Kamis, 09 September 2010

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Why Is the Co-creator of Xbox Joining Bebo?”

Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “Why Is the Co-creator of Xbox Joining Bebo?”

Link to Mashable!

Why Is the Co-creator of Xbox Joining Bebo?

Posted: 09 Sep 2010 03:58 AM PDT


Kevin Bachus, best known as one of the co-creators of Microsoft’s Xbox, has joined Bebo as its new Chief Product Officer. The move comes just three months after AOL sold Bebo to Criterion Capital Partners at a fraction of its original value.

Bachus has a long history in the entertainment and gaming space. He was with Windows software and game developer Mindscape before joining Microsoft in 1997 as a product manager for DirectX. However, he made his name as one of the four men that came up with original concept for the Xbox console, as well as Xbox’s first director of third-party relations. Since then, he’s worked in the entertainment and gaming industry through various firms he’s led or founded.

Bebo, on the other hand, has a long history of decline and turmoil. AOL acquired Bebo back in 2008 for an astonishing $850 million. The acquisition never panned out though, and in June the company sold the site for around $10 million. Only a collapsing U.S. bank could lose $840 million faster than Bebo did.

Bachus will be responsible for spearheading product development. His experience seems ideally suited to bringing entertainment and gaming to the social network, which claims 117 million users (half which have logged in within the last year) and 6.5 billion monthly pageviews (1.5 billion of them mobile). Bachus told me that he sees Bebo as a “dream opportunity” to try a lot of different ideas quickly against a large user base.

Criterion Capital Partners seem serious about turning things around for the social network, though. In addition to adding Bachus as CPO, the social network has also hired hi5 co-founder Akash Garg and former Danger/Oodle executive Aren Sandersen to help grow Bebo. The company is focusing on video content, mobile access and gaming as the three central components of its rebirth strategy.


…Bebo?!


We’ll admit; we were a bit surprised to hear someone of Bachus’ pedigree and reputation would be joining Bebo. While the social network still has an international presence and a dedicated userbase, it’s become an afterthought in the face of competitors like Facebook and Twitter.

When we asked Bachus why he was joining Bebo, his answer was simple: “Why not?” More specifically, he believes that Bebo has two interesting things going for it: a large, dedicated user base and an opportunity to grow in interesting directions. When we questioned further, Bachus said that he thought the social networking market was maturing and that you will be seeing more specialization in the market, meaning that there’s room for more than one player.

For its part, Bebo and its new CEO Adam Levin (also the managing director of Criterion Capital Partners) have cut costs and expect to churn a profit in the next month. More importantly, Criterion seems to be in this for the long haul — it wants to revive Bebo’s fortunes.

While we see Bachus’ point of view and understand why he joined Bebo, it’s still a tough sell for us. Beyond its declining prominence, 40% of its users are from the U.K., meaning it will have to have to look to other locations to fuel growth. More gaming and multimedia content will help, but that’s long been part of MySpace’s turnaround strategy, so far to no avail.

Bebo promises that a lot more features are coming like universal chat and more video and gaming content. We’re going to be keeping a close eye to see whether it’ll be enough to turn the social network’s fortunes around.


Reviews: Bebo, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Windows

More About: aol, bebo, Kevin Bachus, microsoft

For more Business coverage:


iOS 4.1 Jailbreak Is Here, Hackers Claim

Posted: 09 Sep 2010 03:22 AM PDT


A hacker called pod2g claims he’s found an exploit that will allow a jailbreak of iOS 4.1, and other hackers from the jailbreaking community have confirmed it.

Jailbreaking (overriding Apple’s software lock-down on iOS devices) is usually a cat-and-mouse game: hackers find a new exploit, and then Apple patches it with the next iOS update.

This time, however, things might be different, as this new jailbreak is based on a boot ROM exploit, meaning it targets a low-level part of the OS, and Apple will have to update the hardware – not the software – to patch it.

Furthermore, it means that most iOS devices, regardless of the iOS version they have installed, may be vulnerable to the exploit: iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, the iPad, and so on.

Although the U.S. government recently declared jailbreaking legal, it still voids your warranty, so do it at your own peril. If you do plan to jailbreak your iOS device, you should probably wait before you upgrade it to 4.1, as the jailbreak is still not public; meaning there’s not an easy way for the layman to apply it. Judging from the buzz in the jailbreaking community, which is still testing and fine-tuning the hack, it might be the real thing.

More About: apple, hack, hacker, hackers, ios 4.1, ipad, iphone, iPod Touch, jailbreak

For more Apple coverage:


T-Mobile G2 Specs Revealed, Pre-orders Starting Later This Month

Posted: 09 Sep 2010 12:59 AM PDT


We knew the T-Mobile G2 (the successor to the G1, the first Android phone) is coming, but we didn’t know much about it – not even its looks. Now, T-Mobile has finally spilled the beans, and while the exact date the device is coming to the market is still unknown, customers will be able to pre-order limited quantities “later this month.”

Will it be as revolutionary as its predecessor? Judging by its specifications, it’s unlikely, but it does have a couple of interesting features. First of all, it supports HSPA+, which makes it the first T-Mobile’s 4G/3.5G smartphone. Furthermore, (we’d never guess it by looking at the front side of the device) it also has a “unique hinge design” that hides a full QWERTY keyboard.

If these features piqued your interest, get ready for the fairly standard (for newer Android smartphones, at least) set of specifications: a 3.7-inch screen, an 800 MHz Snapdragon CPU, and a 5-megapixel camera with a LED flash and autofocus, capable of recording HD (720p) videos. The device comes with 4GB internal memory with pre-installed 8GB micro SD card, and it supports up to 32 GB of external memory. Finally, there’s the 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth, Flash support and that snazzy Swype text input people have been using to break texting records lately.


Reviews: Android, Bluetooth

More About: G2, smartphone, T-Mobile

For more Mobile coverage:


Twitter’s User Streams Launching Soon

Posted: 09 Sep 2010 12:05 AM PDT


According to a recent post from Twitter infrastructure employee John Kalucki, the highly anticipated User Streams API product will be moved from a closed beta to an open beta testing period quite soon.

Twitter first announced User Streams at Chirp, where Twitter Director of Platform Ryan Sarver told a crowd of eager developers about a new feature and API that would get data in real time and without rate limits. Onstage at the conference, Sarver pinged content from Twitter.com onto TweetDeck in real time. The API was made available to devs for a brief period during the conference, but any apps or features created around it were not shown to the general public.

However, the company did open the API to two partners in July: TweetDeck and Echofon. At that time, Twitter also announced a new Streaming API product called Site Streams.

Today, Kalucki took to Google Groups to let developers know that the User Streams product launch “is moving along as planned.

“We haven’t had any downtime, and we’ve only had a few subtle functionality problems to refine. In short, all is going very well… We intend to move this product into an open beta test period soon, and then on into full production shortly thereafter.” Originally, the open beta was slated for late August; still, we’d be just as happy to see a smooth launch in September.

Twitter’s roadmap for User Streams includes an at-scale launch in Q3 or Q4 of this year.

What do you think of User Streams so far? Are you excited about the potential for user applications?


Reviews: Chirp Blu, Google Groups, TweetDeck, Twitter

More About: api, twitter, User Streams

For more Dev & Design coverage:


Not Ready for Summer to End? Try YouTube’s Vacationer

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 11:17 PM PDT


The warm weather is beginning to cool just a bit, kids are heading back to school. We hate to admit it, but summer’s over, and with it have gone our wonderful, leisurely vacations.

If you’re not quite ready to readjust to the not-so-lazy days of the rest of the year, you might want to give YouTube’s latest channel a spin.

On the official YouTube blog, YouTuber Mark Day wrote, “There's no shortage of videos on YouTube to inspire travel plans, and our new program Vacationer… brings the best of our partners' travel content into a single destination.”

The Vacationer channel offers a carousel of escapist frolics shot in pleasant and exotic locations. Provided by such entities as National Geographic, the Travel Channel, HowCast, Lonely Planet and more, the content ranges from videos on steel drums and belly dancers to clips of of a 24-hour sojourn in New York City.

These videos run the gamut from fascinating to entertaining to genuinely useful and cover vacation information and inspiration for the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and “exotic” locales.

While this might not be as practical as a simple YouTube search if you already have a destination in mind, it’s a great place to get ideas for your next trip or simply learn about interesting destinations around the world.

We also like the channel’s interface, which reminds us distinctly of iTunes’ Cover Flow.

The channel is sponsored by Norweigan Cruise Lines, which gets its own tab on the channel for showcasing its cruise ship-related videos.

What do you think of Vacationer so far? What kinds of videos or sections should YouTube add? And what other themed channels do you think should come out next? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.


Reviews: YouTube

More About: travel, vacation, vacationer, youtube

For more Web Video coverage:


Apple and BridgeCo Bring iTunes to Every Stereo in Your House

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 09:29 PM PDT


One of the new features that Apple announced at its music event last week was AirPlay, a feature that lets users wirelessly stream their music to different stereo systems all over their house.

An evolution of AirTunes, a feature that first premiered with the AirPort Express in 2004, AirPlay lets users stream their iTunes library from and to multiple locations, including the forthcoming Apple TV. It also offers the ability to control playback and manage playlists from an iPhone or iPod touch. The big difference with AirPlay is that instead of connecting an AirPort Express to an optical audio cable or headphone jack, music can be transmitted wirelessly to compatible stereo equipment.

CNBC has a profile of BridgeCo, the company responsible for making AirPlay work with stereo makers like Denon, iHome, Maranz, JBL and Bowers & Wilkens.

As CNBC notes, this appears to be the first time that Apple has opened up its iTunes software system to a third party. Similar music streaming systems such as Sonos or Logitech’s Squeezebox have required reverse engineering to work with iTunes’ streaming protocol. These systems can work quite well, but there is always the possibility that a software update could break compatibility.

This time, Apple let BridgeCo’s staff look at the iTunes code in order to build software that could be embedded into stereo systems and interface naturally with computers running iTunes.

