Mashable: Latest 17 News Updates - including “Spotify Now Available for Windows Phone 6” |  |
- Spotify Now Available for Windows Phone 6
- New T-Mobile myTouch Brings Video Calls and HSPA+
- 5 Inspiring Celebrity Videos Tell Gay Teens “It Gets Better”
- 12 Essential News Media Tumblrs You Should Follow
- Verizon Refunds $50 Million to 15 Million Customers
- 15 Creative USB Drives for Storing Your Data in Style
- “The Social Network” Tops the Box Office
- HOW TO: Help Your Child Set Up a Blog
- 33 New Social Media Resources You May Have Missed
- How to Take an Indie Film to Market with Social Media [VIDEO]
- T-Mobile G2 Arrives Early on the West Coast
- 5 Hotly Anticipated Social Gaming Experiences
- “The Social Network” Hits Theaters: Mashable’s Complete Coverage
- Interview: Ben Heck Explains Modding At World Maker Faire [VIDEO]
- Apple Approves a BitTorrent App for iPhone
- 10 Tips for Aspiring Digital Marketers
- Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]
- Weekend Gaming: “Dead Rising 2″ [OPEN THREAD]
| Spotify Now Available for Windows Phone 6 Posted: 04 Oct 2010 04:49 AM PDT      After iOS, Android and Symbian, mobile music streaming app Spotify is now available on the Windows Phone 6 platform. Spotify, which is unfortunately still not available in the U.S., brings free, unlimited music streaming in an ad-supported interface, or an ad-free experience for a monthly fee, which also includes mobile access to the service. Spotify on Windows Phone 6 includes features such as listening to entire tracks and albums, streaming over Wi-Fi or 2.5/3G, running the app in the background, downloadable playlists, favorite tracks and wireless synchronization with your local files. Windows Phone 6 users can download from the Windows Marketplace for mobile, or directly from m.spotify.com. The list of supported devices includes HTC HD2, HTC Touch Pro 2, Samsung Omnia 2, Sony Ericsson Xperia 1, and Sony Ericsson Xperia 2. Spotify also promises a Windows Phone 7 launch “soon.” The new mobile platform from Microsoft should become available on October 21, and is expected to bring a completely new UI and thorough integration with social networking services such as Facebook, as well as Microsoft’s other services, for example Bing and Xbox Live. More About: music, music streaming, spotify, Windows Phone 6, windows phone 7 For more Mobile coverage:
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| New T-Mobile myTouch Brings Video Calls and HSPA+ Posted: 04 Oct 2010 01:47 AM PDT   T-Mobile has launched a new device in its myTouch line of smartphones, bringing video calls and HSPA+ to the table. The new myTouch features a 3.8-inch WVGA display, a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, an 8 GB microSD memory card, and a 5-megapixel camera capable of recording 720p video. It has been designed by HTC, and it runs the latest version of Android: 2.2. It also has a second, front-facing camera and video-calling capability, as well as Wi-Fi and HSPA+ connectivity. That last bit means that T-Mobile’s G2 is no longer the only device in T-Mobile’s roster capable of HSPA+ data transfer; something to think about if you’ve already set your sights on the G2. The device comes in four colors: white, black, plum, and red, and should be available “in time for the holidays” at a yet unknown price. Reviews: Android More About: android, Mobile 2.0, smartphone, t-mobile mytouch, video calling, video calls For more Mobile coverage:
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| 5 Inspiring Celebrity Videos Tell Gay Teens “It Gets Better” Posted: 03 Oct 2010 07:27 PM PDT   A couple of weeks ago, sex columnist and LGBT activist Dan Savage announced “It Gets Better,” a YouTube project designed to give hope to gay, lesbian and transgendered teens facing discrimination and bullying. Now even more celebrities and activists have stepped forward with words of encouragement. Savage’s YouTube channel has accumulated dozens of inspiring messages from people all over the country, but not all of these videos are explicitly part of his campaign. The messages from Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog) and Ellen DeGeneres follow the lead set by Savage, though. The former appeared on Ellen’s show, and the latter was sponsored by MTV. The social media and video campaign was initiated in response to increasing reports of gay teens in rural areas committing suicide in the wake of extreme bullying and discrimination from their peers. The message: Life seems difficult now, but there are greater opportunities to live openly without fear of abuse just a few years down the line, so it’s important not to lose hope. These five celebrity videos join a chorus of voices in social media, YouTube, blogs and other places dedicated to preventing suicide and discrimination. Did we miss a particularly poignant one? Let us know in the comments. Dan SavageNeil Patrick HarrisEllen DeGeneresThe Cast of "Wicked"Lala & CiaraImages courtesy of Wikipedia, David Shankbone Reviews: Wikipedia, YouTube More About: bullying, ciara, dan savage, ellen degeneres, gay rights, homosexuality, it gets better, it gets better project, Lala, LGBT, neil patrick harris, suicide, teens, the ellen degeneres show, the ellen show, trending, video, videos, wicked, youtube For more Social Good coverage:
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| 12 Essential News Media Tumblrs You Should Follow Posted: 03 Oct 2010 06:25 PM PDT   With Tumblr growing rapidly, it’s attracted a number of media organizations both local and national that are looking to engage their audience in a new way and perhaps attract new readers. But it’s not just about promoting their own content. Many of the media organizations jumping on the simple blogging platform are using the tool to curate content for their audience and start a dialogue with readers. Mark Coatney, the media evangelist at Tumblr who was likely hired in part because of his tremendous success managing the Newsweek Tumblr, said participation in the Tumblr community is what makes a media blog effective. That is, they are having a conversation with the community, not just about what the brand is doing. “They’re good conversationalists — they have interesting things to say, they’re courteous, and they’re interested in what others have to say,” Coatney said. “A great media Tumblr is one that does all that and has a great individual voice.” We’ve highlighted 12 media Tumblrs that are well worth following, along with a bonus list of others worth a look. If there are any great ones we’ve missed, please share them in the comments. Newsweek Newsweek's Tumblr is often credited as one of the best media Tumblrs. In fact, it was so good that Tumblr hired its author, Mark Coatney, to be their media evangelist.Not only does it sport a nicely customized theme, but the content shows a clear understanding of the Tumblr community. At the same time, it provides content that is consistent with the Newsweek brand (most of the time). Although the Tumblr does point to Newsweek.com content, it also shows great voice and personality, often curating content from around the web. Front Pages Front Pages is just that: the daily front pages of major newspapers and links to their top stories brought to you by the Newseum. The Tumblr includes the front pages of The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, and The San Francisco Chronicle. A very simple and easy way to get your news fix in the morning, right from your Tumblr Dashboard. The Atlantic If you love The Atlantic, you'll love its Tumblr. Taking a few notes from Newsweek's playbook, The Atlantic does a good job of curating content from the web (or the Tumblr community via reblogs) and featuring snippets of their own content in unique ways. The Los Angeles Times: Go Instead of creating a corresponding Tumblr, The Los Angeles Times did something unique. They created created Go Mobile, which focuses specifically on "what to do with your phone." L.A. Times Go is all about mobile, utilizing Tumblr as a way to not only post original snippets but to connect with its audience through Tumblr's built-in engagement features, like its "Answers" functionality. Today Show The Today Show Tumblr is a great complement to the broadcast, often posting videos from the show or content from MSNBC, which also has a Tumblr. However, the gems (like this quote) it finds from across the web are what make it truly worth following. The New Yorker The New Yorker Tumblr mostly promotes its website and magazine content in a more conversational tone. It also utilizes the many unique posting formats Tumblr offers, from audio to quotes to video. If you enjoy the quality content The New Yorker puts out, you'll won't go wrong by following that content it tumbles. ProPublica ProPublica, the independent, non-profit that produces investigative journalism, has created a great Tumblr that serves one purpose: showcasing the "darndest" quotes from public officials. LIFE LIFE was made for Tumblr, were photography is so elegantly shared. It's easy to scroll through photos, or click through slideshows on the platform, and LIFE uses its Tumblr to showcase its iconic photography. It also focuses on engaging with its readers and creating a place where dialogue can take place easily around the content. The Huffington Post The Huffington Post Tumblr is part behind-the-scenes promotions of its projects and part curation of the Tumblr and web community. The content is everything from reblogs of interesting news or video to a blurb about a new feature on the main site. NPR Fresh Air NPR Fresh Air, an extension of National Public Radio's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, does a great job using its Tumblr to engage readers through the questions feature, and often receives dozens of responses. NPR has a general Tumblr as well. The Economist The Economist Tumblr has a great voice behind its posts and a beautiful magazine theme design, showcasing its content in a grid format. It takes part in the Tumblr community by recommending other blogs to follow for "Tumblr Tuesday." Utne Reader Utne Reader, an alternative magazine, offers some great finds in its Tumblr that match its editorial voice on "independent ideas and alternative culture." BONUS: MashableHQ.com Of course, you can't go wrong with the Mashable HQ Tumblr if you want a behind-the-scenes look at Mashable. It's the place to go for reader submissions, contests and curated content from the Tumblr community. Other Media Tumblrs
Reviews: Tumblr More About: atlantic, blogging, BLOGS, Economist, media, News, Newsweek, simple blogging, tumblr For more Social Media coverage:
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| Verizon Refunds $50 Million to 15 Million Customers Posted: 03 Oct 2010 05:26 PM PDT   Verizon Wireless discovered that it has accidentally charged 15 million customers for data network use that should have been free, so it’s refunding them all for amounts usually ranging between $3 and $6. Some customers will receive bigger refunds, but Verizon didn’t say how many. If you’re one of the affected customers, you’ll see a notice about it on your next bill and Verizon will send you a check in the mail for the refund amount. According to a statement from Verizon Deputy General Counsel Mary Coyne, the charges were caused by data usage by services that should have been free. All the refunds are going to customers past and present who didn’t have data plans. She also said that the company made the changes necessary to prevent future erroneous charges — at least of this nature! The Wall Street Journal reports that a “person familiar with the matter” said the refunds will total out to about $50 million. Here’s the complete statement from Verizon on the issue:
[Via All Things D] Image courtesy of Flickr, shanecurcuru Reviews: Flickr More About: cell phone, cellphone, cellular, data plan, Mobile 2.0, refunds, verizon, verizon wireless, Wireless For more Mobile coverage:
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| 15 Creative USB Drives for Storing Your Data in Style Posted: 03 Oct 2010 03:39 PM PDT The 3 1/2 inch floppy disk never really succeeded at making data storage look exciting. Among the USB drive’s advantages over its strictly rectangular predecessor, however, is its flexible design. The average USB might not be that bold, but there are plenty of designers who have taken the opportunity to turn the storage sticks into sushi, lighters, jewelery, and other creative displays. Here are 15 of the most entertaining ways to store your files. 1. Pretec i-Disk Sushi Series  Haven't you always wanted a full sushi bar USB storage collection? These sushi storage gadgets are sold separately, which means you can choose between sake (salmon), uni (sea urchin), maguro (tuna), or ikura (salmon caviar). But it's really not the same effect without the full set. Price: $40 to $55 depending on sushi piece and size 2. Mix Tape USB Stick E-mailing someone a playlist somehow doesn't have the romantic notions that a good old-fashioned mixed tape does. This $20 cassette tape gives you the best of both worlds. It stores up to an hour of music (which should be more than enough time to get the message across). Price: $20 3. LaCie MosKeyto This 4 or 8GB drive only extends about six millimeters out of your computer. That's less than half the size of a dime. Price: $18 for 4GB or $28 for 8GB 4. USB Jewel Bracelet Thumb Drive It's hard to lose your data when it's fastened to your wrist. And it's nice that you can accomplish this and still have the choice between silver or gold. Price: $33 5. Swiss Army Flash Sure, you may have more use for USB drives than knives, but that doesn't mean you don't want a pocket tool. Some models even come with a laser. Price: $39 to $105, depending on model 6. Popdrive Bottle Opener with USB Drive Does having a 1GB USB drive that doubles as a bottle opener make you more or less of a nerd? Price: $14.93 7. Japanese Sensu USB This fan was handmade from bamboo, wood, and cotton. Its 16GB USB jack is hidden on the top of the frame. Price: About $325 8. The Beatles Stereo USB Drive Don't want to rip all of your Beatles CDs to your computer? This USB comes loaded with not only the Beatles' digitally remastered collection, but also mini-documentary films and photos. Price: about $300 9. Steel by Design Crystal Heart Pendant Removing the jeweled portion of this heart reveals a 2GB USB drive. The necklace comes with either clear, pink or blue crystals, and you can keep you data close to your heart. Price: $35 10. Cerrious Design Steampunk USB Drive USB drives are a popular canvas for steampunk designers. This one on Etsy has three gears that all move in conjunction. Price: $46 11. CK by Calvin Klein USB Sunglasses The right arm of these designer frames breaks off to reveal a removable 4GB USB drive. Perfect for all your secret spy/undercover agent/private detective needs, right? Price: About $180 12. 8GB USB Thumbdrive Inside of a Real Working Lighter Nobody will ever suspect that there is a hub of digital storage lingering under your refillable lighter's flame. Price: $47.99 13. Light-up Memory Stick Designer Mac Funamizu imagined this transparent USB memory stick. It flashes different color lights depending on its content: pink for images, blue for documents and green for movies. It's just a concept, so it doesn't have a price. 14. Bomb USB Memory This bomb USB drive is a better desk ornament than a portable data device. And please, don't even think about taking it with you to the airport. 15. TAC Drive Not only does this device double as a virtual dog tag by storing your essential medical information, but it's virtually indestructible. This feisty little guy has survived being run over by a fire truck, scuba diving missions, and a trip through a centrifuge to prove it. Price: $20 to $55 depending on storage size More Tech Resources from Mashable:
More About: accessories, Creative, fashion, Feature, Fun, gadgets, gallery, List, memory, storage, style, usb, USB drives For more Tech coverage:
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| “The Social Network” Tops the Box Office Posted: 03 Oct 2010 02:23 PM PDT   Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher’s The Social Network pulled in $23 million in its opening weekend. That’s not a soaring success (analysts expected it to do $25 million) but it’s enough to top the national box office this weekend. The film received positive reviews from critics. Metacritic, a site that aggregates reviews and averages them out into one convenient number, ranks it at 97 out of 100 — an exceptional performance. As USA Today notes, ticket sales might actually improve because the film is aimed at a demographic that often skips opening weekends to absorb as much buzz and read as many reviews as possible before spending their time and money to go to the theater. An initial flurry of criticism was leveled at the film because it ignores or alters some facts for dramatic purposes. The media and some of Facebook’s top figures buzzed was that it was an unflattering and inaccurate picture of founder Mark Zuckerberg. We disagree that it’s unflattering, and as far as the facts go, the narrative aims to use both factual truth and fiction to get at the real meanings behind entrepreneurship, social relationships and the other subjects in the film’s purview. It’s a bit like famed documentary director Werner Herzog’s “ecstatic truth.” Whether that’s inspired or unacceptable depends on who you ask. More About: Aaron Sorkin, box office, david fincher, facebook, Film, mark zuckerberg, movie, Movies, social media, social networking, the social network, trending For more Entertainment coverage:
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| HOW TO: Help Your Child Set Up a Blog Posted: 03 Oct 2010 01:04 PM PDT   Reporters from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times probably didn’t expect to be joined by TechNewsKids, a blog run by 11-year-olds. Yet all three covered Apple’s press conference this September. Benno Kass and Max Iger of TechNewsKids watched the live-stream of the announcement online so that they could "live blog" its contents as soon as possible. Simplified blogging platforms and increased access to online information — even breaking stories like the Apple announcement — make it easier than ever for Kass, Iger and other young bloggers to independently post to the web. And as they post, they’re also learning how to research, write and use a web publishing platform. Parents should be thrilled by this educational opportunity, says Dr. Patricia Fioriello, the author of kidslearntoblog.com. Unfortunately, they’re more often unsure of how they can help their children take advantage of it. It doesn’t need to be daunting. To help their children get started blogging, she suggests parents follow these five simple guidelines. 1. Learn About Blogging Yourself The best way to learn is by doing, and parents who want to help their children set up a blog should set up their own blogs first in order to educate themselves and model good online behavior. "I know that might sound time consuming and silly or pointless," Fioriello says. "But through action and modeling, your child is going to get the benefit of your learning." Even if you have no intention of having anyone read your blog, try setting one up on a simple site like WordPress, Tumblr or Blogger. In some cases, your child might already know a lot more about this process than you do. That's OK, says Karl Meinhardt, who helped develop a pilot social media program in a Portland, Oregon middle school last year. "I would argue the kids can help the parents in terms of setting up the blogs," he says. "But where the parents come in is helping students identify… different things they're passionate about or help them understand how to express themselves in that actual space." 2. Choose an Appropriate Blogging Platform for Your Child "Some people do not like to hear this, but I really feel very strongly that a child's interest in blogging and social media should be encouraged as young as they're interested," Fioriello says. But that doesn't mean that every type of blog is appropriate for every child. There are a number of blogging sites specifically designed for children that provide some moderation and exclusivity. Teachers can use platforms like Edmodo or Kidblog.org to organize and monitor classroom blogs. At home, children can sign up for blogs on monitored sites like kidzworld or Kidswirl. Kass and his parents, Ron and Terry, decided to use an unmonitored platform that would allow everyone on the web to read the blog. This was decided for various reasons: Kass’ parents trust his maturity and discretion at age 11, the technical aspects of putting a blog up were something Kass wanted to learn, and Kass was blogging about technology, not his life. Fioriello, who has worked in education for more than 25 years, says there's no magic age when a child is better suited for a particular blogging platform. "Keep a focus," she tells parents. "What is your goal, what is your objective, what do you want [your child to learn from the blog]? And then take into consideration the age of your child and research things that would be appropriate." 3. Teach Your Child About Safety and Citizenship For many parents, the idea of their child posting information to an anonymous audience on the Internet is frightening. These concerns are justified, but there are ways to reduce the risks without banning a blog. Kass’ parents, for instance, have some boundaries: He doesn't post photos of himself on the blog (even when it makes sense for a story), he doesn't use his last name, and the only way to contact him is via an e-mail address his parents monitor. For the most part, they don't consider the blog to be much of a risk. "I don't think that's any different on the online world than if you're out meeting somebody in the not-online world," Ron says. "I think you just have to instill in your kids kind of a radar.” Make sure they know that if something feels wrong, they should immediately try to remove themselves and talk to a parent about it. Blogging can also be an excellent opportunity to teach children the appropriate way to interact online. Liz Delmatoff, a 7th and 8th grade teacher who started using blogs in her Portland, Oregon classroom last year, added "citizenship and safety lessons" to her curriculum. She taught kids why her safety rules were important by showing them a YouTube video about how easy it is to find where someone lives using only the information they post on their profile. She also discussed what was appropriate for students to put in the comments on each other's blogs, and other guidelines for posting to community spaces. 4. Enhance the Educational Experience "[Blogging] became something that Benno [Kass] could do and get a little help from his parents, and it didn't really feel like homework, but it's still building a lot of skills and a lot of education for him at the same time," says Ron, Kass’ father and the sole investor in TechNewsKids. There are a number of ways parents can add to the inherent educational value of blogging. Kass’ mother, Terry, helps Kass edit each post for grammar and punctuation. His father helped him design the site’s logo. And the family often discusses story ideas and current tech news together. Aside from the obvious benefits of working with children on their writing, parents can add value to the experience by pushing their children to explore a particular passion, discussing content and the research process, or by exploring the global reach of Internet communities. 5. Monitor What Your Child Posts Online Put some sort of supervision in place. This doesn't necessarily mean that every post needs to be pre-approved or that parents should watch over their child's shoulder every moment he or she is working on a blog. Some parents are more comfortable if they keep the computer in an open space, make sure any e-mail associated with the blog is delivered to an account that they have access to, and check the blog daily. The amount of monitoring that is appropriate depends on your child. "You know best the maturity and how much interaction your child can handle," explains Fioriello. "Supervise them or monitor them or check their browsing history. Do whatever you need to do as a parent, but still allow them to grow and learn." More Education Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, monkeybusinessimages Reviews: Internet, Tumblr, WordPress, YouTube, blogger, iStockphoto More About: benno kass, blog, blogging, Children, education, Kids, kids blog, max iger, online safety, parenting, parents, technewskids, tumblr, Wordpress For more Social Media coverage:
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| 33 New Social Media Resources You May Have Missed Posted: 03 Oct 2010 11:26 AM PDT   The Social Network took up much of our week here at Mashable with two pre-screenings (one in New York and one in San Francisco) and a chunk of coverage, including our very own review. If you’ve been busy trying to snag tickets or keep tabs on the real Mark Zuckerberg, you might have missed some of the great tools and resources published on Mashable over the past week or so. Below, we’ve collected some great Social Media stories about how to win an SEO battle for your name, or a list of words that Google Instant blacklists. Tech & Mobile can help you get a job in social gaming or reveal which Sci-Fi predictions actually came true. Business comes loaded with productivity tips, ways to use Google Voice for your business, and some emerging trends in online brand campaigns. Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time. Social Media
For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. Tech & Mobile
For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. Business
For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. [Images courtesy of CustomIconDesign, Sony Pictures Entertainment] Reviews: Facebook, Google, Google Voice, Mashable, Prezi, Twitter, social media More About: business, facebook, Features Week In Review, List, Lists, Mobile 2.0, small business, social media, tech, technology, trend, twitter For more Social Media coverage:
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| How to Take an Indie Film to Market with Social Media [VIDEO] Posted: 03 Oct 2010 08:53 AM PDT At last month's Mashable & 92Y Social Good Summit, Oren Jacob — the CTO of Pixar and Executive Producer at Ensemble Pictures — spoke about his innovative use of social media to promote his documentary film "Ready, Set, Bag!" Afterwards, we got a chance to catch up with Jacob and talk more in-depth about the project, which not only uses online video as a means to build buzz for the film, but also leverages Groupon to help eliminate risk for local theater owners by guaranteeing a minimum number of seats get filled for a screening. Charitable donations to food banks are tied in throughout the process – a logical social good tie-in for a film that follows contestants involved in a national grocery bagging competition. More About: Film, indpendent film, oren jacob, ready set bag, social media, trending For more Social Good coverage:
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| T-Mobile G2 Arrives Early on the West Coast Posted: 02 Oct 2010 07:00 PM PDT   The T-Mobile G2 — direct successor to the original Android smartphone — officially hits store shelves this Wednesday, but gadget fiends who live on the west coast of the United States can get their hands on one this weekend if they’re crafty. RadioShack announced a few days ago that it would start handing its customers G2s on Sunday, October 3, three days before the official launch date, and consumer electronics blog Engadget has confirmed that some west coast RadioShack locations are already selling the handset. The RadioShack reps the Engadget team spoke with confirmed that most of the stores that aren’t already selling the phones will join the club tomorrow. By this time most RadioShack stores are closed, but you should be able to grab one tomorrow morning if you’ve been anxiously awaiting the launch of the T-Mobile G2. You might not be the first, though; some lucky pre-order customers already saw their phones ship last week. The T-Mobile G2 is a rejiggered version of the European HTC Desire Z smartphone. It has a 3.7-inch, 480 x 800-pixel display and a physical, QWERTY keyboard that flips out on what HTC calls “a Z-Hinge.” Add to that a microSD slot, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 720p HD video recording and you’ve got a very modern smartphone, but nothing about it is revolutionary. More About: android, G2, Google, Google Android, htc, htc desire z, launch, release date, smartphone, T-Mobile, T-Mobile G2 For more Mobile coverage:
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| 5 Hotly Anticipated Social Gaming Experiences Posted: 02 Oct 2010 06:02 PM PDT   Web-based social games like FarmVille have long been integrated with social networks and loaded with tools to help people share experiences with their friends. But you know those triple-A console games you play in your living room? This year, they’ve caught the social bug too. Each year, a bulk of the new games for Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 arrive in the fall season — just in time for the holidays — or right afterward. And this year, “social” is the big trend. So if you’re looking for innovative new ways to play games with your friends, check out this list of five titles that are hitting store shelves in the next few months. Once you’ve absorbed our list, feel free to share your most anticipated social gaming experiences in the comments below. 1. LittleBigPlanet 2 (PS3) Even though LittleBigPlanet 2 is a sequel, it doesn’t just rehash the ideas in the first game. The focus is still on creating fun levels and playgrounds then sharing them with your friends, and yes, you can still browse those levels with tags and rate them as if they were YouTube videos. Yes, you can play through any level — or create any level — with your friends over the PlayStation Network. But LittleBigPlanet 2’s level creation and sharing tools are leaps and bounds beyond those of its predecessor. First off, you can work with your friends to create entire games, not just levels. You can splice levels together into a sequence to create a campaign, and you can use new tools to create whole new game types besides the platform-jumping style introduced in the first LittleBigPlanet. You can even create cutscenes that tell a story. And all of this can be done with help from a friend. Developer Media Molecule has set up a social network of sorts for the game, and it includes Facebook-like activity feeds. When your friends create new levels or rate ones they’ve found, you’ll see it in your news feed. It’s nothing new to web users, but in video games it looks like it has the potential to be the wave of the future. Take a look at our hands-on LittleBigPlanet 2 preview from the E3 video games conference this past summer if you want to learn more. Availability: January 18, 2011 2. Def Jam Rapstar (PS3, 360, Wii) The music game emerged as one of the most popular genres a few years ago, thanks in no small part to Guitar Hero, but some types of music have evaded the trend. Hip Hop is unfortunately one of them; only one Hip Hop music game has come so far, and it was reviled by critics. When working on Def Jam Rapstar, 4mm Games VP Paul Coyne said his team used that previous game “as the architectural model of how not to do” a hip hop game. So exactly how are they planning to do it right? By building the entire experience around strikingly innovative social features. You can do the traditional music game thing if you want — that is, duel your friends in rap battles with two mics and one television — but Def Jam Rapstar makes our list because of the YouTube-like social network connected to it. The game gives you the tools you need to record rap music videos with yourself as the main performer, and you don’t even have to perform the songs included with the game. Rather, you’re encouraged to create your own beats and rhymes, and post them to the social network for your friends to see. They can then rate them or share them on Facebook, and even record their own rap responses. That’s where rap battles come in. Winners of battles gain badges similar to the Xbox 360's achievements or the PlayStation 3’s trophies. Rappers who gain a huge following (there’s a follow system similar the one found on Twitter) could become featured artists on the network, and the best of the best actually have a shot at winning time in a real music studio with a talented Hip Hop producer. It’s enough to make Guitar Hero look totally last-generation. To paraphrase Jay-Z, “Yeah, we off that, is you still on that? And we still makin’ money cause we still on that.” Availability: October 5, 2010 3. Halo: Reach (360) Halo: Reach was just released a few weeks ago, and as expected, the launch went swimmingly for publisher Microsoft and developer Bungie. This is in part because the two companies have gone to great lengths to foster a strong online community of Halo enthusiasts. Halo Reach makes our list because its acclaimed multiplayer modes and tools are simply the best in the business. Advanced matchmaking tools help you find people to play with who not only match your skill level, but your play style and social expectations. Each time you load the game’s matchmaking tool, you’re given the option to adjust your “Psych Profile.” And you have a lot of choices — do you want to talk a lot or stay silent? Play to win or just have fun? Are you a team player or a lone wolf? Plus you can pick your tone, and choose to be “polite” or “rowdy.” From any menu, you can press a button to browse friends’ profiles, your achievements, your appearance options and info from Halo Waypoint, Halo’s online community portal. You can also view your friends’ created or recommended screenshots, videos, map variants or game types. If you want to create levels collaboratively with your friends in the “Forge” world builder, that’s easy to reach. Many of those features were added in Halo 3, but Reach refines them. Even though it’s already on the market, we figured we had to include Halo Reach in this season’s anticipated list. Availability: Available Now 4. Dance Central (360) (PS3) Dance Central isn’t a complicated game. Online components aren’t the focus here. Rather, it’s all about local play, and that makes sense because the big appeal here is the use of the Xbox 360’s new Kinect motion-sensing camera. Think of Dance Central as Dance Dance Revolution without the cumbersome dance mat. Kinect’s 3D camera reads your entire body and scores you based on how well you can match the on-screen choreography, which is set to music from pop stars like Lady Gaga. Better still, it can read up to four players at once, so you can do group routines or simply compete to see who can nail the choreography the hardest. There’s so much focus on online play right now that we often forget about the joys of playing games with your friends and family in your living room. Based on our early experiences with Dance Central at E3, it represents the best of music games and of local social gaming experiences. It’s also a very impressive tech demo for Kinect. Availability: November 4, 2010 5. Fable 3 (360) The original Fable for Xbox aimed to show non-hardcore gamers the merits of the RPG genre. In some ways it succeeded, and in some ways it didn’t, but it hit close enough that the sequel for Xbox 360 was highly anticipated. Co-operative online play was one of the most touted new features, but when it arrived most gamers felt that it left a lot to be desired. It wouldn’t let you bring your own personal hero into a friend’s game; instead you had to play a generic mock-up, and it locked you to your friend’s camera, preventing you from leaving him or her behind to explore on your own. Legendary designer Peter Molyneux heard those complaints, and announced earlier this year that Fable 3 will not have the same limitations. Hopefully, the result is a seamless social experience wherein friends can take on all the challenges of their own fantasy worlds together, sharing resources, ganging-up on enemies and even walking “down the street hand-in-hand.” Early previews of the new Fable multiplayer have been quite positive. Though you’re still limited to the zone that your friend is playing in, the zones are vast so you might not want to wander that far anyway. We’re looking forward to seeing what it’s like to share the very moldable world of Albion with friends, but Molyneux warned when he announced the new features that we should be careful who we let in. Choices in Fable 3 have consequences, and your friends could make some decisions that will make your single-player life difficult for hours to come! Availability: October 26, 2010 More Entertainment Resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, CREATISTA Reviews: Facebook, RPG, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto More About: 2010, 4mm games, bungie, dance, dance central, def jam interactive, def jam rapstar, fable 3, gaming, halo reach, hip-hop, Konami, List, littlebigplanet 2, media molecule, microsoft, mtv, mtv games, music, playstation 3, PS3, social gaming, social media, sony, terminal reality, video games, Xbox 360 For more Tech coverage:
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| “The Social Network” Hits Theaters: Mashable’s Complete Coverage Posted: 02 Oct 2010 05:02 PM PDT   The Social Network arrived in theaters nationwide this weekend, pulling in $9 million in its first day as it opened first at the box office. The David Fincher-directed and Aaron Sorkin-written film about Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg might not be as entrenched in the social zeitgeist as Facebook itself, but it’s doing quite well so far. Earlier this week Mashable hosted two early premieres for the film — one in San Francisco and one in New York City. Additionally, we’ve covered the best commentary from the filmmakers, interviewed composer Trent Reznor and reviewed the film at length. Check out these stories to make sure you haven’t missed any of the buzz around this major motion picture about social media and entrepreneurship, then let us know what you think of the film if you haven’t already!
Reviews: Mashable, Tumblr More About: Aaron Sorkin, box office, david fincher, facebook, Film, justin timberlake, mark zuckerberg, movie, Movies, music, opening weekend, the social network, Trent Reznor For more Entertainment coverage:
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| Interview: Ben Heck Explains Modding At World Maker Faire [VIDEO] Posted: 02 Oct 2010 03:19 PM PDT   Our Mashable Tech field trip to the World Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science was a kid-in-a-candy-store scenario for the crew. With so much incredible modded mayhem, it was, as Sarah Kessler pointed out, easy to get overwhelmed. It was clear that we needed someone to walk us through this world where every device is more than meets the eye, and Benjamin J. Heckendorn (a.k.a. Ben Heck) was that someone. Ben Heck is a rock star of the modding community, who has made everything from special one-handed gaming controller for an injured soldier, to a Bill Paxton-themed pinball machine built from the scratch. We sat down with Ben to discuss the Xbox 360 laptop project that he’s working on, his new show about modding and, most importantly, what modding is all about: The Ben Heck Show runs every other Monday on Revision3. [Video by Evan Wexler] Reviews: video More About: Ben Heck, Hardware, maker faire, modding, pinball, revision3, Xbox 360 For more Tech coverage:
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| Apple Approves a BitTorrent App for iPhone Posted: 02 Oct 2010 02:15 PM PDT   A BitTorrent app called IS Drive has appeared in Apple’s App Store for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, despite the company’s past refusal to approve BitTorrent apps because they could be used for Internet piracy. The app is intended as a tool for managing ImageShack’s torrent download service, but it can be adapted to manage downloads from other torrent sites like IsoHunt and Mininova. BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol that shares the bandwidth load for large file transfers between large pools of users. It’s often used for legit services like ImageShack, but it has also gathered a lot of negative attention because it’s ideal for use by illegal file sharers. Apple has always blocked those apps for fear of allowing illegal activity that could undermine its music and video business on iTunes. Nevertheless, there are a couple possible explanations for IS Drive’s emergence. Apple recently eased up its app store approval guidelines and the secrecy surrounding them in response to a lot of criticism. As a result, lots of apps that were previously not permitted have arrived — Google Voice apps, for example. It’s also possible that Apple didn’t realize IS Drive is a BitTorrent app. IS Drive’s developer told TorrentFreak, “I always had the thought that if I didn't call the app a ‘torrent client,’ Apple would probably let it through the review process.” The app doesn’t use the words “torrent” or “BitTorrent” at all, and it’s simply a download manager. There’s no torrenting on the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad running the app. IS Drive costs $4.99 in the App Store, and the ImageShack sharing service comes loaded with either a monthly or daily fee. Reviews: App Store, ImageShack More About: App, app store, apple, bittorrent, file sharing, imageshack, ipad, iphone, iPod Touch, is drive, piracy, trending For more Mobile coverage:
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| 10 Tips for Aspiring Digital Marketers Posted: 02 Oct 2010 12:24 PM PDT   Over the next few years, digital marketing budgets are expected to increase steadily, according to Datran Media’s Annual Marketing & Media Survey, which reaches out to more than 5,000 marketing executives from Fortune 500 brands, top publishers and leading advertising and media agencies. This is good news for those of you hoping to break into the digital marketing industry. Whether you’re passionate about search, affiliate, social media, or another area of marketing, there are a few things you can do to prove your worthiness to prospective employers. We asked five industry insiders about their top tips for aspiring digital marketers. Find their suggestions below and add your own in the comments. 1. Get Hands-On Marketing ExperienceWhile a degree in marketing or communications can take you a distance, most employers are looking for candidates with marketing experience, whether that’s via a previous job, internship or side project. If you already have work experience in the marketing world, congratulations. For the rest of you, internships or other projects will be key. “Any hands-on involvement with campaign creation, analytics, or optimization can be extremely beneficial to aspiring digital marketers,” says Traci Kuiphoff, online marketing manager at BareNecessities.com. “If you’re in school or a recent grad, the best way to gain experience is to do an internship at a company or agency that has a department or focus in online or digital marketing. Not only do you get real world hands-on experience, but it’s also great to put on your resume when you're ready for a full-time position.” If you are in college, look for paid or for-school-credit marketing internships at your college’s job fairs, via job search sites, and on social media sites. You could even land your next gig through Twitter. If you don’t land an internship or find a position of interest, create your own project or enter a marketing contest. While studying marketing and international business at NYU Stern’s Undergraduate School of Business, a classmate and I entered the John Caples Student Campaign of the Year contest, and created a digital marketing campaign for Pentel. Our campaign included a mix of digital, social and direct marketing communications, along with thoroughly gathered success metrics. Not only did we win first place, which included summer internships and a cash prize, but we also met a lot of industry experts who have since acted as mentors to us. 2. Know the Lingo Being able to analyze marketing campaigns and understand what worked or didn't is the key role of a digital marketer — in order to do that, you’ll need to know (and love) the industry jargon. “Understanding metrics on the web is key,” says Naishi Zhang, assistant marketing manager at Barnes & Noble. “The internet provides so many ways of analyzing user behavior, and knowing how to gather and interpret data is important for success. Read widely and learn the lingo, so when someone asks about the CTR of a banner ad or the number of page views a landing page received, you’ll be ready.” Mastering marketing terminology and metrics, as well as what they mean, will take time and practice, but you can get a basic knowledge by picking up a marketing 101 textbook or attending an introductory course. Check out local college or continuing education courses. If that isn’t an option, the Internet is at your disposal. About.com’s glossary of marketing terms and HubSpot’s glossary of social media marketing terms are both very useful for beginners, and you should also read some of the top marketing blogs to get your daily fill of information. 3. Nurture Your Personal Online PresenceRick Bakas, director of social media marketing at St. Supéry Vineyards and Winery believes that a person’s online presence can be a major deciding factor on whether an aspiring digital marketer makes the cut for a job. “If an employer is deciding between two candidates,” he notes, “they might go with the person with the strong following online. Build your personal brand online. You have to show you can build your personal brand if you're going to build someone else’s.” “Your online clout is sometimes referred to as ’social currency,’” he continues. “In other words, there’s a value associated with your online personal brand. Increased value carries as much weight as a great resume. A high Klout.com score for example, will help you stand out and validate what your resume says about you.”  Your Klout score is a number between 0 and 100 that measures the size of your engaged audience, the likelihood that they will amplify your messages, and your overall influence within your network. Bigger isn’t always better. Bakas explains, “Aspiring marketers would do well to grow an engaged online following, not necessarily a large online following. Again, Klout.com is a great tool to evaluate the strength of your online presence.” 4. Dabble in Everything, Specialize in SomethingThere isn’t just one career path in marketing. You can choose to work for an agency, with an in-house team, or start your own firm. There are multiple marketing disciplines, including affiliate, search, social media, e-mail, mobile, and display marketing, to name a few. Teams come in all sizes — some in which teammates specialize in certain areas, and others where a team can be composed of just one stellar know-it-all. The best way to get a taste of all of the options is to dabble in a bit of everything. Kuiphoff advises, “Digital marketing agency experience can be extremely valuable — at an agency you can be exposed to all avenues of digital marketing from paid search, social media, mobile and everything in between. Most likely, you’ll touch a number of different accounts which can help you choose a vertical focus or specialty.” Once you have a base knowledge in each area of marketing, you’ll be better equipped to choose a more specific path to focus on. Having a specialty enables you to hone your skills in that area and become an expert, which is a valuable asset to potential employees. 5. Attend Industry Meetups and Conferences“Put the ’social’ in social media and spend time engaging with people in the real world,” says Bakas. “Go to lots of events to create or nurture quality interactions that can later continue online. Use plancast.com to see which upcoming events are worth going to. These experiences are ripe with opportunities to meet other digital marketers. The strongest relationships are the ones nurtured online and offline.” Kuiphoff adds, “Digital marketing conferences not only provide a great networking opportunity, but most offer in-depth workshops that can enhance your skill set.” Some worthwhile conferences to consider include SXSW, Search Marketing Expo, Web 2.0 Expo, Ad Age Digital Conference, ad:tech, and Pivot.  If you’re not into the hustle and bustle of industry conferences, you can consider a more toned-down approach by attending or organizing your own Meetups. There are thousands of marketing Meetups around the world. The NY Entrepreneurs Business Network and San Francisco Entrepreneur Meetup are two of the largest. 6. Keep a Pulse on the NewsBecause of the nature of the Internet, digital marketing is ever-changing. If you don’t keep up with the latest trends and news, it shows in interviews and on the job. Sarah Hofstetter, SVP of emerging media & client strategy at digital marketing agency 360i says it well:
Kuiphoff recommends subscribing to industry blogs and newsletters to stay on top of the latest news. Some of my personal favorites include Ad Age, ClickZ, eMarketer, BrandWeek and AdWeek. 7. Get Technical While you won’t be coding programs or building full websites as a digital marketer, you will need to work with developers and designers or other web specialists to communicate your marketing design needs. A basic knowledge of how the web works, HTML, and one or two programming languages, such as PHP, JavaScript, CSS and Ruby, will help you understand the current boundaries and opportunities that will affect your marketing campaigns. “It’s important for anyone working in the digital world, whether it’s marketing or designing features for a product, to have a basic understanding of coding,” suggests Dharmishta Rood, a research assistant at Harvard Business School and fellow at the Center for Future Civic Media at MIT. “There are great experiential benefits from understanding the underlying technologies that shape what we do online — it’s easier to understand how users can interact with content, what is possible for design with things like CSS and JavaScript, and understand the nuances of basic technical terminology.” 8. Perfect Your Resume Everyone needs a resume — what you do with it is up to you. To help you stand out, here are a few tips from our digital marketing experts:
To showcase your skills alongside multimedia and other online assets, check out some digital alternatives to the paper resume, including video resumes, VisualCVs, social resumes and LinkedIn profiles. 9. Let Curiosity and Passion Drive You“Sure, it's great to know about Facebook, iAds and whatever is coming next from Silicon Valley,” