher and the volume of ads are simply larger on TV itself.

For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Android, Facebook, Google, Hulu, Twitter

Tags: android, Android 2.2., eric schmidt, Froyo, Google, google tv, youtube

Android Froyo Is a Slap in Apple’s Face

Posted: 20 May 2010 11:47 AM PDT

One couldn’t help but notice the slightly smug note of this morning’s Google I/O keynote on the upcoming Android OS, codenamed Froyo.

It plays nicely with Flash and HTML 5. It does native and web apps. It makes devices run faster than the iPad. It streams music from iTunes or any other desktop music library. It does painless, wireless tethering. It makes transferring apps from the desktop to mobile completely automatic.

It makes the iPhone look like a clunky, locked-down piece of junk, in so many words.

But why waste time being humble when Android’s advances are so significant and so welcomed by developers, users, advertisers and others in the mobile community? The Google execs who presented this morning didn’t need to belabor these points; attending developers started cheering the second the slides were flashed onto the huge auditorium screen.

Were these cheers the crazed adulation of loyalists and fanboys? While this room is undoubtedly full of Google fans, there is a case to be made: Google is, in fact, doing it right in a few areas where Apple is doing it wrong.

The company has the advantage of relative — for a major American corporation — openness, a value that has extended to allow for device and network agnosticism, a wide variety of mobile apps, the open-sourcing of a huge amount of code, and now, even more access and choice for users with the Android OS 2.2 upgrades.

The choice to view Flash content is one example of this “openness.” Although Google vigorously supports HTML5, it’s maintained Flash support because it allows them to serve the needs of users; it’s “do as you like,” not “do as I say.” The company loses no developers and alienates no users with this strategy.

Clearly, there’s no wrong way to run a company, unless you’re running it into the ground. Google and Apple have each built hugely successful businesses on polar opposite ideologies. And as long as everyone’s making money, at least in laissez-faire capitalism, is anyone really wrong?

Time will tell whether Google’s brand of “open” will yield long-term growth or whether Apple’s increasingly closed and dictatorial approach to consumer electronics will actually pave the way for better devices and features. But at least for today, Google is firing the shots with Froyo, and Apple cannot respond.

image courtesy of iStockphoto, MartinPrescott

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Android, Facebook, Google, Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: android, apple, Froyo, trending

Google TV Has Arrived [VIDEO]

Posted: 20 May 2010 11:27 AM PDT

Google officially unveiled Google TV at its Google I/O conference today. We’ve heard lots of rumblings about Google TV over the last few months, but today the product was demonstrated before a live audience.

Google is teaming up with Intel, Sony and Logitech for Google TV. The device is not designed to replace your cable or satellite box, but work alongside it: The goal is to be able to view web content and television content side-by-side from the same interface.

This concept is not new; companies like TiVo and Boxee have been attacking this space for quite some time. Google’s approach isn’t dissimilar to what TiVo is doing with TiVo Premiere, but Google has the brand-recognition and capital to potentially make mainstream adoption a reality.

What do you think of Google TV? Let us know!

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Reviews: Boxee, Facebook, Google, Twitter

Tags: Google, google tv, trending

TwitPic Founder Talks About the Future of Twitter Photo Sharing [VIDEO]

Posted: 20 May 2010 10:10 AM PDT

TwitPic Bubble Image Frank Barry, manager of professional services at Blackbaud and blogger at NetWits ThinkTank, helps non-profits use the Internet for digital communication, social media, and fundraising so they can focus on making a true impact and achieving their mission. Find Frank on Twitter @franswaa.

With the recent news coming out of Chirp, Twitter’s first ever "official" developers' conference, there has been a lot of talk about how the ecosystem of third-party application developers and investors would respond.

Noah Everett, founder of TwitPic — a service that allows Twitter users to easily share photos — is in the developer camp, but it doesn't look like he has anything to worry about. He recently turned down an offer "much higher than $10 million" from an undisclosed buyer, according to an interview by Andrew Warner of Mixergy. TwitPic's growth is also an indicator of how well the service is doing. Everett says that TwitPic has almost reached 10 million users and is growing by 35 to 40 thousand users a day.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Noah about where TwitPic is headed and how the service is being used.

Watch the video interview below (4 minutes):

Video by Blackbaud

Video Transcript

Note: The following transcript has been edited for clarity.

Frank Barry: Maybe you can give us a quick intro on what TwitPic is, and how it came about.

Noah Everett: I started TwitPic two years ago –- it was February 2008 when I launched it. I was working as a web developer and I just got on Twitter and I wanted a way to share my own photos. There was nothing out there at the time.

I had another photo sharing website that was just a project that I stuck out there and I thought, you know, why not? So I basically took the code from that over the weekend and reformatted it to work with Twitter. I launched TwitPic that next week.

The goal was for me to use it … and hopefully a couple of my friends would. Actually, that following week Mashable wrote about it and it kind of started this whole snowball effect and it just grew from there.

Frank Barry: Give us an idea of how big it’s grown.

Noah Everett: We're at nine million users and I think we're getting ready to hit 10 million users soon. We’re growing at about 35 to 40 thousand users every day. Our growth rate has really taken off.

Frank Barry: I know you just came out of the Chirp conference. Maybe you can tell us what you learned from the conference, and how is TwitPic changing and growing?

Noah Everett: What I learned from the conference is that you can't have more than five Red Bulls in a day [Laughter].

Actually, the Chirp conference was great. Twitter came out and showed a lot of new things they’re working with and what they’re bringing out –- really exciting. I got to meet a lot of their team…

It was great also just talking to other developers that build stuff on Twitter … people you know from Twitter for years, but you never meet in person.

We actually just launched a whole new version of TwitPic right before that. Basically, we re-wrote TwitPic from the ground up. It's going to help us scale quicker because we're growing so fast and it's going to enable us to add more features. We've kind of been in a feature freeze for the past year learning how to scale. We finally know how to swim with that now and so now we're going to start adding more features.

[We have] OAuth-based login on the front side of the site now and we're actually getting ready to release our new OAuth-based API this week.

Frank Barry: With the new stuff that’s come out, do you have future plans? What are the next things you’re looking to do?

Noah Everett: We're always very careful about the features we add. We want to think long and hard if we add a feature and make sure we do it right. It's better to have less and make sure you do it right.

One of the things we want to do is make sure we add in some "where was this photo taken." Obviously, some photos come in with GPS data — we want to be able to show that and maybe be able to hook in to some of the location-based services that are already out there and maybe make it easier for a user to check-in, and stuff like that.

Frank Barry: How are non-profits using TwitPic?

Noah Everett: When Twitter first came out, and TwitPic, it was kind of like a social networking tool for people to say "Hey, I'm doing this right now … I'm at a coffee shop." But the larger it's grown, companies are getting on and now non-profits are. It's a good way for non-profits to get out information about what they are doing "right now."

We've had UNICEF using TwitPic to display photos of people in the field doing their humanitarian work with a message below telling people what's going on right now and what they’re needing for this campaign. It really helps spread the word about the needs they have, and get more people on board with their mission.

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

More Twitter resources from Mashable:

- HOW TO: Make the Most of Your Twitter Profile Page
- 5 Ways to Send Real-Life Gifts To Your Twitter Friends
- 5 Ways to Get Free Stuff On Twitter
- How Does Twitter's New Social Good Initiative Stack Up?
- How Twitter's New Media Blog Aims To Teach By Example

Reviews: Chirp Blu, Facebook, Mashable, Twitpic, Twitter, video

Tags: interview, social media, twitpic, twitter, video

“Sesame Street” Unveils E-Bookstore

Posted: 20 May 2010 09:38 AM PDT

Elmo and his Sesame Street friends have already set up shop in Apple’s App Store, but today Bert, Ernie, Big Bird and the rest of the crew now have their own e-bookstore to call home.

The Sesame Street e-bookstore is an online collection of 121 character-driven e-books — covering learning subject areas like letters, numbers, counting and colors — offered in standard, audio, interactive and animated formats. Users pay an annual $39.99 subscription fee for unlimited access to all titles.

The e-books available include many of the same titles that Sesame Street has published over the past 40 years, but with digital additives. Audio e-books include narration, sound effects and music; interactive titles invite children to participate in the storytelling process; and animated e-books read like movies with full-color animation.

The site gives users their own bookshelf, includes tips for parents and boasts simplified navigation for children in Kids Mode.

Sesame Street’s digital publishing initiative is an aggressive move that makes its popular titles relevant to today’s web-centric world. Sesame Street has, however made a few puzzling choices; for instance, books are only accessible through the Sesame Street e-book reader, a browser-based application that requires Flash and is thus neither platform-independent nor mobile-friendly. Also, the annual subscription fee model implies that users won’t actually own any of the titles.

