Mashable: Latest 16 News Updates - including “Our Favorite YouTube Videos This Week: The Mythology Edition” |  |
- Our Favorite YouTube Videos This Week: The Mythology Edition
- BlackBerry Tablet Coming this November? [REPORT]
- New Apple Patents Detail Plans for Travel, Clothing and Commerce
- 10 Best Viral Video Remixes on YouTube
- #WinWeekend Sweepstakes: Lady Gaga Remix Edition
- Twitter Starts Offering Personalized Suggestions of Users to Follow
- Thanks to Mashable’s Socially Savvy Supporters
- Snuggie Wants YOU to Direct Its Next Commercial [VIDEO]
- 6 Online Tools for Expanding Your Video Strategy
- Traditional Publishers Release Enhanced E-books for iPhone and iPad
- Mashable’s iPhone App Updated with New iOS 4 Features
- Minnesota Vikings Pick SCVNGR for Training Camp Trek
- Wi-Fi Coming to New York City Subways
- Samsung: Galaxy S Getting Android Froyo Update in September
- HOW TO: Manage a Sustainable Online Community
- 20 Startups Vie to Power PepsiCo’s Next Social Media Marketing Campaigns
- “The Social Network” Movie Gets a New TV Spot [VIDEO]
| Our Favorite YouTube Videos This Week: The Mythology Edition Posted: 30 Jul 2010 08:19 PM PDT Hello there, weary travelers, winding your way — LOTR-like — toward the glimmering horizon that is the weekend. Isn’t this is thing we call life one, big adventure? Nah, we didn’t think so. That’s why we’ve decided to make this week’s YouTube roundup theme Mythology — so as to inject a dash of adventure and glamor into the grayscale mundanity of our workaday existence. Go out into the world, ye mortals, and slay some dragons or something. Or at least change up your brunch order for once… FALCOR - the URiNATOR (TROGDOR Parody)Amy-Mae Elliott: It's an oldie-but-a-goodie. You know seeing the dragon dog napanating on the pee pad will only improve your Friday afternoon. Faaaalcor! OEDIPUS (starring... vegetables)Erica Swallow: Oedipus, starring vegetables. I've never felt so sorry for a potato. Mythology - Lord ShivaJolie O'Dell: Pros include bad early-'80s animation styles, hypnotic-bordering- on-somnolent voiceovers, and educational value. If you were ever forced to watch life-of-Jesus cartoons in Sunday school as a kid, well, this is what a few bajillion kids elsewhere in the world have to watch. Dan Telfer: "The Best Dinosaur"Zachary Sniderman: Going way back to the folklore of Jurassic Park: "The velociraptor was the Tanya Harding of the dinosaur kingdom. Ok? F*ck that piece of sh*t." (NB: Language NSFW) Hercules - Zero to Hero (English Sing-along)Stefanie Rennert: Who put the glad in gladiator? Hercules! Who doesn't love a good underdog story? This will put you in a great mood for the weekend! Drunk History Vol. 6 Featuring John C. Reilly, and Crispin GloverBrenna Ehrlich: Like many YouTube videos, this one was discovered on Facebook, where my FB friends share things allllll day. Anyway, it features Crispin Glover (rad). Consequently, it's probably not that SFW -- especially since it's called "Drunk History." image courtesy of iStockphoto, duncan1890 Reviews: iStockphoto More About: Film, humor, music, mythology, pop culture, television, viral video, youtube For more Web Video coverage:
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| BlackBerry Tablet Coming this November? [REPORT] Posted: 30 Jul 2010 05:25 PM PDT      BlackBerry tablet rumors continue to gain momentum, with a new report indicating that the device, possibly to be called the BlackPad, is set to hit stores this November. According to Bloomberg, Research in Motion, the company behind the BlackBerry, is planning on releasing its tablet device this fall. The device will reportedly feature a 9.7″ screen, roughly the same dimensions as the iPad. The device will also feature Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity options, with the option of using an existing BlackBerry smartphone as the data connection. RIM recently took over the domain BlackPad.com, fueling speculation that this will be the moniker for the new device. As CrackBerry.com notes, however, RIM has more than 4000 registered domains; “BlackPad” may not end up being the name for the fabled product. Bloomberg’s sources say that the device will feature front- and back-facing cameras for video conferencing. Rather than bundling the device with a 3G data connection, it will use Wi-Fi or connect to a BlackBerry phone via Bluetooth to tether a data connection. Although the tether option is potentially less expensive for consumers (who wouldn’t need to have another subscription to use the BlackPad), we’re not really sure why a 3G radio would be omitted as an option. The biggest question we have about a BlackBerry tablet involves the keyboard. If you’re into physical keyboards, in our mind, the BlackBerry stands out among other devices with this feature. However, physical keyboards and tablets don’t really mesh. In any event, we hope RIM doesn’t decide to include the click-screen that make the BlackBerry Storm and Storm II such “fun” to use. Incidentally, RIM has an event Tuesday, at which point the company is expected to unveil its latest BlackBerry smartphone, the 9800. The device will feature a slide-out keyboard alongside a pure touch screen. Whether or not a slide-out keyboard would work on a larger form remains to be seen. Does this Make Sense?RIM is busy readying BlackBerry OS 6.0 for release; the new OS, which includes a new browser, better media options and tighter social network connectivity, looks like it just might be what RIM needs to recharge the BlackBerry brand. However, we question the need for an RIM tablet. Even before the iPad was officially announced, a larger-form iOS device made sense because of the large ecosystem of games, media players and entertainment content that were already available from the iTunes ecosystem. BlackBerry doesn’t have that same ecosystem. Sure, a BlackPad could be a great device for watching video and surfing the web, but the BlackBerry’s best features have always been based around instant messaging, e-mail and getting things done. That isn’t to say that that experience can’t translate well to a tablet. With the right software support and screen resolution, the BlackPad could be a great mobile word processor. But the use cases for consumers don’t seem as apparent they do with other devices. Ultimately, we think price is going to be a big factor in the success of a BlackBerry tablet. I know lots of BlackBerry users who have purchased an iPod touch or an iPad, but I don’t know if Android or iOS users would jump at the chance to get a BlackBerry powered tablet. What do you think of the BlackPad rumors so far? If RIM made a tablet, would you be interested in buying one? Reviews: Android, Bluetooth More About: blackberry, blackberry tablet, blackpad, RIM For more Tech coverage:
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| New Apple Patents Detail Plans for Travel, Clothing and Commerce Posted: 30 Jul 2010 03:49 PM PDT   A veritable treasure trove of documents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show some of the different ways that Apple is looking to integrate location, travel and commerce into future versions of iOS. Patently Apple has uncovered some of the latest developments, which include additions to the iTravel app that surfaced back in April, as well as social shopping and fashion applications. Travel Simplicity?The initial iTravel patent detailed an application that could connect to various airlines or transportation services, and book or retrieve reservations for flights, hotels, car rentals, etc., all from the device. Check-in/Baggage Claim data and identity information could also be accessed in the app to make boarding and retrieving or checking luggage that much easier. The most recent iTravel patentreveals that in addition to making and retrieving reservations, the iTravel app could actually communicate with equipment on airplanes and add a layer of personalization to travel.  For instance, using the app, you could not only book your flight, but also specify what type of in-flight entertainment you want, your food and beverage choices, makes adjustments to your seat, the air and the lighting, and so forth. You could also use the app to find restaurants and other services in the airport. As cool as having the ability to specify, book and control your flight preferences is, that only takes care of the transportation aspect of travel. What about lodging? Well, it turns out that Apple has some ideas for that too. Yet another iTravel patent application surfaced yesterday, this one detailing how the iTravel app could connect with a hotel before you check in, after you arrive and when you are ready to leave.  In addition to making room reservations, travelers could also make requests about temperature, lighting, the types of food or beverages to have available, etc. Then, the iPhone could act as a room key and as a remote control for things like A/V devices. The iTravel app could also connect directly to hotel services like dry cleaning, room service and the hotel spa, and make it easy to reserve tables at nearby restaurants, book cabs or get suggestions for local entertainment. Finally, the app could be used to pay your bill, request transportation, use reward programs and also keep track of receipts. Now, many of these features would be dependent on compatible hotel systems, but wouldn’t being able to do all that from one device making frequent (or even infrequent) traveling less stressful? The Virtual ClosetIn addition to the iTravel patent applications, Patently Apple also uncovered some details about something called Virtual Closet. Looking at the patent application, it seems obvious that a large clothing retailer is in talks with Apple to have some sort of deeper device-level integration to make the shopping experience more, well, modern. If you’ve ever seen the movie Clueless (one of my all-time favorites, I might add), you’ll recall that at the beginning, Cher (Alicia Silverstone) uses her computer to pick out her outfit for school. She’s able to scan through all of her items, pair them together and is alerted when something is mismatched.  This is Virtual Closet in a nutshell. It only took 15 years, but the future has arrived. Virtual Closet can be used to catalog real clothing and to help put together outfits; get suggestions on what looks good; mark items as dirty, clean, “needs dry cleaning,” or leant to a friend; and so forth. From a pure organizational standpoint, this is brilliant. I created a database in Bento that has most of my clothing cataloged and organized. I did this because the last time I moved I needed four wardrobe boxes (each box was supposed to be good for an average person’s entire wardrobe, according to our moving box company), three suitcases and still a few loads in the car to get everything moved. My database has tags for season, date purchased, cut, brand, color and condition, but building in a rating and flag system for when things have been worn too many times, or for grouping items that should be worn together, was something that was too complicated. The app also has a social component so that you can coordinate with friends, get their input, and also exchange clothes back and forth. In addition to cataloging and keeping track of clothing, Apple is working to improve clothes buying. The patent documents show graphics for Ralph Lauren — very likely one of the brands that is working with Apple on this endeavor. The idea behind this patent is to drive consumers to high-end apparel stores by offering coupons, exclusive deals and notifications when new items are available in stores. This has potential. Although Virtual Closet is a great idea, it probably isn’t a big revenue driver. However, if you take the current Ralph Lauren Collection iPhone app and you add geo-aware notifications to alert him or her of special discounts, stock counts or when new items are coming into the store, that’s a real way to drive traffic.  How great would it be, for instance, if you could be alerted when you favorite store got in some pants or tops in your size? As hard as it is to believe, many retailers still handle online merchandise and retail store merchandise in completely different divisions. Even if the styles available are the same at both places, you can’t place an online order in the store, or request a store transfer or direct shipment online. Inside the store itself, the applications could offer recommendations, gift guides, access to your social networks for advice, etc. In essence, this could be a virtual clothing catalog with geo-aware enhancements. What Do These Patents Mean for App Developers?Unwired opined that Apple is “stealing” or trying to patent application ideas. Although some of the theoretical usage cases are very specific (and could find their way into official or third-party apps), the actual crux of the patents in these cases isn’t about the concept, but execution. In other words, just because Apple has a patent that includes a hotel-specific application designed to let users pay their bills, order room service and order a movie from their iPhone doesn’t preclude any other application from doing something very similar. Instead, what’s being patented is the way that the different systems communicate together and the bridging of multiple services in one stream. In fact, many of the elements in these patents (which were filed in Q4 2009) have a lot in common with Siri, the personal assistant app that Apple acquired at the end of April. The Supreme Court’s recent Bilski decision didn’t really clarify anything about the future validity of software patents, but as it stands, these most recent filings have a lot more to do with infrastructure and wireless communication gateways than anything that is application-specific. What do you think of iTravel, Virtual Closet and the enhanced shopping patents? [img credit: Patently Apple] Reviews: Siri More About: apple, itravel, patently apple, patents, virtual closet For more Apple coverage:
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| 10 Best Viral Video Remixes on YouTube Posted: 30 Jul 2010 02:37 PM PDT   You know a viral video has truly made it into the zeitgeist when it gets the remix treatment, which can itself go viral; so meta. For your viewing pleasure we’ve hit up YouTube for 10 of the best examples of memes remade to music. From Leeroy Jenkins to Chris Crocker, these amusing remixes take a video and make it even more memorable — let us know your favorites in the comments below.