Official compatibility also means that manufacturers can add features such as the ability to display song or playlist information on LED and LCD displays.

AirPlay will offer more than just wireless music streaming; beginning with iOS 4.2, users will also be able to stream video and audio content to an Apple TV from their iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad. It isn’t clear if that capability will be supported to speaker systems, but that should be a theoretical option.

For BridgeCo, nabbing the Apple deal might just be what is able to push the company into the black. The 10-year old company still isn’t profitable but hopes to change that after the first wave of AirPlay-enabled devices start arriving in stores.

What do you think? Would you buy a stereo with AirPlay enabled?


Reviews: Sonos

More About: airplay, apple, bridgeco, itunes, sonos, streaming music

For more Apple coverage:


Offload Junk and Find Treasures with Yoink

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 08:26 PM PDT


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

Name: Yoink

Quick Pitch: Yoink makes it simple to give away your unwanted items and find free goods near you.

Genius Idea: For years, savvy Internet denizens have used the Freecycle network group in their city to give away stuff they don’t want and to find free items for pickup. The only problem with Freecycle is that everything is managed in Yahoo Groups, making the whole experience rather clunky.

Others have used Craigslist to accomplish the same task, but this approach can be time-consuming, both while searching for the exact item you want and while traveling sometimes-long distances to get it.

Yoink employs the exact same everybody-wins-when-we-recycle-and-reuse-goods mentally but modernizes the entire experience and makes it easy to find items near you.

The product has a simple purpose: Use the site or iPhone app to give or get (yoink) items. You can scour Yoink for available items nearby using the map-based view, or you can search for specific items. When you’re ready to claim something, click the “Yoink” button to reserve the item; then, you can message the giver to arrange for pick-up.

You can also list whatever items you want to offload and rack up “generosity points” for everything you give away. Listing items is just as simple as yoinking them. Just start typing in the “What can you give?” box on the homepage, and the area will expand so you can attach a photo and specify the item’s location.

Yoink also tracks individual giving and yoinking behaviors across the site. Just navigate to the Stats tab to check out how you rank against other members when it comes to generosity.

If one person’s trash really is another person’s treasure, then Yoink is essentially the middleman between the two, providing a better way to uncover unwanted treasures in your neighborhood.

Image courtesy of nedrichards, Flickr


Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark


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


Reviews: Craigslist, Flickr, Internet, Yoink

More About: bizspark, freecycle, spark-of-genius, yoink

For more Tech coverage:


Google Instant: Love It or Hate It? [POLL]

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 07:20 PM PDT


Google Instant is just a few hours old, but in “technology years,” it’s already reached the awkward adolescent stage in which it is mercilessly judged by others.

We were present at Google’s unveiling of this new approach to search, which Google reps have dubbed “one part art, one part science.” The feature itself, from the user experience side of things, is one part text prediction, one part instant search results.

Some of us have been pretty impressed with the new technology. “With one keystroke, "w," you'll instantly get your weather forecast,” wrote our own Ben Parr this morning. “Wow.”

On his personal blog, Google search god Matt Cutts explains why these UI changes help make Google search faster.

“If we want to get people answers and solve their problems faster, we can help with that by improving our UI to help you formulate queries more quickly (and then doing a bunch of hard work under the hood to answer that query too). Google typically returns search results in milliseconds, but it takes several seconds for you to type a query. In other words, the limiting factor on a typical search is you. With predictive search and instant results, you can often get the answer you want much faster.”

Nevertheless, some among us have been less enthusiastic about the alphabet according to Google. Let’s face it: Sometimes, you know what you want to search for, and all the extra information can be a bit distracting, especially for the more ADD-prone technophiles out there.

So, what’s your opinion of Google Instant so far?



The poll will close Friday, September 10, at 10 p.m. PDT. Be sure to cast your vote by then, and let us know how you really feel in the comments, as well.


Reviews: Google, blog

More About: Google, Google Instant, matt cutts, poll, Search

For more Tech coverage:


New York Times Will Go Out of “Print” Sometime in the Future

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 06:24 PM PDT


At a recent conference, The New York Times‘ publisher and chairman Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., stated that he eventually expects the “Gray Lady” will no longer be a physical newspaper.

“We will stop printing the New York Times sometime in the future, date TBD,” he said to attendees of the International Newsroom Summit.

This type of statement is sure to cause alarmist reactions in some and will strike others as a completely obvious conclusion to the ongoing struggles of traditional media.

As newspaper circulation continues to fall, so do newspaper revenues. All told, losses amount to 27.2% or ad revenue lost year-over-year between 2008 and 2009. More and more consumers are using the web to stay updated about current events; in fact, in a poll earlier this year, only 21.7% of Mashable readers said they got their news from a newspaper.

In other words, the traditional newspaper might be in trouble, but news as a commodity isn’t going anywhere

Sulzberger’s statement acknowledges this fact; we see it as a commitment to finding new, timely, culturally relevant ways to reach readers and profit from gathering and reporting the news.

Nevertheless, it’s taken most news outlets quite a bit of time to come around to the realization that print isn’t the be-all-end-all of journalism. By delaying innovation, many publications have put themselves in financially dire straits while scrambling to catch up with web-friendly revenue models.

This particular newspaper has flirted with various revenue models for online content over the past several years. Readers will be subject to a metered paywall beginning next year.

Sulzberger noted at the conference, “Our pursuit of the pay model is a step in the right direction for us. We believe that serious media organizations must start to collect additional revenue from their readers… information is less and less yearning to be free.”

NYTimes.com had previously toyed with another paywall-type mode, called TimesSelect, around three years ago. The change wasn’t as lucrative as the paper had expected; still, Sulzberger sees the experiment as educational, not necessarily a failure.

“If we discover that we’ve tried something that’s not working, we could change it,” he said.

What do you think of Sulzberger’s statement that the newspaper would cease to exist physically? Let us know in the comments.

Image credits: Flickr, mfobrien.


Reviews: Flickr

More About: journalism, media, new york times, News, NYTimes, traditional media, trending

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Tablet Maker Kno Raises $46 Million for Dual-Screen Digital Textbook

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 05:29 PM PDT


Kno Inc., the company behind the 14-inch dual-touchscreen tablet unveiled at D8 earlier this year, announced it has closed a $46 million debt-and-equity round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

The leading venture capital firm, which has also financed prominent startups such as Foursquare, Zynga and Skype, was joined by Silicon Valley Bank and TriplePoint Capital. Andreessen had previously led a $7.5 million Series B, which Kno closed in December 2009.

The digital textbook company plans to use the funds to continue developing its e-reader tablet and accompanying platform, which includes digital textbooks, educational apps and other related media.

"We plan to use the infusion of capital to get the Kno into the hands of students for beta testing this fall and ultimately for the first customer ship later this year,” Kno Co-founder and CTO Babur Habib said in a statement.

Room for digital innovation in the education sector is certainly there. A recent study from Simba Information estimates that e-textbooks will account for 11% of textbook sales by 2013. Furthermore, tablet sales are expected to grow from 3.5 million units in 2010 to 20.4 million units in 2015, according to Forrester. Whether students will be eager to purchase Kno’s 5.5-pound — and likely expensive (the company claims it will be "under $1000,” which is none-too-promising) — dual-screen tablet remains to be seen, however.


Reviews: Foursquare, Skype

More About: e-books, e-readers, e-reading, e-textbooks, Kno, Tablet

For more Business coverage:


11 True Stories Behind Tech’s Top Names

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 04:04 PM PDT


Contrary to popular belief, Pete Cashmore doesn’t have an obsessive love for potatoes. Rather he dubbed his blog “Mashable” because the original site covered tech “mashups” — web projects created by combining two services, like Flickr and Google Maps.

Other companies have different strategies for naming or branding themselves or their products. And in the tech world, most of these reasons aren't apparent. Sure, everyone knows by this point that Google comes from a specific large number called a "googol" and that Microsoft combines "microcomputer" and "software." But what the heck is a Twitter?

We reached out to tech companies asking them to explain their names. What we got were 11 interesting stories that will satisfy your curiosity.


1. Twitter


The name Twitter was picked out of a hat. A small group of employees from Odeo, the San Francisco podcasting startup where Twitter initially began, had a brainstorming session. They were trying to come up with names that fit with the theme of a mobile phone buzzing in your pocket with an update.

After narrowing down the options (which included Jitter and Twitter), they wrote them down, put them in a hat, and let fate decide. Fate decided on Twitter (because clearly asking someone if they saw your latest ‘jeep’ is just weird).


2. Android


Apparently Andy Rubin, the co-founder and former CEO of Android, really, really likes robots. "You have to be a little bit careful when you're around Andy and his robots," says Nick Sears, the other Android co-founder, in this YouTube video. "I've seen his dog attack his robots."


3. Foursquare


Dodgeball, Dennis Crowley’s first attempt at social networking for mobile phones was acquired by Google in 2005. When Google killed the project, Crowley founded an improved location-based social game he named Foursquare.

Does Dennis Crowley have some sort of unresolved childhood issues relating to playground games?

As it turns out, no he doesn’t. "Dennis chose to name both companies after playground games because they were both designed to be fun and playful," said Foursquare’s PR manager in an e-mail. Apparently Foursquare was actually always Crowley's first choice, but the domain name wasn't available when he founded Dodgeball.


4. 37signals


37signals

As with so many great things, the name 37signals was inspired by PBS. Carlos Segura, one of the original partners of the company was watching a science show called NOVA. He learned that in the search for extraterrestrials, humans constantly analyze radio waves from outer space. While almost all of the signal sources have been identified, 37 signals remain unexplained.

As for the camping theme, there's no great explanation. "Camping… It just happened," wrote founder Jason Fried in an e-mail. "Basecamp was the first product and then we sort of ran with it. But Highrise and Sortfolio didn’t follow the theme. If we can follow it, great, but it’s not at all a requirement."

Still, for a company that professes to not care about names, 37signals has some pretty creative ones.