Still, if parents respond to the e-bookstore the same way they’ve responded to iPhone and iPad versions of Sesame Street content, then this endeavor could prove to be a big success for the educational non-profit.

For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: ebooks, sesame street

Adobe Flash 10.1 for Android Enters Public Beta

Posted: 20 May 2010 09:00 AM PDT

Flash for mobile is finally here, because today Adobe is releasing the public beta of Flash Player 10.1 for Android.

The release of the Flash 10.1 for Android Beta coincides with Google’s release of Android 2.2 (“FroYo”) here at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco. The release also comes as tensions escalate between Adobe and Apple.

Flash 10.1 for Android was redesigned from the ground up so that it would support mobile device inputs, as well as optimize performance and battery life. Adobe told us that the new version supports multi-touch, gestures, accelerometer inputs, and smart zooming — all things that differentiate smartphones from desktops. We saw some of these features before when Adobe demoed Flash 10.1 for Android for Mashable.

Adobe Flash 10.1 is also serious about performance. It includes hardware acceleration with H.264 video decoding, advanced memory management (which can decrease RAM usage by 50%), and a sleep mode that slows down the Flash player if an Android-powered device enters screensaver mode. Adobe tells us that it has worked with all the major chip and mobile platform players (including Intel, ARM, NVidia, Qualcomm and AMD) to get the best performance possible.

There is a drawback to all of these hardware and software performance enhancements, though; Flash for Android is only compatible with Android OS 2.2, meaning those with older model Android phones won’t be running Flash anytime soon.

The performance factor cannot be understated, because the release of Flash 10.1 for Android has gained major significance over the last few months due to Apple’s ban of Flash on the iPhone and iPad. It has sparked a debate over whether developers should abandon Flash in favor of HTML5.

We’ve had a chance to try out Flash for Android through a review model Nexus One. We’re going to follow up with our review of Adobe’s mobile offering later today.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Android, Facebook, Google, Mashable, Twitter

Tags: adobe, adobe flash, Adobe Flash 10.1, android, Froyo, Google Android

Google Reveals Android 2.2 and Google TV [LIVE]

Posted: 20 May 2010 08:46 AM PDT

Today is day two of Google I/O, Google’s developers conference. Yesterday, Google used its keynote to announce VP8, the Chrome Web App store, and its enterprise initiatives.

Today, we expect the launch of Google TV, Android 2.2 (FroYo), and several other Android related announcements.

Here are my live notes from the keynote:

Google I/O Live Notes

- Vic Gundotra, Google’s VP of Engineering, is on stage, talking about his first day a Google.

- Gundotra: Android = Freedom. If you love choice, then Android is the choice.

- More than 60 compatible devices.

- 21 OEMs, 48 countries, 59 carriers.

- Announcement: 100,000 daily activations of Android devices every day.

- Shot across the bow of Apple: Android is growing faster than every other smartphone maker except RIM, makers of the BlackBerry.

- Announcement: 50,000 applications in the Android marketplace.

- Now we’re about to get 22 demos of Android, focused on five areas of the platform.

FroYo and Developers

- Gundotra is now discussing the Dalvik Virtual Machine, which helps developers create Android apps.

- JIT compiler announced.

- Better support for Microsoft Exchange, as well as new device admin APIs.

- Application data backup API.

- Cloud-to-Device messaging API. You can send a message to Google’s servers and can trigger an Android intent.

- First Demo: If you send directions to your phone, it automatically opens up maps. No need to launch applications.

- Announced: Tethering and portable hotspot. We knew this would be coming, but it’s very cool.

- 2x-3x Javascript performacne improvement. In addition, the V8 codec (announced yesterday) is coming to Android

- Demo: 26 tests in a row of Android’s browser performance. Froyo runs much faster than Eclair (version 2.1)

- Google Maps tilts in the Android browser based on compass.

- Demo: Google Voice Search. It’s gotten better (a lot better). Long queries like “Barack Obama at the G8 Summit” works like a charm — at least in the demo.

- Voice triggers: Saying “call” and a contact triggers the call.

- The microphone is in the browser. They’re showing it off in Google Translate, where “Can you help me find the nearest hospital,” is not only translated, but it’s repeated via voice to others.