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| #WinWeekend Sweepstakes: Lady Gaga Remix Edition Posted: 30 Jul 2010 02:02 PM PDT
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Live Nation is also running a “Tweet to Meet” sweepstakes with Lady Gaga, which you can check out here. Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, beyonce More About: contest, Lady Gaga, live nation, sweepstakes, winweekend For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Twitter Starts Offering Personalized Suggestions of Users to Follow Posted: 30 Jul 2010 01:27 PM PDT   Twitter is in the midst of rolling out a new feature called "Suggestions for You" that offers up personalized recommendations of users that you might want to follow on the microblogging service. You’ll find the new feature under the “Find People” link in the header of Twitter.com. According to Twitter, "the suggestions are based on several factors, including people you follow and the people they follow." The company also notes that you'll start to see recommendations when looking at other users’ profiles. It will also be making the feature available to developers so the functionality can be included in third-party apps. The move highlights an increased push by Twitter toward user discovery. Earlier this month, the service started displaying people results next to keyword search results in an effort to help users discover more people to follow; after all, Twitter is more interesting if you actually have some tweets showing up in your stream. Previously, Twitter offered a hand-curated "Suggested User List" to new users, though that has since been retired in favor of a slew of follow options by area of interest. Overall, today's addition marks yet another step the company needs to take to keep new users engaged on the service. It would also be a logical spot for Twitter to insert its rumored feature that would let users pay for more followers — stay tuned.  [thumbnail credit: law_keven] Reviews: Twitter More About: social media, trending, twitter For more Social Media coverage:
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| Thanks to Mashable’s Socially Savvy Supporters Posted: 30 Jul 2010 01:26 PM PDT
Advertise with us and get noticed.Mashable is seeking out site sponsors for our large, diverse audience — social media users, venture capitalists, early adopters, developers, bloggers and many more. You’ll receive hundreds of thousands of views per day in addition to weekly recognition as part of our “thank you” to our premium sponsors. Are you interested? Contact us for more information and to receive our media kit and rate card. This week, our valued sponsors are: PilotGroup Ltd, Trada, bmi, IGLOO, IDG, Yield Software, Clickatell, Microsoft BizSpark, MailChimp, MaxCDN and Eventbrite.  PilotGroup Ltd has been in the social networking software market for seven years and is now one of its leading software providers. Its PG Social Networking Solution is a fully featured and powerful package to start your own niche, community, business and professional social network with a whole range of options your members would expect at a social networking site. Modules structure, multi-language interface, various payment methods, paid services are efficient at site monetization and building an active community. Everything put together, you get all in one place at an affordable price. Start your own Social Networking site fast and easy! Check out our features list at datingpro.com/social.  Trada is the first and only crowdsourced paid search marketplace, allowing businesses and advertising agencies to run search marketing campaigns on Google, Yahoo and Bing by leveraging the skills of hundreds of the world's best PPC experts. Built for businesses spending between $5,000 and $50,000 per month in paid search, Trada eliminates the hassle and cost of managing a paid-search campaign in-house for time-strapped business owners and marketers.  bmi is the second largest airline at London Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest international airports. From our Heathrow hub we operate services in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. bmi’s global reach is further extended by being a member of Star Alliance, a grouping of 27 international airlines. bmi is committed to using technology such as E-ticketing, Online Booking, Self Check-in at the airport and via the Internet, helping to improve the pre-flight experience. This means the airline can boast one of the best punctuality records of any airline operating in the UK.  IGLOO is a social software company that builds online communities for business. Uniting content management, collaboration and knowledge sharing tools within one secure social networking platform, IGLOO enables organizations to overcome the barriers to communication and collaboration that emerge because of size. Whether the obstacles are organizational or geographic, a more open and connected business improves employee productivity (Workplace Communities) and helps to foster better relationships with customers, partners and suppliers (Marketplace Communities). Learn more about how IGLOO is socializing the workplace and helping organizations build successful online communities through the IGLOO Social Media Playbook.  IDG’s Strategic Marketing Services group works with tech marketers to deliver services that include integrated multimedia marketing programs, program consulting and IDG Amplify social media advertising.  Yield Software's Yield Web Marketing Suite optimizes paid search (PPC) natural search (SEO) and landing pages, all in one easy-to-use Web-based system. A simple, intuitive interface together with sophisticated algorithms work seamlessly to optimize SEM campaigns every minute of every day, enabling growing businesses and their agencies to lower costs, improve performance and increase profitability. Yield also offers a free SEO Analyzer, which delivers a report covering how well a site is optimized and suggestions for improvement. Yield Software—Web Marketing Made Easy.  Clickatell offers mobile social networks the opportunity to measure their return on investment. Not only does Clickatell offer an Interactive Campaign Manager tool that allows you to monitor and intervene in your customer campaigns in real time, it also generates and manages database integration and comes with additional marketing tools. Track the delivery status of your text messages and the responses; take the guesswork out of campaigning. Your valuable messages will always be delivered as our products allow for message escalation to alternative delivery gateways. Social networks are also, through the account management package, given control over network channels and connectivity options. All necessary tasks have been automated and our central interface allows you to manage multiple connections and projects at the same time. Which leading social networking companies have chosen Clickatell as a mobile messaging partner? Read our success stories here.  BizSpark is a program which offers new software businesses and entrepreneurs access to Microsoft design, development and production tools with no upfront costs for up to three years. Members can also connect with a nationwide community of Network Partners – investors, incubators, service providers and entrepreneurial organizations – who are keen to help. For more information or to connect with a Microsoft BizSpark advisor, please visit MicrosoftStartupZone.com/BizSpark.  MailChimp is a powerful, easy-to-use e-mail marketing service. You design, me deliver.  MaxCDN – Content Delivery Network. MaxCDN makes it easy and affordable to get maximum global performance from your site and enable your visitors to get the most out of their visit! MaxCDN offers: resistance to the Digg effect, SSL Integration, No Setup Fee, US-based customer service, No Commitments. Get 1 TeraByte for just $39.95 today!
Eventbrite is an online events marketplace where tens of thousands of individuals, businesses and organizations of all sizes manage, promote and sell tickets to their events. Make your event a success on Eventbrite. Additionally, thanks to the following partners for making Mashable happen: Since 2007 W3 EDGE has assisted with creative, web development and search / social media marketing Mashable.com and its numerous projects and other web properties. Day-to-day maintenance and support is also handled by Frederick Townes and his W3 EDGE team.  Rackspace is the better way to do hosting. No more worrying about web hosting uptime. No more spending your time, energy and resources trying to stay on top of things like patching, updating, monitoring, backing up data and the like. Learn why.  iStockphoto offers easy, affordable inspiration with millions of safe, royalty-free photos, illustrations, video, audio and Flash® files. Using the most accurate search in the business, customers download a file at least every second from a collection of more than five million files for business, marketing and personal projects. iStockphoto started in 2000, pioneering the micropayment photography business model and has become one of the most successful and profitable user-generated content sites in the world. iStockphoto pays out approximately $1.2 million weekly in artist royalties. iStockphoto is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Getty Images. Mashable readers save 10%.  Founded in 1998 as a free service, Dynamic Network Services Incorporated (Dyn Inc.) now operates two extremely reliable, “rock solid,” global DNS platforms; DynDNS.com for home/SMB users and the Dynect Platform for corporations and enterprises. As a leading provider of managed DNS services, Dyn Inc. plays a key role in keeping the Internet’s DNS infrastructure running smoothly, handling trillions of queries per day and servicing nearly four million active users. With a range of innovative solutions, from domain name and e-mail services on DynDNS.com, to failover, load balancing, traffic management and CDN balancing services with the Dynect Platform, Dyn Inc. remains committed to world class customer service and engineering excellence. Uptime is the Bottom Line. For more information about Dyn Inc., visit www.dyn.com, e-mail hello@dyn.com or call +1-603-668-4998.  ConcentricSky offers web development and strategic consulting services with a focus on emerging technologies such as Social Media and iPhone Apps. From simple websites to integrated web applications, we deliver innovative solutions that exceed your expectations – not your budget. We can get your name out there.Contact us for more information about supporting Mashable’s growth and development. Alternatively, visit our advertise section for more details about:
CPM-based advertising is available through our partner, Federated Media, but if you contact us directly, you’ll be entitled to exclusive unpublished discounts. Reviews: Apps, Bing, Digg, Google, Internet, Mashable, iStockphoto, social media
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| Snuggie Wants YOU to Direct Its Next Commercial [VIDEO] Posted: 30 Jul 2010 01:10 PM PDT   When you first saw that iconic commercial for the Snuggie, didn’t you think to yourself: “I wish I had come up with such a genius piece of cinematic showmanship?” Well, good news, weekend YouTube warriors, Snuggie is looking for the new Fellini of fleece, and it could be you. If you recall, the Snuggie came on the scene around 2008-2009. The ad for the product — which is basically a blanket with sleeves — was directed by Fred Vanore at Blue Moon Studios. The vid was intended to be “fun and quirky, just to get the TV viewer's attention,” says a rep, but it quickly went viral, because, well, it was weird. “We had no idea that the consumer would respond in the way that would make the Snuggie cult-like,” says the rep. Apparently the fact that it looks like a monk’s threads wasn’t a giveaway. Still, the cult-like nature of the blanket beast really drove sales — and even spawned imitators. “When the TV add went viral it drove sales in a significant way because it really solidified the brand personality and built the momentum of the campaign,” the rep added. See below to refresh your memory: Well, it seems that the company is keen to capitalize on the viral success of the previous campaign, because it’s launching a contest to find the next big meme-tastic hit. The rules are pretty simple: Allstar Products Group, the maker of Snuggie, is inviting people to enter the Snuggie Choice Film Awards via SnuggieFanClub.com. All you have to do is create your own tribute, parody, song etc. — no longer than three minutes — and submit it to the webpage above. The contest ends on September 1 at midnight, at which point six finalists will be chosen by Snuggie fans. The finalists will be flown to New York in October. Awards include a $5,000 grand prize and $2,500 for second and third place, Snuggies (natch), and the chance to appear in future commercials. Snuggie is smart to turn to social media to promote its new fall line, but we have to wonder if this kind of campaign will work. The Snuggie went viral rather organically at the onset, and it’s tough to know whether people purchased the product ironically, or because they were seriously in need of a blanket with sleeves. What do you think? Is Snuggie beating the viral horse dead? In the meantime, check out Snuggie’s latest TV spot. This one titled "Snugarena.” You’ll see why… Reviews: awards More About: MARKETING, money, pop culture, snuggie, viral video For more Web Video coverage:
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| 6 Online Tools for Expanding Your Video Strategy Posted: 30 Jul 2010 12:56 PM PDT   This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. Online video continues to be an area with huge growth and expansion for small businesses and brands. Video is such a great way to connect with users and to tell a story in a way that words or static images often can’t. Thanks to advances in technology, buying equipment and producing video is easier and less expensive than ever before. The harder tasks are getting video online, serving it across platforms, and integrating it with your existing advertising strategies. Fortunately, there are some great web services and companies out there dedicated to helping business owners expand and improve their online video strategies. 1. Encoding.comShooting and editing video content is only half of the battle, and we would argue that these days, it’s actually the less painful half. Once you have that video shot and edited, the next step is finding a way to serve it. The problem is, getting online video to work across web browsers, mobile phones and connected devices isn’t as easy as it sounds. This is where Encoding.com comes in. Encoding.com is a service that will convert and serve your video into any formats you wish. That means you can take video you shoot and edit and serve it to users who visit your site on an iPhone, BlackBerry, desktop computer or even a connected television device like the upcoming Google TV.  Rather than having to manually transcode your content into each format you need, Encoding.com does it all on their end and can even serve content using a technology called HTTP streaming, which is specifically designed for making video look and perform its best on the iPhone or iPad. Encoding.com also has its own white label service, so if you want to offer video services to your clients, you can let Encoding.com’s backend do all the hard work and you can just package it together with your other solutions. 2. mDialogIn online video, one of the areas that is seeing the most innovation is the HTML5 video space. HTML5 is important because it means that content can play directly on devices through a web browser, eliminating the need for a plugin or player like Adobe Flash. That ultimately makes video and by extension, video content, more accessible.  One of the drawbacks of using a pure HTML5 solution is that many of the existing advertising platforms for web video are based on Flash. However, companies are quickly filling in the voids in the HTML5 space; one company that is working hard to make it easy to insert dynamic ads into live or pre-recorded video streams is mDialog. mDialog offers publishers and content providers an easy way to encode and serve video in HTML5, while also making it easy to insert ads or b-roll based on factors like geolocation or the identity of the user. If you want to move to an HTML5 solution so you can reach more users but are concerned with how to monetize that solution, take a look at mDialog. 3. BrightcoveBrightcove is one of the big players in the video platform space. It makes it easy to upload, manage and monetize online video. You can customize the look and feel of the player and Brightcove supports tons of different platforms, including mobile and set-top boxes.  Brightcove also lets you track and measure your video metrics. Brightcove works with practically every major ad platform and recently announced a partnership with FreeWheel to offer users the ability to serve HTML5 video that is ad-supported (on FreeWheel’s end) and trackable. Likewise, advertisers can work with FreeWheel to get their ads displayed across its network and across web properties regardless of platform. 4. Blip.tvBlip.tv got into the online video space at a very competitive time, competing against YouTube and countless other online video hosts. The reason that blip.tv has been able to survive over the last five years — and in fact even raise additional capital — is because it has never tried to be YouTube and instead has concentrated on cultivating quality content and signing deals to get wide distribution across platforms and devices.  To that end, blip.tv has ramped up its own internal sales team and worked hard to build advertising partnerships so that it can secure quality advertisements for the content it hosts on its network. For content creators, this is really great, because they can just focus on making great content. Blip.tv in turn, focuses on providing its content creators with tools for better distribution, ad management and statistical analysis. We like that blip.tv sees the big picture and is focused on bringing content to all screens — not just the computer monitor. 5. & 6. Thwapr and MogreetWhen we discuss mobile video, it is usually in the context of the iPhone or other smart devices. That’s overlooking a very large audience of users who have the ability to receive and watch video on their mobile phones, but may not have a smartphone. Using MMS messages, companies like Mogreet and Thwapr are enabling businesses and advertisers to send video messages to their users via text message. If you can get an MMS message, you can get video. For non-profits especially, this can be a great way to reach out and to get a direct call to action. Mogreet teamed up with the David Lynch Foundation to provide Lynch’s fans with MMS messages promoting the Foundation’s causes and putting the spotlight on emerging artists.  Thwapr has had similar success. The NHL team the Phoenix Coyotes teamed up with the company back in April to offer fans special mobile video updates from games and press conferences. Fans just needed to text a special number and they got free video updates from their favorite team. What makes Thwapr extra cool is that you can even send video replies back using MMS, which makes it a great way to solicit interactive feedback and support. As the Red Cross campaign after the Haitian earthquake proved, text messaging is a great way to raise awareness and solicit funds. Pairing that with the power for mobile video has some really important implications for small business owners or brands. What are some of your favorite online video tools for enhancing your video strategy? Let us know! More Business Resources from Mashable:
Reviews: Adobe Flash Player, BLIP, BlackBerry Rocks!, YouTube, iPhone, video More About: blip.tv, brightcove, business, encoding.com, HTML5, mdialog, mogreet, small business, thwapr, video For more Business coverage:
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| Traditional Publishers Release Enhanced E-books for iPhone and iPad Posted: 30 Jul 2010 12:26 PM PDT   Scribner and Simon & Schuster Digital have released what they are calling their first-ever “enhanced e-book,” Rick Perlstein’s Nixonland, via Apple’s iBookstore application. The enhanced e-book [iTunes link] includes an original interview with the author and 27 historic video segments produced by CBS News embedded alongside the original text, which was first published in hardcover in May 2008. A digital version without the video is also available through Amazon’s Kindle Store. “Since the first digital books were published, many have wondered when we would be able to add to the reading experience by exploiting the full capabilities of digital media,” Carolyn Reidy, president and CEO of Simon & Schuster observed. “That moment is now, and we are especially pleased that for Nixonland, our first enhanced e-book, we are able to partner with our colleagues at CBS News to offer readers a book that combines to superb effect a critically acclaimed bestselling work with the gold standard of broadcast journalism,” she said. A few other traditional publishers have produced similar kinds of e-books; Hachette released an “enriched” version of David Baldacci’s latest novel in the spring, and Penguin Group published an “amplified” edition of Ken Follett’s bestseller, The Pillars of the Earth, to coincide with the release of an eight-part miniseries based on the epic by Starz Entertainment. Well-known Japanese author Ryu Murakami is working with a software company to produce a musically enhanced version of his next novel, cutting his publisher of record out of the process altogether. This is, we think, just the beginning of what could become an entirely new medium, in which texts are merely one component of a larger multimedia experience. These new kinds of e-books also give the iPad and mobile applications a leg up over e-reader devices like the Kindle and Nook, which cannot currently support elements like video and full-color slideshows. What do you think about the concept of enhanced e-books? Would you be more likely to abandon your paperbacks or e-readers for a more immersive, multimedia-rich experience? [via The New York Times] More About: amazon, apple, e-books, iBookstore, iOS, ipad, iphone, Kindle, scribner, Simon & Schuster For more Dev & Design coverage:
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| Mashable’s iPhone App Updated with New iOS 4 Features Posted: 30 Jul 2010 12:00 PM PDT
We’d love to know what you think about it so that we can continue to integrate new features and improve the application for our readers. Here are some of the details about the updates: iOS multitasking: Users who are running iOS 4 (with an iPhone 3GS or 4) can now take advantage of fast application switching. When they leave the application and come back to it, the application will open to the same place within app where they left off. iPhone 4 Retina Display Support: We reworked all of the designs to take advantage of the double pixel density of the iPhone 4’s retina display. The graphical elements now look more crisp and clear. Fixed Twitter and Commenting Bugs: By default we use Twitter web for sharing posts in tweets. Twitter changed its site since we originally built the app and the URL we were using was no longer working. The URL is updated and working again. We also had a number of users report a bug that caused the application to crash when they were viewing a comment. That bug is now fixed and comments are working smoothly. Other Enhancements: Other enhancements include subtle changes that contribute to an overall better user experience. This includes improvements to the design of share buttons, faster loading for trending stories and more. [ Download Mashable's iPhone App Today! ]  Reviews: Twitter More About: apple, iOS4, iphone, iphone applications, mashable, Mobile 2.0 For more Apple coverage:
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| Minnesota Vikings Pick SCVNGR for Training Camp Trek Posted: 30 Jul 2010 11:42 AM PDT   Following in the footsteps of the New England Patriots, who recently employed SCVNGR to get fans involved in location-based, pre-season festivities, the Minnesota Vikings will be treating their fans to a training camp trek hosted on the platform. Mankato, Minnesota, is the home of the Vikings for the duration of training camp. To celebrate the upcoming season, the Greater Mankato Convention and Visitors Bureau has partnered with SCVNGR and will challenge fans to trek about the community, complete challenges and earn prizes in the process. The Visitors Bureau essentially revamped a game it had already created called “Jared’s Journey,” and are now using SCVNGR to bring it to life in a whole new form. The original “Jared’s Journey” involved a cardboard cutout of the Vikings “sack machine,” Jared Allen, and was toted around town to local establishments. The SCVNGR variety tasks fan to complete challenges — like snapping a photo of the Minnesota State University mascot — to earn points. Those that do can win Jared Allen autographed merchandise or tickets to a Vikings game. SCVNGR Founder and CEO Seth Priebatsch tells us that the deal came about because the Mankato Visitors Bureau was inspired by how the city of Philadelphia is using the service. The staff then approached the team about a training camp trek to build pre-season buzz for Vikings, and thus “Jared’s Journey” was reborn in SCVNGR form. [img credit: eytonz] More About: football, minnesota vikings, Mobile 2.0, scvngr For more Mobile coverage:
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| Wi-Fi Coming to New York City Subways Posted: 30 Jul 2010 11:15 AM PDT   Good news for any New Yorker who hates interacting with others during their daily commute (read: all New Yorkers): Wi-Fi and mobile service are coming to a subway near you. Yup, now even the Mole People won’t be able to escape the outside world. According to Bloomberg, after three years of stalled progress, Transit Wireless LLC — a conglomerate of wireless and construction companies that was awarded a contract to undergo this project with New York Transit — has finally found the money to move forward. Broadcast Australia has footed the bill, which will bring NYC up to speed with Singapore, Berlin and Tokyo — all of which currently have Wi-Fi in the tubes. Back in 2007, Transit Wireless LLC had promised to get the job done in 10 years, now it has two years to outfit six stations near New York’s Union Square, and then four more years for the other 271 platforms. The Wi-Fi comes in the form of smoke detector-size antennas, and will afford passengers access on platforms, mezzanines and in sections of the tunnels (not the whole tunnel). Overall, the whole deal will cost $200 million dollars — which begs the question: If the city’s willing to go to the trouble to go wireless, why do I have to take a shuttle nine weekends out of 10 because they’re “doing repairs on the tracks”? But I digress… Pretty soon, it seems, a goodly portion of NYC will be Wi-Fi ready; AT&T outfitted Times Square with free wireless two months ago and ubiquitous coffee chain Starbucks offers pro bono access as well. Just think, that whole “I was stuck in a tunnel” excuse is never going to be the same… [img credit: arvindgrover] More About: Mobile 2.0, money, new york, trending, Wireless For more Tech coverage:
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| Samsung: Galaxy S Getting Android Froyo Update in September Posted: 30 Jul 2010 10:55 AM PDT   Samsung has just confirmed that it will be bringing the Android 2.2 update — also known as Froyo — to its Galaxy S devices this September. The confirmation came via Samsung UK’s Twitter account, which says that “it’s currently in development” and “will be released for all networks at the end of September.” As we noted in our review of the Galaxy S Captivate, the device ships with Android 2.1, which means that some of the enhancements of the latest and greatest Android aren’t available on the stellar handset. In benchmarks, Froyo is significantly faster than prior Android builds and adds support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1. Considering how fast the Galaxy S is just on Android 2.1, we expect that it will absolutely scream under Froyo.  For those of you that just can’t wait to have 2.2 on your Galaxy S devices, the custom ROM community is already hard at work and builds for the European/Asian Galaxy S devices are already starting to pop up. Be warned, these builds are incomplete and still very much in beta. For everyone who is looking to an officially supported version of Froyo, we’ll see you in September! [via Engdaget] Reviews: Adobe Flash Player, Android, Twitter More About: android, Froyo, galaxy s, samsung galaxy s For more Mobile coverage:
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| HOW TO: Manage a Sustainable Online Community Posted: 30 Jul 2010 10:33 AM PDT   Rob Howard is the CTO/founder of enterprise collaboration software company Telligent. A 2008 Gartner study on social software noted that "about 70 percent of the community typically fails to coalesce." While the measurement and the statistics behind this statement raise questions, there is an element of truth. There are detrimental effects of over-hyping the technology and then committing the three cardinal sins of running a community:
All three can cause a community to fail, and there are plenty of examples. Understanding the community life cycle can help you avoid making these mistakes. Understanding the Community Life CycleThe image below is representative of the different stages of the community life cycle. It's important to recognize that this is a macro-view, and that within and between the stages are smaller life cycles (learning, innovation, etc.).  A community is constantly in one or more of the following states with the exception of the On-Board state:
How Is Value Perceived?Most discussions surrounding the topic of community life cycle are based on the work done by Bruce Tuckman's stages of group development: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. In addition, much of the value proposition for "bigger is better" is based on Metcalfe's law, which states that the value of the network increases as the number of connections within the network increases. Hence the common belief is that the size of the community is a clear indicator of the value of the community. It is important to note that Metcalfe's law was created to describe telephone and facsimile networks. What's not often considered is that social networks are dependent upon people, and people cannot obtain the same value from network size due to the "cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships," otherwise known as Dunbar’s number. While Dunbar never proposed a specific number of relationships, most researchers agree that it is approximately 150. Community life cycles are often portrayed as simple linear progressions, with the goal of "maintenance" once maturity is reached. However, I have found that a community has unique characteristics that conflict with many of the preconceived notions of success. While the value of the community to its creators increases as membership increases, the value to individual members may diminish. Disregard for, or lack of understanding of these behaviors can lead to the failure of a community. A great case study here is Twitter. There are some people who believe that Twitter provides value through the size of their network and number of their relationships. Examples would include politicians, media, actors, and so on. They don't maintain relationships individually, but with an audience of followers. However, there are people who find Twitter's value diminishes as the number of relationships they manage increases, as the initial draw was the ability to manage relationships, not an audience. It should be noted that I am not advocating that communities be limited by membership size. Rather, capabilities should exist within a larger community to support smaller, internal groups that can form around narrow areas of interest. This is validated by both Twitter and Facebook, which have in recent months both introduced capabilities to narrow the scope of conversations: Lists, privacy controls, and so on. The transition from "On-Board" to "Established," and the recognition of the "Mitosis" phase are the two areas where most organizations struggle. The first comes from the inability to relinquish some control to the community; the second comes from an inability to recognize the natural evolution of the community as it grows. Mitosis within the community is very healthy. In fact, a healthy community is the cooperative coordination of many smaller communities acting as a whole. How Do You Apply the Community Life Cycle?Understanding the life cycle is key to building a comprehensive community strategy, specifically when it comes to moderation and management. A few of the components impacted include: Content creation, group formation, engagement tactics, expert discovery efforts, knowledge sharing practices, and employee participation. Once the strategy is clearly defined, goals and objectives can be identified, clear measurements for success (return on investment) are marked, and the community life cycle becomes the map or playbook for understanding how to reach those goals and objectives. The three cardinal sins can be avoided if you understand the life cycle of your community, and thus where and how to apply resources and strategy to running it. More Online Community Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, enot-poloskun Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, iStockphoto More About: business, community, community management, facebook, forums, online communities, social media, twitter For more Social Media coverage:
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| 20 Startups Vie to Power PepsiCo’s Next Social Media Marketing Campaigns Posted: 30 Jul 2010 10:09 AM PDT   What's next for marketers in the realm of social media, mobile, location and digital video? That's what a room full of PepsiCo executives, digital strategists and brand managers tried to figure out earlier this week at the company's headquarters in Purchase, NY, where 20 promising tech startups presented ideas for leveraging their products in future PepsiCo campaigns at PepsiCo10 (for which Mashable was a media sponsor). The companies in attendance presented technologies that could change the way we shop for groceries, pay our bill at restaurants, watch television and even wake up in the morning. Here's a look at them and how they see some of PepsiCo's brands (which include Gatorade, Frito Lay and Quaker) utilizing their wares: Changing the Way We ShopWhile self-checkout has been a feature of many grocery stores for some time, AisleBuyer is looking to take it a step further by allowing people to use their smartphones to scan QR codes as they shop. The startup has designed a system in which shoppers could unlock coupons and finish transactions with their credit cards, all without waiting in line. As you can imagine, there are some logistical hurdles that need to be overcome to make AisleBuyer's concept a reality. Pushpins takes a slightly different approach, connecting QR code scanning to your existing loyalty cards. When you check out, the coupons –- which increase the more you use PushPins -– are instantly credited via your loyalty card. But those loyalty cards themselves might be changing face too. Mobestream Media and its Key Ring Rewards Card mobile apps let users convert their physical loyalty cards into digital ones, creating a virtual wallet of sorts that can be used at checkout.
While TableTop Media looks to make paying for a meal quicker (it says it saves about four minutes on average), Evil Genius Designs wants to make your waits in line more entertaining. The company has a series of interactive games (often branded for sponsors) that are shown on huge screens at amusement parks and other places where lengthy lines are common. Other companies looking to change the way we shop included QR code scanning technology ScanBuy (whose technology is currently being used in a Gulf cleanup initiative) and location-based reward startups MotiveCast and WeReward. Last but not least, Zazu is looking to revolutionize the alarm clock, using its mobile apps to greet users when they wake up with news, their schedules, weather and even traffic alerts, inserting ads for products along the way. You can see how it works in the video below: Most of these companies share a common theme: providing consumers with an impulse to buy — whether in the form of coupons or other promotions — when they are (quite literally) close to the point of purchase. Of course, PepsiCo already has some of their own mobile initiatives underway, perhaps most notably its Pepsi Loot app, which rewards users for checking in to locations where Pepsi products are served. New Social Media PlaysPepsiCo has garnered a lot of attention in the past year for some of its social media initiatives, like the Pepsi Refresh project (made possible in part by the company’s decision to forgo Super Bowl ads this year) and Dewmocracy, which let customers create a new flavor of Mountain Drew. Thus, it wasn't surprising that the more social media-focused startups presenting devoted much of their pitches to ways PepsiCo could execute campaigns using their products. Breakoutband and MyCypher looked to enhance Pepsi’s already-strong connection to the music world. The latter is a platform that enables aspiring hip-hop artists to use their mobile phones to record tracks and share them with friends. The former is a RockBand-meets-Facebook-type application that lets users create their own songs with friends, including the beats, lyrics and vocals. The company envisions hosting an NCAA Tournament-style challenge presented by Pepsi, in which bands compete against each other to advance.  Moving to sports –- where PepsiCo's Gatorade brand is the focus –- FanFeedr offers a web and mobile application that lets sports fans track their favorite teams and athletes. The company sees tie-ins with Gatorade's extensive roster of athlete endorsers, as well as the potential to help drive ticket sales to venues where Pepsi is served, by way of knowing which teams its users like. Pixable also sees a potential partnership with Gatorade, using its app to aggregate photos from friends on Facebook and other services like Flickr and Picasa to create branded mosaics. Staying with Facebook, RealGifts, a fbFund company, wants to build a branded online store where virtual PepsiCo products can be given to friends and redeemed for the real thing. Finally, with every brand now likely looking to emulate the success of Old Spice's recent video campaign, Tongal presented its crowdsourced approach to creating viral video. The company's platform allows brands to initiate contests in which creatives and producers compete to create the best viral videos for that brand. Interactive Television and Video AdvertisingIs television about to experience a revolution in so-called "second screen" experiences, fueled by the growth of mobile and tablet computers? That's what a number of startups at PepsiCo10 were betting on. Miso, a self-described "Foursquare for TV," lets users check in to television shows and earn rewards and badges the more they do it. The company sees itself aligning with television programs and brands like PepsiCo –- something Foursquare is already doing to an extent with a number of its media partnerships. Spot411 is also looking to add social elements to TV viewing on the second screen, except it identifies what's playing by listening to the audio of the programming, effectively checking in users on its own. Certain keywords in the programming could then trigger brand integrations. We recently wrote about the company and its partnership with Fox Home Entertainment. Taking a slightly different approach to social television is i.tv, which is looking to aggregate conversations happening around shows. What makes its technology unique is the ability to pinpoint exact points within a show and align them with the relevant tweets and status updates, letting users experience the same conversations no matter what time they watch. The company sees potential tie-ins with messages from sponsors; for instance, one of Gatorade's sponsored athletes could be part of the conversation during sporting events.  Two other companies are approaching the video space from an advertising perspective. BizGreet lets advertisers customize video messages based on user information such as name and location, while Affine Systems has developed technology that can identify people, products and other objects within video, giving advertisers an easier way to customize their campaigns. A New Model for Big Company Innovation?Ultimately, Pepsi will choose 10 of these companies with which to launch pilot projects (hence the name PepsiCo10). What we find interesting about the program –- and part of the reason we got involved –- is because it completely flips the model we've seen in social media over the past couple years, where brands tend to latch onto emerging startups only once they've reached a certain scale (although that is starting to shift, as we've seen with all of the partnerships with location-based startups). The food and beverage giant is trying to get in early via Pepsico10, while also giving startups a huge opportunity to develop proof of concepts that they can take to other brands. The company is essentially betting that a proactive approach –- coupled with its ongoing investments in the digital media space — will give it a leg up on competitors as the next Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare-like startups emerge. It will obviously to take time to see if that model works, although a number of other big companies are trying similar initiatives. During the event, GE's Global Director of Marketing Communications and Digital Linda Boff shared some details and early results from her company's Ecomagination Challenge, which is investing $200 million into new energy technologies. Similar to PepsiCo10, which saw about 500 applications stream in for its competition, Boff spoke of the overwhelming response GE has received, both in terms of startup submissions and the conversation happening online around some of the ideas. Clearly, the demand is there on the startup side for opportunities to work with big brands to accelerate their ideas. The question is whether those big brands can successfully shed the bureaucracy that can often hold innovation back and implement projects in the incredibly quick-moving social media and technology world –- many of which might fail, but could ultimately become huge wins and competitive advantages. What do you think of the potential for partnerships between large companies and startups? Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, Mashable, Picasa, Twitter More About: advertising, MARKETING, Mobile 2.0, mobile marketing, pepsico, pepsico10, QR Codes, social media, social media marketing, startups For more Business coverage:
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| “The Social Network” Movie Gets a New TV Spot [VIDEO] Posted: 30 Jul 2010 09:58 AM PDT We’ve seen the poster, theatrical teaser and the first official trailer; now a brand new 60-second TV spot for David Fincher’s The Social Network has hit the web. The film, which arrives in theaters October 1, is an account of the early days of Facebook, chronicling its foundation and rise to prominence. While the other teasers for the film have centered around the larger idea of Facebook and what it represents, this spot is all about the central figure of the film — Facebook’s co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. While the story is largely about events that precede the current debates over privacy and site ownership, Columbia Pictures hasn’t been afraid to weave the film itself into the overall discussion surrounding the service and what implications it has on how we communicate. Ironically, of course, the movie about Facebook actually cannot be advertised on Facebook (not directly anyway), because using elements of Facebook’s branding in third-party advertisements is against its terms of service. However, that hasn’t stopped the studio from using Twitter to promote the film. Oh, and as ScreenRant notes, this latest spot for the film includes Kanye West’s latest single, “Power.” I wonder if Zuckerberg & co. knew that when Mr. West visited Facebook HQ earlier this week. What do you think of the latest spot for this film? Will you see The Social Network in theaters? Let us know! Reviews: Facebook More About: david fincher, facebook, facebook movie, Film, movie trailers, Movies, the social network For more Entertainment coverage:
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