5. Yahoo!


Founders David Filo and Jerry Yang started what would become Yahoo when they were Ph.D. candidates at Stanford University. The project originally consisted of categorized lists of favorite links on the web, which made its original name, "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web," at least accurate if not so catchy.

Yahoo is actually an acronym for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle." But according to the company, the team chose the name for its definition: "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth.”


6. Adobe


Apple

Adobe founders John Warnock and Chuck Geschke were working for Xerox during the late 70s and early 80s, and living in Los Altos, CA, and Adobe Creek just happens run through the town.

According to the creek's Wikipedia page, it was named for the nearby house of a 19th Century governor. So, at least in some sense, the company was named for the building material.


7. BlackBerry


Despite popular belief, the way that the buttons look a bit like the seeds of a berry wasn't taken into account. The name BlackBerry was purely a marketing decision. The communications team offered up this explanation in an e-mail:

“RIM wanted a name that would be distinctive, memorable and fun and that would work well internationally and appeal to a wide range of customers. RIM decided to go with a connotative word for the brand name rather than a descriptive or invented word.”


8. Apple


Apple

Apple has no official story, which means that you can take your pick of the following rumors:

  • Steve Jobs used to work at a California or Oregon apple farm during the summer. He grew to really appreciate apples.
  • Steve Jobs really liked the Beatles.
  • Steve Jobs was three months late filing a name for the business, and he threatened to call his company Apple Computers if his colleagues didn’t suggest a better name by 5 p.m.
  • Steve Jobs wanted to distance the company from the cold, unapproachable, complicated imagery created by other computer companies at the time.

You probably have your own theories, so let us know in the comments below.


9. Zappos


Zappos was originally named ShoeSite.com when it was founded in 1999. This posed a bit of a problem when it wanted to start selling more than just shoes. While still quite fond of shoes, the team didn't abandon the theme entirely. They decided on a variation of the word "shoes" in Spanish. Thus "zapatos" was converted to Zappos for the company name.


10. Nintendo


Apple

The three words "Nin” “ten” “do" is Japanese for "we do all that we can, as best as we can, and await the results.” Nintendo is sort of a motto and company name all in one. Who knew that the gaming giant was so poetic?


11. Aardvark


Today, Aardvark has a sleek website where users can type or e-mail their questions to be answered by the appropriate people in their own social networks. But co-founder Max Ventilla’s idea began as a chat buddy that could intermediate conversations with people you know online.

There were advantages to having this name at the top of the buddy list, a spot which was occupied on Ventilla’s buddy roster by his friend Aaron. Alphabetically speaking, there aren’t many options that trump Aaron. “Aardvark” is one of the few names that could shoulder him out.

Other factors the name had going for it were its ability to conjugate into the invented active verb “vark,” and being an animal that people recognized but typically didn’t have strong associations with.

“We also felt that an animal had the right positioning as helpful but not perfect,” said Ventilla in an e-mail. “If we chose a human or a robot mascot people would spend their time trying to make it look stupid, but they’d cut an animal more slack.”


More Tech Resources from Mashable:


- Life After Google: 15 Startups Founded by Ex-Employees
- 10 Fun Facts You Didn't Know About Google
- 10 Great Google Slideshows
- 10 Great Watches for Gadget Lovers [PICS]
- 10 of the Web's Most Insightful News Infographics

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, monkeybusinessimages


Reviews: Aardvark, Android, Dodgeball, Foursquare, Google, Mashable, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto

More About: 37signals, adobe, android, apple, blackberry, brand, branding, foursquare, name, Name origins, Nintendo, steve jobs, twitter, Yahoo, Zappos

For more Tech coverage:


We’re Still Hiring! And 30+ Other Social Media Jobs

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 04:02 PM PDT


If you’re seeking a job in social media, we’d like to help out. For starters, Mashable’s Job Lists section gathers together all of our resource lists, how-tos and expert guides to help you get hired. In particular, you might want to see our articles on How to Leverage Social Media for Career Success and How to Find a Job on Twitter.

But we’d like to help in a more direct way, too. Mashable's job boards are a place for socially savvy companies to find people like you. This week and every week, Mashable features its coveted job board listings for a variety of positions in the web, social media space and beyond. Have a look at what's good and new on our job boards:


Jobs at Mashable


Ad Ops Manager at Mashable in New York, NY.


Product Manager at Mashable in New York, NY.


VP Sales at Mashable in New York, NY.


Copy Editor at Mashable in New York, NY.


Mashable Job Board Listings


Social Media Analyst at Blueocean Market Intelligence in Issaquah, WA.


Software Engineer at Google in New York, NY.


Marketing & Social Media Manager at SheFinds Media in New York, NY.


Product Manager at Lime Company in New York, NY.


Business Analytics Manager at Playfish in San Francisco, CA.


Sr. Analyst at Playfish in San Francisco, CA.


Social Media Marketing Manager at M80 in New York, NY.


Online Community Manager at Campfire in New York, NY.


Co-Founder/Web Developer at TBD in San Francisco, CA.


Community Manager at HowAboutWe in New York, NY.


Start-up Software Engineer at Metamarkets in San Francisco, CA.


Interactive Producer at Root & Madison in Dallas, TX.


Copywriter at Ignite Social Media in Cary, NC.


Web Marketing Manager at New York University in New York, NY.


SEM Specialist at Provide Commerce in San Diego, CA.


Online Affiliate Specialist/Manager at Spin Six Strategic Marketing Design in Scottsdale, AZ.


Acquisition Marketing Manager at Playfish in San Francisco, CA.


Policy and Compliance Manager at Playfish in San Francisco, CA.


Director of Business Development at myYearbook.com in New York, NY.


Javascript UI Developers at Dobra Resources in Reston, VA.


Flex UI Developer at Dobra Resources in Reston, VA.


Social Media Manager at M80 in Chicago, IL.


Administrative Assistant at Digitas Health in Philadelphia, PA.


Financial Project Manager at Digitas Health in Philadelphia, PA.


Product Manager at Lime Labs in New York, NY.


Regional Sales Manager – Social Theater at myYearbook.com in New York, NY.


Sales Director – Mobile Advertising Sales at myYearbook.com in New York, NY.


Web Designer at Thinkwell Group in Burbank, CA.


User Experience Designer at Thinkwell Group in Burbank, CA.


Community Manager at National University System in San Diego, CA.


Social Marketer at Circle of Moms in San Francisco, CA.


Vice President of Platform Engineering at Synacor in Los Angeles, CA.


Director of Engineering at Synacor in Los Angeles, CA.


Director of Engineering at Synacor in Buffalo, NY.


Ambassador of Buzz at Acquia in Woburn, MA.


Web/UI Designer at Fuze Box, Inc. in San Francisco, CA.


Web Programmer at Bean Creative in Alexandria, VA.


Social Media Manager at M80 in Washington, D.C.


Product Manager at AutoTrader.com in Atlanta, GA.


Video Producer/Editor at TMG in Washington, D.C.


Web Production Intern at Louis Vuitton in New York, NY.


VP of Facebook Promotions at North Social in Oakland, CA.


Mashable’s Job Board has a variety of web 2.0, application development, business development and social networking job opportunities available. Check them out at here.

Find a Web 2.0 Job with Mashable

Got a job posting to share with our readers? Post a job to Mashable today ($99 for a 30 day listing) and get it highlighted every week on Mashable.com (in addition to exposure all day every day in the Mashable marketplace).

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, YinYang


Reviews: Google, Mashable, iStockphoto


Reggie Bush Uses Foursquare and Stickybits for Football Scavenger Hunt

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 03:38 PM PDT


Last year’s Super Bowl champions, the New Orleans Saints, will kick off their season with a home opener against the Minnesota Vikings Thursday night. In anticipation of the game, running back Reggie Bush is giving away eight autographed footballs to fans who track them down scavenger-hunt-style.

Bush and his agency, Activ8Social, have concocted the social media challenge Reggie Bush #RedZones. As part of the campaign, which started Monday, autographed footballs are being dropped in the city of New Orleans. Fans have to piece together clues via social media sites — Facebook, Twitter, TwitPic and Foursquare — to snatch up the footballs in question.

Twitpics will highlight the general vicinity of the Redzone football drop, and Foursquare checkins (also posted to Twitter) will more precisely indicate each football’s whereabouts. Reggie Bush’s Facebook page is serving as the command center for the scavenger hunt and will help fans find out about drop times and track down clues.

The #RedZones contest also incorporates Stickybits into the action. Fans will find physical displays featuring a photo of Bush and a Stickybits barcode littered throughout the city. They can scan the code to add a photo, video or message in support of Reggie Bush, and the most creative bit will win an autographed football. Bush’s Facebook page includes a Stickybits tab, so out-of-towners can participate in the challenge as well.

While timely, given the start of the new season, the social media scavenger hunt is also likely designed to deflect negative attention away from the NCAA’s June decision to penalize USC for improper benefits to Reggie Bush during his time at the school. It has yet to be determined whether Bush will have to return his 2005 Heisman Trophy.

Still, athletes and social media promotions go hand-in-hand. During the NBA playoffs, Amare Stoudemire’s Facebook page gave fans the opportunity to purchase discount playoff tickets via a custom group buying application. As social media becomes an essential part of the sports enthusiast’s lifestyle, we can expect to see even more of these campaigns pop up.


Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Twitpic, Twitter

More About: facebook, foursquare, new orleans saints, reggie bush, stickybits, twitter

For more Mobile coverage:


Kobo Extends E-Reading to the Desktop

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 03:04 PM PDT


Kobo, the platform that powers Borders’s suite of e-reading devices and mobile apps, among others, has released its first desktop application for PC and Mac owners.

Like its preexisting e-reading software and apps for iOS, BlackBerry and Android, the desktop application allows consumers to browse, purchase and organize e-books directly on their computers or laptops. It also connects users of third-party e-readers, such as Sony’s, to Kobo to purchase and download content.

The desktop application offers all of the same reading functionality as the software and mobile apps, including the ability to adjust font types and sizes to suit individual preferences. Users can pick up reading on their desktop where they left off on their e-reader or smartphone, and vice versa. Unfortunately, neither the desktop application nor Kobo’s existing apps allow users to add highlights or annotations, which ultimately renders Amazon’s Kindle platform superior.

The Kobo desktop application does have one notable advantage over the Kindle desktop application: It enables users to browse and purchase books within the app, whereas the Kindle App redirects users to a new browser window to shop.

What do you think of Kobo’s new desktop application? What is your e-reading platform of choice and why?

Thumbnail courtesy of quinn.anya, Flickr


Reviews: Android, BlackBerry Rocks!, Flickr

More About: amazon, Android App, barnes & noble, blackberry, borders, e-readers, e-reading, iOS, ipad app, iphone app, Kindle, kobo, nook

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Hands-On with iOS 4.1: HDR, Game Center and Ping for Mobile [PICS]

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 02:51 PM PDT


Apple has officially released iOS 4.1 to iTunes. iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPod touch owners (second-generation and up) can get the update.

Apple has added a bunch of new features and enhancements to iOS 4.1. In addition to fixing bugs (like the proximity sensor) and speeding up performance on iPhone 3G devices, iOS 4.1 also includes a new HDR photography mode, the ability to upload HD video over Wi-Fi, Game Center and the integration of Ping into the iTunes mobile app.

We took some time to play with iOS 4.1 this afternoon, after already spending some time with the beta releases.

We agree with bloggers Matt Drance and John Gruber that the Ping experience is better on the iPhone than it is in iTunes. The music discovery element is more central, and it feels more natural to “like” and share songs, or to browse through what others like or buy.

Game Center is here, but for now all you can really do is choose your nickname and add friends. We think this has potential, especially as more game developers take advantage of it. Although there are other third-party game networks that developers can use, Game Center has the distinct advantage of being available on virtually every iOS device. That means that tens of millions of users can easily connect and play games, and share information with one another from across the globe.

The HDR photography mode could be seen as a gimmick, but we were actually impressed with the results in our brief tests. We were able to get better definition on objects and better colors from the sky, while shooting outdoors on a slightly overcast day.

That isn’t to say that HDR is perfect. Depending on the lighting and the object, HDR can sometimes just make things look more washed out. This is a great feature to have built into the camera app but it’s not going to put any HDR software for Mac or PC out of business.

On the bug fix side, we took a call immediately after upgrading to iOS 4.1 and didn’t end up accidentally calling someone else while on the phone. (Hooray!)

Check out our gallery to see iOS 4.1 in action.


iOS 4.1 Main Screen




The Game Center icon is new.


Game Center Main Page




This is Game Center.


iTunes in iOS 4.1




Note the addition of the Ping menu.


iTunes in iOS 4.1




The more tab now takes you to these options. Ping replaced Ringtones in the app menu so the more tab now includes it as an option.


Ping Activity




This tab shows you an overview of what your friends are doing on Ping.


Ping People




You can run through the list of people that you follow.


Ping Album Like/Post




You can now "like" albums or post about them to your stream.


Ping Album Like




I like Arcade Fire.


Ping Song Like/Post




You can also like individual songs or post direct links to them in your stream.


Ping Post




The post screen.


Ping Profile




Your profile in Ping. It shows all of your likes, posts and the new people that you follow.


TV Show Rental




In addition to buying an episode of a TV show, you can also rent certain shows for $.99 apiece.

If you do rent a TV show from your iPhone or iPod touch, the SD version will be the only one downloaded to your device. If you buy an episode outright, the SD episode is downloaded and an HD episode (if it's available) will be downloaded to your computer


HDR Camera Option




The camera app now has an HDR button.


Photo Without HDR




Photo without HDR.


Photo With HDR




The same photo with the HDR effects applied.


HDR Up-close




A close-up look at the HDR version of this photo.


Non-HDR Up-close




A close-up look at the non-HDR version of this photo.


Non-HDR v. HDR




The non-HDR photo is on the left, the HDR version is on the right.


Reviews: Ping

More About: apple, apple itunes, hdr, iOS, ios 4.1, iphone, itunes, Ping

For more Apple coverage:


5 Hilarious TV Episodes About Tech and Social Media

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 01:47 PM PDT


Television’s top humorists are always looking for new cultural elements to satirize, and two of the most popular subjects over the past year have been gadgets or social media — or both, as they’re increasingly intertwined.

If you flip through the channels on your cable or satellite TV receiver for just a few minutes, you’re bound to come across a reference to Google, Facebook or texting. But we’re interested in the deeper cuts, so we’ve collected five of the funniest (but not the only) TV episodes that make things like Facebook, Apple, FarmVille, or Chatroulette the focus of almost all the humor.

We’ve provided a short clip and description for each episode. If you’re interested in watching the complete episode, you’ll find links to places you can get them online at the bottom of each entry. Most of these links and videos are region-locked to the United States. Since we’re writing this story in the U.S. that’s our only choice. If you live in another region, please feel free to share video and download links for your region in the comments.


The Simpsons – “Mypods and Boomsticks”


The Simpsons go to the too-cool-for-normal-people “Mapple Store,” where they see “Steve Mobs” address his cult-like followers on a giant screen 1984-style. Oh, the irony. Lisa gets a “Mypod,” and that’s just the start of an episode that manages to be as sharp an Apple satire as you’ll ever see.

Amazon Video on Demand
iTunes


South Park – “You Have Ø Friends”


While The Simpsons hit the ball out of the park with “Mypods and Boomsticks,” South Park’s Facebook episode is the ultimate social media satire.

The generally crass animated series actually manages a certain degree of profundity as it explores the way social networks can be used to make us feel better about the shortcomings of our “real” relationships. Facebook isn’t the only topic to receive this treatment, either; podcasting, FarmVille and Chatroulette get some attention too. Throw in a killer Tron sequence and it’s a must-see episode.

South Park Studios
Amazon Video on Demand
iTunes


Modern Family – “Game Changer”


This episode of Modern Family is basically a half-hour of product placement for Apple’s then just-released iPad, but it doesn’t fail to make some jokes about the absurd lengths people will go to for the latest and hottest gadget.

The iPad is coming out on Phil’s birthday, so his wife volunteers to go stand in line to get him one so he can sleep in. She falls asleep instead of taking care of it, so she’s forced to go to extreme lengths to hide her failure while she tries other ways to nab the gadget for her husband.

Hulu Plus
Amazon Video on Demand
iTunes


30 Rock – “Secret Santa”


Bizarre acquisitions by NBC parent company GE are a running gag on 30 Rock. This time GE acquires “YouFace,” a social networking site that bears a striking resemblance to Facebook, only more absurd — sort of. NBC executive Jack Donaghy reconnects with his high school crush using the social site, and relies on advice from a young receptionist to draw conclusions from the woman’s news feed and photo activity.

YouFace plays a smaller role in the episode than tech does in these other episodes, but it’s such a great gag that we had to include it anyway.

Hulu Plus
Amazon Video on Demand
iTunes


The Simpsons – “Bart Gets a Z”


The Simpsons has been on the air for 21 years, so it has most of the satirical bases covered. While the “Mypods” episode mostly riffed on Apple, “Bart Gets a Z” goes after social media, texting and other tech topics. A new substitute teacher at Bart’s school uses technology to reach his students, texting assignments like “Homework: 20 minutes of Twittering.”

If you don’t get your Simpsons social media fix with this episode, stay tuned for the upcoming season because Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to have a cameo.

Amazon Video on Demand
iTunes


More social media resources from Mashable:


- Why Social Media Is the New Source of Hollywood Talent
- How Dana White Built a UFC Empire with Social Media
- How Political Campaigns Are Using Social Media for Real Results
- 4 Tips for Producing Quality Web Videos
- Top 10 YouTube News Bloopers


Reviews: Facebook, Google, iTunes

More About: episodes, funny, humor, social media, tech, television, tv, video

For more Entertainment coverage:


A Sneak Peek at Google Instant Search for Mobile [VIDEO]

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 01:22 PM PDT


Sometime this fall, you can expect Google Instant Search to appear on your mobile phone.

Earlier today, the search giant released Google Instant to the masses. The dramatic change to Google’s iconic search engine delivers real-time search results as you type — no clicking required. In fact, the company calls it “search before you type” because Instant Search predicts what you’re about to type and delivers search results based on those predictions.

Today’s announcements could be a game changer in the search space, but Google isn’t satisfied with having real-time search on just the desktop. It wants to dominate mobile as well.

Instant Search for mobile works just like its desktop counterpart. You start typing in a query and Google delivers search results based on what it predicts you’ll type. There are a few restrictions (3G connection speeds, no tab button on most devices, not all mobile devices support it), but in the demo we were given earlier today, it worked like a charm. We expect that this feature will work best on the iPhone and Android devices. Google also says that its mobile apps will eventually support Instant Search functionality.

Here’s our sneak peek at Google Instant Search for mobile:


Reviews: Android, Google

More About: android, Google, Google Instant, Google Instant Search, google search, Instant Search, iphone, Mobile 2.0, ƒgoogle

For more Mobile coverage:


General Motors to Integrate Facebook with OnStar

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 01:10 PM PDT


OnStar will soon offer a service that reads both Facebook and text messages to subscribers, according to an undisclosed source. Drivers will be able to respond with pre-canned messages, allowing them to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.

The service, which is expected to launch later this month, will be OnStar’s first attempt at integrating social media services into its fleet of in-vehicle hardware. Although it’s improbable that many users will opt to have a torrent of Facebook updates read to them while driving, the text message service will likely be a quick hit.

That said, the potential integration of Facebook Places with OnStar could be a major hit. With GPS at OnStar’s core and geolocation the next great digital frontier, General Motors could provide precisely the fuel Facebook needs to accelerate adoption of Places.

Since early iterations of the service are said to be focused primarily on content delivery, it’s unlikely that Places will find itself on OnStar this year. But if this relationship is meant to be, it’s hard to imagine a situation in which Facebook and General Motors won’t soon take advantage of geolocation.


Reviews: Facebook

More About: facebook, Facebook Places, geolocation, GM, gps, OnStar

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Google Instant Doesn’t Like Your Sexy Searches

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 12:15 PM PDT


Google Instant Search gives you real-time results as you type and predicts your queries. That is, unless you’re searching for naughty things.

Earlier today, Google launched Instant Search to its U.S. users, with an international rollout to come later this week. The “fundamental shift in search” delivers search results while you type — no clicking or hitting “enter” required. By typing the letter “w,” you’re instantly delivered the weather forecast, the query the search giant predicts you’re most likely seeking.

However, if you try to type “penis,” Instant Search will not deliver any results. You’ll be greeted with a blank page. The same is true for other queries like the f-bomb. Several other queries simply ignore the naughty words and deliver other Instant results. It doesn’t matter whether you have Safesearch disabled or not.

Google was asked about this “feature” during today’s Q&A session. Google’s Johanna Wright, director of product management for Instant, responded that Instant Search’s inability to predict your sexy queries is actually a safety feature to protect children. The same rules that apply to Google’s other products apply to Instant, so the company decided the best way not to deliver unintended search results for “Shih Tzu” was to disable naughty words in Google Instant entirely.

Frankly, we’re glad that Google isn’t including adult-related keywords in real-time search. We can only imagine the questions a seven-year-old girl would ask when she started typing “Pussycat Dolls.” Besides, all you have to do to get your porn is hit “enter,” the same as it was before.

What do you think of Google’s decision to exclude naughty words from Instant Search? Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, 1001nights


Reviews: Google, iStockphoto

More About: Google, Google Instant, Google Instant Search, google search, trending

For more Social Media coverage:


Google Instant Predictions From A to Z

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 12:09 PM PDT


Google just launched Google Instant, a speedy new search offering that lets users search as they type. With Google Instant, the search engine technology is capable of predicting a user’s search query — in gray text — before he finishes typing it.

Those predictions tell an interesting story, especially when you look at single letter predictions. During today’s press event, Google demonstrated that by typing the letter “W,” Google Instant predicts the query to be “weather,” and immediately returns weather results before the searcher ever hits the search button. Pretty cool stuff.

So, we got to thinking, what about the rest of the alphabet? As it turns out, Google has interesting predictions for those letters as well, as you can see in the image gallery embedded below. A is for Amazon, B is for Bank of America, E is for eBay, T is for Target and X is for Xbox. It’s a fascinating Google-defined alphabet soup — especially when you consider the instant results and how this may influence search user behavior and affect the highlighted brand names.

We should note that Google Suggest technology helps to power the predictions, so a few of the one letter predictions in the screenshots are skewed by my own search behaviors. For instance, in my Google Instant queries, J is for Jeromes — a San Diego furniture merchant — but for others, J returns Justin Bieber as the predicted query. Still, it’s clear that Google Instant predictions offer powerful insight into search terms down to the letter level.


a-amazon





b-bank-of-america





c-craigslist





d-dmv





e-ebay





f-facebook





g-gmail





h-hotmail





i-ikea





j-jeromes





k-kaiser





l-lowes





m-myspace





n-netflix





o-orbitz





p-pandora





q-quotes





r-rei





s-sdge





t-target





u-usps





v-verizon





w-weather





x-xbox





y-yahoo





z-zillow





Reviews: Google, justin bieber

More About: Google, Google Instant, Google Instant Search, google suggest, Search

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Mobile App Development Boom Driving Impressive Growth for Appcelerator

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 11:51 AM PDT


As more and more software development focuses on smartphones, a new industry is building up to help developers create and rapidly deploy mobile applications.

One of the companies that is making big waves in the cross-platform mobile development game is Appcelerator. Appcelerator’s Titanium platform is a free Apache 2-licensed, cross-platform toolkit that lets web developers use JavaScript, CSS, HTML and scripting languages like Ruby or Python to build native apps for the iPhone, Android and the iPad.

As of today, more than 65,000 developers have signed up to use Titanium and more than 4,000 Titanium-built applications are in the iPhone App Store or Android Market.

We spoke with Scott Schwarzhoff, Appcelerator’s VP of Marketing, about Titanium’s growth, some of the apps that are built on Titanium and where developer trends are heading.

Titanium’s growth is relatively phenomenal. This past March, when general availability of the platform was first made public, 500 applications were created and submitted to the various paid marketplaces. Right now, Appcelerator says that more than 1,000 new applications are now deployed per month.

Schwarzhoff told us that Appcelerator expects to have 10,000 applications in the app marketplaces by the end of 2010.

Appcelerator has released a showcase of native applications created in Titanium. The apps run the spectrum, from local deal apps like Scoutmob, avatar creation apps like MTV’s Jersey Shore Yourself and to social checkin apps like GetGlue for iPhone and Android.

Schwarzhoff told us that the average time it takes for a developer to create his or her first Titatnium app is about six weeks. However, as has been the case with GetGlue, subsequent projects — even if they are on completely different platforms — take much less time. Alex Iskold, CEO of GetGlue, notes, “The iPhone, Android and iPad apps were built by two developers in just two months.”

In addition to consumer apps, Schwarzhoff tells us that Appcelerator is also becoming the platform of choice for business-related applications. SugarCRM, Present.ly and Personify all have apps created with Titanium. eBay actually used Titanium to build an iPhone app for its employees to use internally.


What About the Apple SDK?


In April, Apple updated its developer agreement to preclude the use of third-party platforms and cross-compilers when creating iPhone applications. The likely target of the new provision was Adobe’s Flash-to-iPhone creator introduced in Flash CS5, but the wording of the provision made it unclear if other development platforms, such as Unity and Titanium, would also be affected.

Despite the new provision and the period of developer uncertainty that followed, more developers have begun to use Titanium to create apps for the iPhone, and more apps created with Titanium have been accepted into the App Store. There is actually a significant technical distinction between how Appcelerator and Unity work to create iPhone apps and how the iPhone exporter works on Flash CS5.

At this time, as long as all code compiled and created using Appcelerator remains native and the UI libraries and other toolsets also remain native, Appcelerator doesn’t anticipate any issues. As it stands now, developers can export their Titanium project directly to an XCode project if that’s how they want to finish or submit their app to Apple.


Mobile Development Starts on the iPhone, Quickly Moves to Android


I asked Schwarzhoff about how the number of applications created in Titanium break down between iOS and Android. He said that as of right now, 70% of apps are still created for the iPhone and 30% are for Android. There is also a growing slice of developers who create an app for both platforms.

While iPhone development is still the first stop for most developers, Android is quickly becoming the second platform. Some developers are also moving to iPad directly after creating an app for the iPhone, but the trend seems to be create the iPhone app first, then get an Android version out as soon as possible.

This matches our own observations at Mashable. Over the last six months, we’ve noticed increasingly shorter delays between the release of a big branded iPhone app and an app for Android. Sometimes Android apps aren’t as feature-complete, but even in those cases, updates are coming at a fast rate to bring them more to parity with the iOS world.

The big unknown for many developers right now is what to do about the burgeoning Android tablet market. The iPad already has a userbase in the millions and more than 25,000 iPad-specific apps are in the App Store. The Android landscape is less clear for developers, however, because of the variations in device screen size, resolution and OS version.

Regardless of platform, more and more developers are making the choice to focus on mobile apps. Appcelerator’s own growth highlights that trend. As we enter 2011 with more tablets, new devices from HP featuring webOS and of course, Windows Phone 7, we expect this space will continue to stay hot.


Reviews: Android, Android Market, App Store, Mashable, Python, Windows Phone 7, eBay, iPhone

More About: android, appcelerator, getglue, iOS, mobile app development, titanium

For more Mobile coverage:


TuneCore: Apple Does Not Hate Indie Bands, It Just Digs Quality Control

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 11:24 AM PDT


Attention all indie bands who are hot to get on Ping: Your golden ticket to Apple’s new music social network is on its way.

We spoke with Jeff Price, founder of music distributor TuneCore (which hosts bands both big and small), about the process of scoring a Ping artist page, which is turning out to be quite meticulous and laborious on Apple’s part.

Last week, we wrote about the lack of indie artists on Ping, and pointed out that it was quite difficult/impossible to figure out how to go about creating an artist page. After our piece was published, commenter Bruce Hoffman e-mailed TuneCore about the matter, and received the following response:

"Thanks for writing! Not only will Ping have 'People' accounts, but it will also have 'Artist' accounts that allow musicians to upload and create their own pages featuring their pictures, videos, tour dates, music recommendations and a lot more. We were fortunate enough to speak with Apple today to begin working on getting the first TuneCore Artists Ping accounts set up. We will be able to get more and more TuneCore Artists set up over the next weeks as Apple works to authenticate and set up Ping Artist accounts for the millions of artists within iTunes."

According to Price, Apple called up TuneCore right after Ping launched, asking how to go about getting TuneCore artists on Ping. Price sent over a list of artists, and Apple went about asking a litany of questions: 1) Artist name? 2) E-mail address of who will be the account holder? 3). Does the artist have a label, a manager etc.? 4). Will they be managing the account or will the artist?

Once an account holder is chosen, Apple sends him or her a URL, which allows the user to log in to Ping with his or her Apple ID and set up a page.

Sound like a lot of hoops to jump through? Well, it all makes sense, according to Price. Apple has a responsibility to make sure that every artist page belongs to the actual artist — or someone representing the artist. As we found before, it’s already easy enough for folks to pose as artists via regular Ping profiles (Ben Folds does not have a personal profile), so this dedication to the truth is likely warranted.

According to Price, TuneCore artists should be up and running on Ping in the next few months, so if your music is distributed via TuneCore, hold tight. If you’re on CDBaby or another distributor, Price says that Apple is in touch with them as well, so the same advice applies. Still, if you’re getting antsy, it can’t hurt to shoot your distributor an e-mail.

We know this is cold comfort for artists who want to be on Ping pronto, but we now have it on good authority that Apple does not, in fact, hate indie bands; it’s merely striving for optimum quality control. Still, we do wonder why these procedures were not in place at launch, and why some kind of FAQ was not available for musical folks.

If you’re in a band, keep an eye on Mashable in the coming weeks/months — we’ll try to provide you with further tips and tricks on how to make it on Ping.


Reviews: Mashable, Ping

More About: apple, itunes, music, Ping, tunecore

For more Entertainment coverage:


HOW TO: Be a Hybrid Designer/Developer

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 10:49 AM PDT


This series is supported by Rackspace, the better way to do hosting. Learn more about Rackspace’s hosting solutions here.

Good designers and developers rule the web — they’re the ones who build it, after all. And some of the most interesting and useful players in creating the modern Internet are hybrids between those two disciplines — people who can translate between the disparate languages of the visual and the technical.

Developers who can design and designers who can code are one-stop shops and hot commodities, especially in the startup world. Being a jack of all trades allows you to quickly and effectively take products from concept to shipment — something that young companies in particular are eager to do. These hybrids also make great product managers after a bit of experience in both disciplines.

So, if you’re a hacker who wants to do more than code, or you’re a designer who yearns to work on his development chops, how do you go from being an expert in just one field to a digital Swiss army knife professional?

Here are a few steps to get you started and some 140-character tips from others who’ve gone before you. And if you’ve already achieved a professional balance between the technical and the visual in your own career and skills, we welcome your advice in the comments, as well.


Improving Skills or Learning New Ones


The most difficult part of being a developer/designer is augmenting your current skill set with an entirely new group of languages, principles and knowledge. The bad news is that this will take a lot of time and effort on your part; probably years before you’re able to credibly call yourself a professional in both fields.

The good news is that there’s a boatload of information available for free and on the cheap to help you achieve your goals. For every skill you might want to learn, from programming languages to web design principles, there are books, courses, web forums and communities, and online tutorials galore. Get yourself in a sponge-like state of mind, and start researching what you need to learn to be the designer/developer you want to be.

If you’re the newest of noobs or are having a difficult time getting started, you might be interested in going a more formal route and seeking higher education courses that correspond to your interests. Personally, I have started a community college course to learn object-oriented programming, and I can tell you that a few hours in a 200-level class have actually done a lot more for my progress than days spent reading O’Reilly books and trying to get coaching from my developer friends. Because you’re learning an entirely new dialect and way of thinking, sometimes the best place to begin is at the beginning.


Having the Right Tools for the Job


While you’re learning, you’ll discover that practicing using your new skills is one of the most fun parts of the process. And practice will eventually make perfect (or some approximation thereof), but you can’t practice much without an entirely new suite of tools.

If you’re a designer, you’ll have to play with IDEs, code repositories and versioning systems, many of which are FOSS (Free and Open Source Software). Don’t be afraid to ask other developers what they use, and do some digging around to find the best tools for the languages and frameworks you’re using. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to get feedback on your designs. Check out these 10 web design feedback services for starters.

If you’re a developer, we regret to inform you that your days of FOSS for professional use are coming to an end. Professional-grade design software is going to cost you, and it doesn’t behoove a professional designer/developer to use pirated software on client projects. However, if you took the higher-education route mentioned above, you could get some pretty deep student discounts. You also might want to invest in some new hardware, particularly a stylus-controlled graphics tablet, if you don’t have one already.

Some of the most exciting parts of your new toolkit will be the design/development workflows that allow you to exercise your new and more seasoned skills at the same time. For example, Adobe has some interesting design/development handoff software between Flash and Flex that you might want to check out. You might also want to test out split-screen design/code interfaces (these can be great as training wheels).


Networking Your Way to Greatness


As you read, practice and search for solutions to your problems, be they botched designs or buggy code. If you’re a new designer, you should be on the lookout for new blogs to add to your RSS feed (we especially recommend these people); if you’re new to coding, find a few hacker/bloggers in your preferred language or languages to follow around the web.

In the Venn diagram of web designers and web developers, there’s a healthy overlapping section of folks who’ve made successful careers from hybridized skill sets. Definitely read those blogs and make yourself a Twitter list of those people, as well.

One interesting trend we’ve seen is a new crop of microsharing sites just for developers and designers. You can post snippets of code, be they beautiful or problematic; or you can share snapshots of your latest design. Others in the community will be there to give you feedback, advice and encouragement as needed. For new designers, check out Dribbble. For people new to coding, try CodeSnipp.it, and check for good examples at UseTheSource. And both designers and developers can get something good out of Forrst.

Remember: The most valuable part of networking as a relative noob is receiving and integrating valid and constructive criticism. Be humble and devoted to self-improvement over self-promotion.


Building Something


As a web pro, you’re used to constantly building and creating new applications and sites. One of the first things you’ll be itching to do with your skills is to actually make something with them.

When practicing and learning, you’ll be creating a bunch of small, one-off programs and/or designs; however, as your skills advance, you should also start thinking about how you want to give back to the community and create a useful tool or application (or even a simple game) that others can use.

You can spend your days and nights tinkering away on solo work and personal side projects; building something from the ground up that looks and runs beautifully will give you an entirely new kind of pride in your work. You can also sign up for any number of hackathons if you want the added pressure of a hard deadline and the camaraderie of a collaborative environment. Here are a few hackathons we recommend; you can also gather a few friends and host one yourself.

Once you get the hang of designing and developing by yourself or as part of a small team, you might want to take on some small consulting projects to test your newfound skills under professional circumstances, too. Also, doing this work for a client rather than just for yourself will add a new level of legitimacy to your growing résumé.


Re-Entering the Job Market


Now that you’ve re-educated yourself and have actually built something (or, better yet, a few somethings) to attest to your hybrid skill set, it’s time to frame yourself as a designer/developer to the rest of the world.

Even if you’re staying with the same employer, make sure your supervisors know about and have seen your recent cross-discipline side projects. You might ask them to consider a lateral move including a wider range of tasks or a promotion with a pay raise.

If you’re a solo, consultant or freelancer, it’s time to give your website and portfolio a major overhaul. Put your new skills to work and build something amazing from the ground up. At this point, your client-facing web presence should show (i.e. actively and impressively demonstrate) rather than tell (i.e. list in text) your talents.

And if you’re in the job market looking for a full-time position, a new résumé is in order along with a new web presence. Get creative with how you showcase your dual-core skill set, and make sure you’re applying for companies and positions that need someone who can do it all, not just an expert in one field or the other.


Words of Wisdom


We reached out to a number of designer/devs on Twitter and asked for any advice they’d pass on to a designer or developer who was trying to transition into a broader career path. Here’s what they had to say:


Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Advice for Would-Be Developer/Designers





Series supported by Rackspace


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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.

Image credits: Flickr, thomashawk and winsordi


Reviews: Flickr, Internet, Twitter

More About: code, designer, designer/developer, developer, learn to code, web design, web developer, web developers, Web Development, web development series

For more Dev & Design coverage:


Google Instant Search Goes Live

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 09:37 AM PDT


The day has finally arrived; Google is set to make several major announcements related to making Google’s search engine faster and more dynamic.

Google has been hinting about today’s big announcements for days now, primarily through some interesting logo changes. We expect Google to announce the ability to search as you type, as well as AJAX updates that should make Google load faster than ever. You never know what will come up at these events though, which is why we’re here at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to bring you today’s big news live.

Here are my live notes:


Google’s Search Event: Live Notes



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All times are in Pacific Standard Time

9:38 A.M.: We’re going to start with a “State of the Union” speech about Google search. The emphasis, of course, is on speed and making the search experience fast.

9:39: “One part art, one part science.”

9:40: Marissa Mayer, VP of Search Products & User Experience is now on stage. She started with a big stat: 1 billion searchers per week

9:41: Now Mayer is discussing some of the new features of Google Search. Google Caffeine, Real-Time Search, timeline views, spell corrections, enhancements to its Q&A, stars in search, etc.

9:42: Google Squared is being discussed.

9:43: Mayer is discussing the Google redesign that launched in May. And now she’s playing the commercial the company aired during the Super Bowl.

9:45: “Today represents a fundamental shift in search.” Mayer is discussing why we’re in MOMA for today’s announcement, starting with a discussion of a Matisse painting here in the museum, Woman with a Hat.

9:48: She’s discussing the Lichtenstein Mirror painting, which is only at MOMA during certain times. Google search can help you learn more about it and figure out where it is.

9:48: It takes a user 9 seconds to enter a query into Google. It takes 800 ms for networking time, 300 ms for serving results, and 15 seconds to select a search result.

9:50: The problem to increasing search speed is the 9 seconds to type and the 15 seconds browsing results. It takes time to type and think, plain and simple. But Google thinks it can even make this more efficient.

9:51: Launching: Google Instant

9:52: Google Instant automatically pulls up search results as you type. There is no hitting the enter button at all. The results appear as soon as you type a letter. It predicts what you’re about to type and delivers results based on those predictions.

9:53: The demo…damn, that’s fast. You just have to hit tab to complete a search query, or you can scroll up and down with the arrow keys to see search results for different related or predicted queries.

9:54: The demo continues. “Fauvism” is the search term. With “Fauv,” Google already displays the search results. Mayer doesn’t call this “search as you type,” but “search before you type.” It’s about the predictive technology.

9:56: Mayer is talking about a 2000 April Fools Day joke from Google, MentalPlex, which supposedly predicted search

9:57: Available on Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE8 starting today. It rolls out today int he U.S., and it’ll roll out internationally in the next week. UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia if you’re signed into your Google account.

9:58: Now the Google Instant team is on stage. Johanna Wright, Director of Product Management, and Othar Hansson, Senior Staff Software Engineer.

10:00 AM: With one key stroke, “w,” you’ll instantly get your weather forecast. Wow.

10:01: Hansson typed “the gi.” The gray text that appears after what you’ve typed is called the predicted text. In this case, it’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

10:03: Scroll to search demo. “Yose” predicts Yosemite national park. By pressing the odwn arrow, you can see lodging, maps, camping, weather, etc.

10:06: “What the heck is the search button there for, anyway?” Since search results are instant. If you hit enter, it ends your search where you typed ,rather than what it predicts you’ll type. The same goes for the “Search” button.

10:09: “Caval” gets you the sports team. “Cavalier k” gets you the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

10:11: Google Instant is coming to mobile this fall! Google is demoing it on a Droid. As you start typing, Google will provide search results instantly, even on mobile.

10:14: “We must do it, and we must do it now.” Ben Gomes is now on stage speaking about the challenges of Google Instant. It’s about UI and UX and making it so that Google Instant doesn’t melt the company’s servers.

10:19: Now Google is discussing the research behind Google Instant. The company is showing off how users look at a webpage, specifically tracking eye movements.

10:20: Google is turning search into an AJAX application. It has done it with Gmail and other apps, but never with search. They’re discussing how Google Instant works. Specifically, how autocomplete search requests are sent automatically to Google’s servers and then predictions and search results page should come back. The experience doesn’t work if the browser takes more time to render the javascript than to send the queries back and forth.

10:23: 20 billion searches per day. The company is talking about why they are scaled for so many searches, when there aren’t even that many people on the planet.

10:24: Optimizations. Prioritizing searches was important to scaling Google Instant.

10:26: It’s a big team that made this happen. They have dozens of faces on the main projector screen. There are also two counters that are increasing from 34,000+. It refers to the hours saved by Google Instant.


Q&A


10:33: Google’s Sergey Brin is on stage with a host of other Googlers.

Q: When will Instant be in the browser?
A: In the next few months, at least for Chrome.

Q: Why can’t you Instant search naughty terms?
A: Same rules apply to protect children. You need to click enter

Q: Datacenter load — how much stress does it put on it?
A: Yes, it increases the load, but the engineering team did a lot to really decrease the server load.

Q: From the web: What is the future of the machine-human relationship?
A: Brin: “I’m also astounded by the rate of innovation in user interfaces.”

Q: Impact on SEO?
A: Basically it stays the same. It’s still the same results, it’s just adapting to behavior.

Q: Do you believe people want faster search?
A: YES!

Q: How will behavior change?
A: Ben: You could do multiple queries, you can quickly check tickets, reviews, etc. by scrolling up and down through search predictions. People are going to explore their topics of interest much more than they do today.

Q: What were the complaints during testing?
A: A very small percentage turned it off.

Q: Was Caffeine integral to Instant?
A: Not directly, but it did help make the index bigger.

Q: Did you think we’d ever reach this point, Sergey?
A: It’s pretty amazing the things we can do today.

Q: How will this affect ads? Will users click more ads?
A: Ads are great part of our user experience.


Reviews: Chrome, Firefox, Gmail, Google, Google search, Safari

More About: Google, Google Instant, google search, trending

For more Tech coverage:


Analysis of Dating Site Profiles Reveals Interests of Different Races

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 09:27 AM PDT


Ever wonder about the veracity of popular blog-to-book, Stuff White People Like? Well, online dating service OKCupid recently undertook the task of gauging the tastes of its user base, dividing it solely by stated race.

According to the dating site’s blog, OKTrends, the website took 526,000 of its members’ profiles and split them into groups based on race (as stated in one’s profile). It then highlighted popular and unique words and phrases within each group to create the below graphics, which apparently reveal the inner desires of the various denizens of OKCupid.

While this is, indeed, an interesting undertaking, it would be a fallacy to state that the below findings are really indicative of what certain racial groups like.

First of all, the people studied are using a dating site — which influences what types of answers they may give to attract a potential partner. Also, OKCupid is only one kind of dating site. Yes, it’s a popular site (being free), but those who use OKCupid may be different than folks who would rather look for love on, say, Nerve or eHarmony.

Personally, I fail to see myself reflected in the interests of the “white woman” — but that might just be because I’m not a Red Sox fan.

Check out the gallery below and let us know what you think of the study and its findings.


Indian Women





Asian Women





Indian Men





Asian Men





Black Women





Black Men





White Women





White Men





Latin Men





Latin Women




More About: online dating, social media

For more Social Media coverage:


3 iPad Apps that Reinvent News Reading

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 08:32 AM PDT

ipad apps

As news consumption shifts to the personalized social news stream, the platforms we use to consume the news are also changing.

With its media-friendly design, the iPad is the first mobile device to create an environment perfect for real-time news consumption that maintains the sophistication and style of traditional print magazines and newspapers.

Pulse News, Flipboard and FLUD are three apps paving the way for rich, personalized news experiences on the iPad. Each reinvents what it means to read the news by creating a more dynamic, social and visually stimulating way to consume information.

Flipboard and Pulse News are particularly interesting because they both leave it to the user to define the term “news” on their own. They also compel the reader to include their social network friends in the process. Below, we break down all three for a look at how the iPad changes the way we get our news.


1. Pulse News for iPad


Pulse News for iPad transforms the news gathering and reading approach and perfectly appropriates those practices for optimal consumption on the iPad.

The $3.99 application is more than a stylized RSS reader, and includes Twitter and Facebook integration as well as built-in functionality — powered by Posterous — that lets users create their own My Pulse mini blog and automatically share their favorite stories with friends.

As a news reader, Pulse does not disappoint. Application users can select from featured sources, add their Facebook and Twitter accounts as content sources, connect their Google Reader accounts or add individual RSS feeds or websites. The application supports up to 20 different news sources, each displayed horizontally with photos and text to depict each story. Users who activate My Pulse get an additional five slots for sources.

Stories can be viewed in landscape or portrait mode, text or web format, shared on Twitter or Facebook, and “Pulsed” (added to a user’s My Pulse blog). Users can also flip from one story to the next.

Pulse comes in iPhone and Andriod-friendly versions as well, which makes for a news reading experience that extends beyond the iPad and is almost universally accessible.

Price: $3.99
Notable Features: My Pulse, and Bump technology for instantly discovering friends’ sources.
Lacking: Categories for newspaper-like navigation would be a welcome addition.


2. Flipboard


Flipboard is designed to be a personalized social magazine. It’s equal parts news reader, Twitter application and Facebook client, surfacing the latter two for stories in the form of videos, photos and URLs as shared by the user’s social network friends. As such, it is the most avant-garde when it comes to reinventing the way we consume news.

The very first thing users are greeted with when they launch the app is a stunning photo slideshow. The slideshow is created from photos that are pulled from Flipboard news sources, so once users configure their Twitter and Facebook accounts, the slideshow will also incorporate photos shared by friends on those social networks.

Users can flip the page to edit Flipboard’s contents. This is where the user will go to configure their Facebook and Twitter accounts (multiple accounts are not supported just yet) and add content sources as sections. Sections can be anything from a news outlet or a blog, to a Twitter account or list.

Content sections include the photos, videos and text as shared by friends and pulled from the original source. Each section has a magazine-meets-newspaper feel to it and users can easily breeze through each stylized section by flipping the page.

Flipboard does limit application users to nine sections and does not include support for Google Reader. These limitations are punctuated by the somewhat limitless and Google Reader-friendly options provided by other iPad news readers. Still, Flipboard is not a news reader in the traditional sense, so it should not be approached as such.

Flipboard is free, and as such it’s a must-try application for social media users in search of an alternative way to browse status updates.

Price: Free
Notable Features: Stunning slideshows and incredible Facebook integration (users can “Like” and comment on stories)
Lacking: Extensive source support


3. FLUD


FLUD closely resembles Pulse News in purpose and design. The $3.99 application is built to feature news stories from user-defined sources. The app highlights stories with photos in a magazine-like fashion.

FLUD presents app users with several news sources to get started. Users can click the wrench icon to edit those preferences, select from feature feeds, search for feeds or connect their Google Reader account to select from those feeds.

In landscape mode, stories appear to the right of feeds. In portrait view, stories appear above feeds. The app displays each article in “Text View” to highlight just the text and photos for each story, but users can also tap on “Web View” to view the story as it would appear on the site.

FLUD has one design element that distinguishes it from the competition: Categories. The application distinguishes sources by type, so users can navigate to view just the technology, creative, politics, business, science, lifestyle, entertainment or sports sections individually. By sectioning news based on their sources, FLUD is still able to reinvent the way we consume news while maintaining familiar elements for easy digestion.

Unfortunately, FLUD is lacking in the social media department. Individual articles can be shared and posted to Facebook or Twitter, but users are not able to use either social network as a news source.

Price: $3.99
Notable Feature: Intelligent, auto-defined categories
Lacking: Source support for Facebook and Twitter


BONUS: The Early Edition


The Early Edition iPad app is just a heavily stylized feed reader, and much less social in nature than Flipboard or Pulse News. But, the application’s stellar presentation of feeds is what makes it stand out from the rest.

The Early Edition looks and feels like a newspaper powered by feeds.

Users can keep the plethora of pre-populated feeds as sources, add their own sources or connect their Google Reader account to pull in those feeds. News sources are automatically separated into newspaper-friendly categories like Business, World News, Politics and Food and Wine, but app users can create their own news section should they so choose.

Since the app is structured like a newspaper, users can view article snippets on the front page of each section, flip between pages and select individual stores to view the full text. Individual articles can be viewed in their original web format, and also be sent to Instapaper. The Early Edition works like a typical news reader in the background, marking stories as read and removing them from each “edition” of the paper after each refresh or fetch.

The application does have it quirks. For instance, users can’t easily move feeds between sections or move sections to reorder them. Still, at $4.99, the application creates an enjoyable news reading experience that personalizes the paper and makes your feeds feel more like colorful news stories.

Price: $4.99
Notable Feature: Customizable newspaper-like sections
Lacking: Social media integration


More iPad Resources from Mashable:

- 5 Awesome Apple iPad Mods [VIDEOS]
- 5 Extremely Addicting iPad Games
- 5 iPhone Games You Should Supersize on Your iPad
- 10 Awesome Apple-Inspired iPad Wallpapers
- 50+ iPad Resources You Might Have Missed


Reviews: Facebook, Google, Google Reader, Posterous, Twitter, iPhone, instapaper, news

More About: Apple iPad, facebook, Flipboard, FLUD, Google, google reader, ipad, ipad apps, pulse ipad app, pulse news, reader, rss, twitter

For more Apple coverage:


Play “Trivial Pursuit” Against Your Favorite YouTube Stars [VIDEO]

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 07:35 AM PDT


If you’ve ever wanted to challenge the “Numa Numa” guy to a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit, you’re in luck! YouTube and Hasbro have partnered to create an interactive game called Trivial Pursuit You vs. YouTube that will live on the video-sharing site for the next three months as a promotion for the new edition of the board game.

“As we were exploring how to introduce the new game Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It, we decided that we wanted to bring the new game element of betting on your opponents to life in a fun and engaging way,” says Jane Ritson-Parsons, global brand leader for Trivial Pursuit. The next iteration of the classic game adds a gambling element, as you can bet you accumulated points on whether or not your opponents will get an answer correct.

The interactive game replicates the experience of playing the board game — but instead of playing against friends, you can take on YouTube stars, betting on the smarts of the likes of Tay Zonday (of “Chocolate Rain” fame) and Harry and Charlie Davies-Carr of “Charlie Bit My Finger.”

Trivial Pursuit was actively involved in selecting the stars to participate in the You vs. YouTube Challenge,” Ritson-Parsons says. “We wanted a balance of stars to drive interest in the experience. The common denominator is that all are engaging — and all have a hidden inner genius that may not be obvious to the viewer based on their online persona.” Each star who is involved in the project created a promo video for the campaign, which you can view in the gallery below.

Gary Brolsma, a.k.a. the “Numa Numa” guy, told us a little bit about the concept behind his video. “We came up with an idea for a ‘music video’ feel,” he says. “I had written an original song for the commercial, and I brought some of my friends along for the ride, and we all had a really fun time filming and putting the project together. It was fun to see everyone lip-syncing along to the songs.”

This isn’t the first time Hasbro has hooked up with social media to come up with an interactive game. Last yeah, the board game maker partnered with Google to create a Google Maps version of Monopoly. “The Monopoly City Streets game in association with Google Maps was a complete runaway success,” Ritson-Parsons says. “It proved to be a fantastically engaging piece of consumer marketing and has received multiple awards. Spurred by the success, our partners at EA are launching a version of the game across multiple platforms this fall.”

YouTube, for its part, has teamed up with a lot of brands to create entertainment-based campaigns as well, such as Garnier, Loreal, PopTarts and GE/HowCast.

What do you think of the game, and the growing predilection brands seems to have for the viral sphere?


You VS Youtube - Tay Zonday - "Why?" Original Song!



You Vs. YouTube - Gary Brolsma a.k.a. Numa Numa Guy



You Vs. YouTube - What the Buck?! "My Trivial Pursuit Story"



You Vs. YouTube HDCYT Charlie Bit My Finger - Again!



REJECTED Trivial Pursuit Commercial - You Vs. YouTube - MediocreFilms



You Vs Youtube leeparis "A Trivial Pursuit"



You Vs. YouTube - mememolly



You VS YouTube - willwoosh



You Vs. Youtube - HerrTutorial :)



Tu vs. YouTube - Benshorts



You VS. You Tube-EDBASSMASTER-Skippy Calls Hasbro



Reviews: Google, Google Maps, Monopoly City Streets, YouTube, trivial pursuit

More About: MARKETING, money, trivial-pursuit, viral video, youtube

For more Web Video coverage:


Oxfam Takes to the Web to Raise Awareness About Hunger

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 07:20 AM PDT


Oxfam America has hit the web today to promote its Hunger Banquet program, which teaches citizens about poverty and hunger and how they can help those in need.

The first proxy of the Hunger Banquet — the Fast for a World Harvest — occurred in 1974, when 250,000 people across the U.S. fasted for a day or meal and donated their food money to Oxfam, an international relief and development organization that’s active in more than 100 countries.

Well, the organization has come a long way since then, today launching a (hopefully) viral video starring actress Charlyne Yi (Paper Heart, Knocked Up). The vid features music from Rogue Wave and Ra Ra Riot, and is hosted on a custom player created by Strategic Productions (who also produced the vid). The player allows viewers to join Oxfam within the video itself, making it easy to get involved. Oxfam will also be promoting the campaign via its Facebook and Twitter, as well as a centralized hub at oxfamamerica.org/hungerbanquet.

The website also includes a guide that explains how to create your own hunger banquet, encouraging folks to really turn this whole thing into a movement.

So what exactly is a hunger banquet? Basically, guests draw tickets that assign them to either high, middle or low income tiers (based on recent poverty stats). The 15% in the upper class get a big meal, the 35% in the middle class bracket are served rice and beans and the 50% in the low-income category receive only rice and water. Guests can also playact the role of the bracket they inhabit (the guide includes instruction on how to do this). At the end, everyone discusses their experiences and how to take action.

"For more than 35 years, the Oxfam America Hunger Banquet has been one of the best recognized and effective events, introducing tens of thousands of people to Oxfam’s mission and enabling them to help in the fight against hunger and poverty,” says Nancy Delaney, constituency outreach manager for Oxfam.

“Oxfam is re-vamping the way activists can take action with us, in order to reach out to a new generation — online toolkits and a centralized action hub will make it easier for everyone to find and host their own event, and our video campaign highlights the experience of the event and makes it easy for viewers to sign up right on the video player. This is all just the beginning of a new chapter of Oxfam’s outreach to the next generation of Hunger Banquet activists,” she adds.

We sat down with Charlyne Yi and Amy York Rubin, founder/CEO of Strategic Productions, via Skype to chat about the campaign. Check out our interview below. You can see the video the team created here.


Our Interview



Reviews: Facebook, Skype, Twitter

More About: facebook, social good, twitter, video, viral video

For more Web Video coverage:


Morning Brief: Amazon Acquisition, Google Search Event, Samsung Fascinate On Sale

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 06:15 AM PDT

This series is brought to you by HTC EVO 4G, America’s first 4G phone. Only from Sprint. The “First to Know” series keeps you in the know on what’s happening now in the world of social media and technology.


Welcome to this morning's edition of "First To Know," a series in which we keep you in the know on what's happening in the digital world. We're keeping our eyes on three particular stories of interest today.

Amazon Acquires Streaming Music Service Amie Street

Amie Street, the online music community and purchasing service Amazon began backing in 2007, has now been acquired by Amazon for an undisclosed amount.

The team at Amie Street says it now plans to refocus its efforts on its developing social music-streaming service, Songza, which allows users to create their own online radio stations, as well as stations around shared interests, such as a Mad Men tribute station. Songza plans to expand its service through other distribution channels, including mobile devices and set-top boxes, and add social and gaming features like leveling, props, badges and checkins.

The acquisition will, no doubt, heat up competition in the social and streaming music space with Apple, Rhapsody, et al.

Google to Unveil New Search Features Today

Google is holding a press event at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art today in order to announce a series of new search products, including, we believe, AJAX-powered searches and results that update as users type in their search queries.

Stay tuned; we'll be live at the big search event beginning at 9:30 a.m. PT.

Samsung Fascinate Now Available

If you were planning on ordering a Samsung Fascinate, the Verizon version of the Galaxy S line of smartphones, which becomes available online today and tomorrow in Verizon stores, you may want to bring a friend.

Samsung and Verizon have announced a special deal for early buyers: buy one, get one free. If you buy one phone for $199 (after a $100 rebate) with a two-year customer agreement and at least a $29.99 per month data plan, you get a second phone with the same agreement for free.

Further News

  • Nokia’s forthcoming smartphone, the Nokia N8, will be available for European customers online at the end of September and appear in physical stores in the UK on October 1, the company announced today. The Symbian^3-powered device will cost £429 ($662) SIM-free, or from £35 ($54) per month with a contract.
  • Mozilla has rolled out a few new features in the latest release of the Firefox 4 Beta, including a new audio API that will help your browser "visualize sound.”

Disclosure: Samsung is a Mashable sponsor.


Series supported by HTC EVO 4G


This series is brought to you by HTC EVO 4G, America’s first 4G phone. Only from Sprint. The “First to Know” series keeps you in the know on what’s happening now in the world of social media and technology.


Reviews: Firefox, Google, Mashable, Rhapsody

More About: amazon, amie street, first to know series, Google, google search, Nokia N8, samsung, samsung fascinate

For more Social Media coverage:


Amazon Acquires Online Music Store Amie Street

Posted: 08 Sep 2010 05:39 AM PDT


Amie Street, the online music community and store Amazon invested in back in August 2007, has now been acquired by Amazon for an undisclosed amount. Starting with September 22 this year, all AmieStreet.com pages will be forwarded to Amazon.com.

Users that have an Amie Street account should download all their purchased music by September 22 and spend their remaining balance by that date, as it will not be transferred to Amazon.

Furthermore, Amie Street is giving its users a $5 promotional code that they can spend at Amazon’s MP3 store.

Although Amie Street (as it were) is no more, the team behind the project points out that they’ll now be focusing their efforts on the social music-streaming service Songza, currently in beta.

"We’re the generation that created social networking so we could personalize anything and everything. Since there is no way a computer-generated radio station can represent us, we built Songza to be a social music service that let users share their music, see what their friends are listening to and collaborate with new people who share their interests,” says Elias Roman, co-founder and CEO of Amie Street in a statement.

Songza lets users create their own online radio stations, but it goes a step further than most competitors, letting you create a station around shared interests, such as a Mad Men Tribute station. Also, Songza plans to launch the service through other distribution channels, such as mobile devices and set-top boxes, as well as expand its social and gaming features in the following months, adding leveling, props, badges and song checkins.

Songza has been around for a couple of years now, but the upcoming set of features sounds like Pandora plus every social networking trend we’ve seen over the past year or two, and there’s really nothing bad about that.


Reviews: Pandora

More About: amazon, amie street, mp3, music, songza

For more Tech coverage:


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