Flash, Marketplace and More

- Flash for Android: “Being open means you’re inclusive, not exclusive.”

- Gundotra is railing againts Apple for not playing Flash, telling a story about how his daughter couldn’t go to her favorite website (Nickelodeon) on an iPad and asked for an Android phone.

- First demonstration of apps: new widget for searching for Android, it has improved.

- There is now search within app data. You can search within the Mint Android app, for example.

- Android apps finally support installation on SD Card. If there is no space on your phone, it’ll automatically place the app onto your SD card.

- One-step updating of apps announced. Much easier to update.

- You can now report applications and developers can use that information to build better and more reliable apps. Google’s also giving access to a ton of information, such as the stack trace, so they can understand what’s going on with their apps.

- Sneak Peek of Android marketplace: Android Marketplace on the web! Finally, an Android marketplace online that doesn’t suck.

- Demo: It is sending applications from the web directly to an Android phone, no action on the phone required.

- Android Froyo can bring your entire home music library to your phone as a stream. So yes, all of your iTunes songs can be streamed onto your Android phone, so long as you have an Internet connection.

Advertising

- It’s the 10-year anniversary of Google’s entrance into the online ad space.

- Google’s railing against Apple iAds for costing way too much. They don’t mention Apple during the entire keynote, but there are so many subtle blows that you can’t help but notice.

- AdSense for Mobile Apps — AFMA. Serving contextually relevant ads in the web browser. The ads can take you to the Android marketplace, to another website, etc. It works within applications or web apps.

- They’re showing off banner ads. And now a new format: expandable ads by tapping the ad.

- There is now a click-to-call option for Google mobile ads, starting today.

- Yet another: expandable ad with Google Maps and directions and click-to-call.

- Mobile ads live at Google.com/mobileads — First $100 of advertising is free so that you can learn the system.

HTC EVO

- Google is discussing the HTC EVO 4G. They’re discussing the stats — 4.3-inch display, 1 GHz processor, 4G network, HD video recording and has an integrated kickstand. We’ve played with the phone before, and it is indeed awesome.

Google TV

- Google TV announced by Rishi Chandra, one of the product managers.

- $70 billion per year in television. Four billion TV user worldwide. Google wants a piece of the TV advertising market.

- 1994: Computer transformed the web. 2007: Mobile did it. Now Google’s after the TV.

- Issue: The web has your favorite websites, while your TV has your favorite shows and movies. Another issue: people huddle around the laptop to watch web content, when they have a bigger TV.

- “Video should be consumed on the biggest, brightest, best screen in the house.”

- Google admits that it is not the first to try this (think Boxee, Apple TV, etc.)

- Limitations of current Web TV solutions: They dumb down the web, essentially recreating a crappier version, they are closed, and they make you choose between TV or web.

- Solution: Bringing the best of the web and TV and integrating them together into one platform.

- “Google TV” officially announced.

- Key elements of Google TV: “Less time finding, more time watching,” “Control and personalize what you watch,” “Make your TV content more interesting” and “more than just a TV”

- They’re demoing Dish network and talking about aspects of TV, such as navigating through your favorite shows. Do you know that terrible navigation system on Dish or Digital cable where you look through shows? Yeah, Google is trying to reinvent that.

- Google TV lets you search TV shows just like you would Google Search. It provides results from the web and from TV. You can tune in directly to your show.

- Google TV lets you search through the entire web.

- The demo is getting hurt by bad Wi-fi and connectivity. They’re trying to show off search and navigation.

- They searched for House — as in the FOX TV show. In search, it shows full episodes not only from TV (FOX, USA, Bravo, etc), but also from Fox.com, Hulu.com, and Amazon.

- Transition from TV to web is seamless. No changing inputs, no different remote controls.

- With one button, you can flip right back to TV.

- Quick Launcher: you can launch shows instantly from partners such as Netflix. Google worked with Netflix and others to fill the quick launcher.

- Demo: They’re searching for Elmo on the web, YouTube, or TV. Your bookmarks appear at the top, though.

- Example: What if you missed the State of the Union and want to watch it? Google TV allows you to search for the State of the Union and get the full video from WhiteHouse.gov, YouTube, etc. You can access the content you want, whenever you want.

- Google TV allows for PIP mode (Picture in Picture), allowing you to browse the web while still watching the game. You can track what’s happening in the game (say via Yahoo Fantasy Sports) while watching it. It’s also easy to switch so that the web is the PIP.

- Google is showing how Google TV is superior as a photo viewer, game player, etc.

Google TV Hardware

- Now they’re talking about the hardware.

- Broadband connectivity, it’s “easy” to integrate with your Cable or Satellite Box, and it has a strong processor: enhanced GPU for graphics (even 3D).

- Google TV input devices include a keyboard and a pointing device. It combines keyboard, remote, and mouse.

- Phones can also be paired to Google TV devices over WiFi. He is using a Nexus One to “speak to his TV.” You can use Google Voice Search on your TV.

- Multiple phones can be paired with the same Google TV.

- You can push whatever website is on your phone onto your TV from your phone. Very cool.

Android and Software

- It runs on Android, it uses Google Chrome and it runs Flash 10.1.

- Android benefits: You can run apps and Android marketplace on Google TV. They’re trying out Pandora first and opening it up on TV.

- Google TV automatically syncs your Android apps to your TV.

- Now Ambarish Kenghe, lead product manager of Google TV is on stage to discuss how developers can create apps for Google TV. For example, Google’s providing guidelines for optimizing for the bigger screens of TVs

- YouTube Leanback announced: It pushes YouTube videos to your TV from your friends, YouTube’s recommendations, your subscriptions and favorites, etc.

- YouTube Leanback is a web interface, not an application just within Google TV. It’ll be available in the next few weeks.

- Bryan Perez of the NBA is on stage now. NBA has optimized its content for Google TV.

- You can browse the NBA schedule and click “record” and record those games to your DVR , all from the web.

- Now they’re talking about Google Listen, a product for Android that is now in Google TV. It allows you to search and subscribe to audio podcasts and audio shows. Oh, and it allows you to watch podcasts too.

- You can search Google Listen & Watch via the quick search box.

- Google Translate is on Google TV: you can create subtitles for multiple languages on your TV.

Google TV Partners

- Google TV is open-source on Android and Chrome.

- Google has partnered with retailers and manufacturers to bring Google TV to life.

- First partner: Sony. They are launching a full line of integrated TVs and an integrated Blu-Ray Player.

- Second partner: Logitech: Launching a companion box to integrate Google TV within your setup. They’re also launch peripherals.

- Third partner: Intel — they power both devices.

- Google TV is coming in fall 2010

- Google has also partnered with Dish Network — its DVR will seamlessly integrate Google TV into Dish Network.

- Best Buy will be selling Google TV devices.

- Early 2011 will have updates with Android market, Google TV SKD, and TV Web APIs. In summer 2011, it will open source Google TV.

Eric Schmidt and the CEOs

- Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, is now on stage.

- The idea of integrating the web to the TV has been an idea over a decade old, but only now can it be integrated.

- “We needed a whole ecosystem of partners.” Eric Schmidt is bringing out the CEOs of Intel, Sony, Logitech, Dish Network, Best Buy and Adobe. Eric Schmidt is moderating.

- More subtle jabs against Apple over Flash as Eric Schmidt and Adobe’s CEO talk about Flash’s role on Google TV.

- Sony CEO: “The opportunities that you [Google] demonstrated are mind-boggling.” Eric is emphasizing that Google TV will be out in the fall.

- Logitech CEO’s discussing that they are one of the world’s largest remote control manufacturer and how they’re bringing Google TV to market.

- Charles Ergen (CEO of Dish Network) is discussing the evolution of the web on TV.

- Now Brian Dunn, CEO of Best Buy, is talking. He thinks Google TV is a new line of Vs and devices, “Smart TVs.” At the same time, Vic Gundotra (Google’s VP of Engineering) has walked on stage.

- Dunn: “I need one!”

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Android, Blu, Boxee, Chrome, Facebook, Google, Google Chrome, Google Maps, Google search, Google translate, Hulu, Internet, Pandora, Twitter, YouTube, picture, video

Tags: android, Google, google io, trending

CAPTCHA-Inspired Artwork Asks: Are You Human? [VIDEO]

Posted: 20 May 2010 08:37 AM PDT

Every day we have to prove our humanity to the most unlikely of entities: computers. Artist Aram Bartholl — whose work deals with the intersection between digital and real-life spheres — has created an intriguing series called “Are You Human?” that integrates CAPTCHA codes into everyday landscapes.

Although you might not know the term for it, you probably use CAPTCHA codes at least one a week. They’re those trippy series of letters and numbers you have to punch in when verifying that you are, in fact a human, when signing up for an online service or making a purchase online. CAPTCHA stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.” As you can see in the video above, Bartholl fashioned his own tangible CAPTCHA codes and slapped them up around a cityscape, often next to graffiti (which he calls another kind of code).

We think this is a pretty cool concept, and especially relevant as the web continues to have a greater impact on “real life.”

[via The Daily What]

For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: art, entertainment, pop culture, viral video

4 Tips for B2B Marketing on Facebook

Posted: 20 May 2010 08:19 AM PDT

Leyl Master Black is a Managing Director at Sparkpr, one of the world’s top independent PR agencies. Leyl has more than 15 years experience driving high-impact communications programs for emerging technology companies.

A couple of months ago, we talked about ways to engage your fan base on Facebook. Several readers asked how B2B companies could take advantage of the tips we shared, and I know that some organizations are still wondering if it even makes sense to try to reach a business audience on Facebook.

In my view, Facebook presents a unique opportunity to connect with and educate your target market in a way that your website and even your blog can’t match. The trick is coming up with meaningful content that people will want to share, and that brings them back again and again.

Here are some tips for creating a powerful presence on Facebook that will engage a business audience.

1. Become an Industry Resource

Whatever business you’re in, chances are that you’re keeping up with industry news and maybe even writing about it on your blog. You’re likely running educational webinars or speaking at industry conferences. You’re also engaging with customers, helping to solve their business problems and maybe even documenting the process with case studies. This means that you probably already have a large number of resources to share. Why not funnel this content onto Facebook and make your Page the go-to place for insights and information on your particular industry?

A good example of this approach is 360i, an award-winning digital marketing agency. Tapping the deep expertise of its team, 360i keeps its Facebook Page updated with industry insights on topics that matter to the brand marketing audience, such as how businesses are taking advantage of Google Places or new trends with Foursquare.

The 360i team showcases industry research and reviews cool new technologies that marketers can use in their programs. They post a weekly summary of all the important industry news, and provide readers with astute commentary that puts the news into context. In short, they’ve positioned themselves as experts in digital marketing and become a valuable resource for their target audience on Facebook.

2. Engage the Community

In the past, your customers may have had little interaction with each other, and the outside world could only see a list of customers on your website (if you put them there). As a marketer, you wouldn’t know what all your customers were doing with your products, or even how to reach them.

Now, you can use Facebook to engage directly with your customers and make them part of your marketing efforts. For example, you can ask customers to share their successes on your wall and get feedback on new product features. You can encourage them to recognize great service people and reward them for their input with a discount or other promotion. You can also solicit customer references for case studies and media opportunities and find out who’s doing something innovative with your product.

BigCommerce, a company that offers e-commerce shopping cart software, routinely reaches out to its Facebook fan base to identify reference customers and uncover interesting use cases for the media. For example, when the company wanted to promote the success of its recently launched Facebook shopping application, they simply posted a query on their page asking which customers had seen a boost in sales from the application and who would be willing to talk to the media. Within 24 hours, the company had generated fifteen new customer references and were able to immediately turn this information into media coverage.

3. Expand Beyond Your Wall

There are now a host of different applications for Facebook that let you do more than post on your wall. If you’re selling B2B products online, you can set up a shopping tab on your page to drive traffic to your e-commerce site and encourage viral sharing of your products. Get Satisfaction, a popular social CRM and customer support platform, recently launched a Facebook version of its application so your customers can ask questions and get support right on your Facebook Page.

You can also set up a promotions tab using Fan Appz to offer special deals to your Facebook fans and even use these deals to support lead generation programs. For example, if you sell software licenses, you could offer a 20% discount on the annual fee for people who enter the promotion code at an upcoming webinar or bring the coupon to your booth at a conference.

4. Lighten Up

While many of us use Facebook in our day-to-day business, the vast majority are usually there to have fun and engage with friends. So no matter how serious your product is, inject some humor and levity into your page.

For example, if you’re selling enterprise security software, why not do a poll where people rate the most evil tech baddies in films like Hackers and The Terminator? If you’re a marketing agency, you could do a “Which Mad Men Character Are You?” quiz that assigns users an identity based on their answers, which can then be shared with their friends. Just keep it relevant to your industry and safe-for-work.

And even if your website needs to stay “all business,” Facebook is where you can give a face and personality to the company. You could do an “employee of the month” feature on the page where you profile someone who’s making a big difference at the company or who achieved a significant milestone. Include photos or even a short video.

You can highlight what the company or employees are doing in the community or in support of a particular cause, which has the added benefit of putting the weight of your fan base behind these efforts. You can also consider posting behind-the-scenes photos of engineers hard at work on the next product release, or a smiling customer service rep on the phone with a client. All of these ideas will help your fans make a stronger and more personal connection with your company.

These are just a few examples of how companies can use Facebook to engage with B2B customers, and I’m sure there are many more out there. If you’re using Facebook to market to other businesses, I’d love to hear what else has worked for you!

For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

More business resources from Mashable:

- 10 Essential Social Media Tools for B2B Marketers
- 13 Essential Social Media Lessons for B2B Marketers from the Masters
- How Venture Capitalists are Using Social Media for Real Results
- Why Co-Working Makes Sense for Small Businesses
- What Facebook's Open Graph Means for Your Business

Reviews: Facebook, Get Satisfaction, Twitter

Tags: b2b, business, facebook, List, Lists, MARKETING, small business, social media marketing

TweetDeck Adds Foursquare, Google Buzz and Filters

Posted: 20 May 2010 08:02 AM PDT

As we noted yesterday, the launch of the new Google Buzz API means that applications like TweetDeck, Seesmic, Plancast and Boxee can now integrate directly with Google Buzz. Seesmic Desktop released its first version with Google Buzz support yesterday and today TweetDeck joins the Google Buzz party.

The new version of TweetDeck also adds support for Foursquare, enabling users to view updates, see venue information, check in from a venue and more. Tweetdeck also now supports custom URL shorteners, better video upload and scheduled updates.

One of the features we’re most excited about testing out is global filters. Tired of seeing Justin Bieber take over your TweetDeck? Just create a filter to hide any messages that include “Bieber” or “Twieber.”

TweetDeck version 0.34 is available for download now or you can update your existing version of TweetDeck to get all the new stuff.

Check out the video below for an overview of all the new features.

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, TweetDeck, Twitter

Tags: foursquare, google buzz, software, tweetdeck, twitter

Foursquare Now Adding 15,000 Users Per Day

Posted: 20 May 2010 07:32 AM PDT

Foursquare, which recently surpassed the one million user mark, is now adding about 15,000 users per day according to CEO Dennis Crowley, who revealed the number this morning at Business Insider's Startup 2010 event in New York City.

In an interview with Business Insider founder Henry Blodgett, Crowley commented on his company's rapid rise, its recent deal with Starbucks, and ongoing rumors that Foursquare may soon be sold.

Addressing the latter, Crowley noted that he sold Dodgeball "too soon," and that the options for Foursquare are now considerably different than when his first attempt at location-based social networking was acquired by Google in 2005. Back then, raising money for such a service was far more difficult –- now, the company is weighing massive acquisition offers with big funding rounds that would finance Foursquare's expansion well into the future.

If Foursquare goes the independent route, expect a heavy focus on small business. One of the things Crowley is most excited about is the opportunity to provide "Google Analytics but for local merchants” — for example, letting a local coffee shop see its demographics and identify its most influential customers. We're already starting to see some of that vision come to life with the recently launched business dashboard.

Eventually, that could be a money maker for Foursquare in the form of subscription fees (Crowley wouldn't reveal the financial terms of Foursquare's recent deal with Starbucks or past partnerships with media companies like Bravo and The Wall Street Journal).

As for the rapid ascent of Foursquare, Crowley says that he actually expected to only have about 30,000 users in the first year. Now, with more than a million users, Crowley "sees a path to ten million users," but isn't sure we'll see Foursquare go as mainstream as Facebook or Twitter.

Nevertheless, Crowley believes that competition in the location space from those companies won't render Foursquare irrelevant, as he thinks the unique experience it has built for location-based social networking is different than what larger sites will offer, since it needs to make its tools appeal to a broad, mainstream audience.

We'll be learning more about Foursquare and its plans for the future in a couple of weeks when we catch up with Crowley at the Mashable Media Summit.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Dodgeball, Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Twitter

Tags: business, foursquare, MARKETING, money

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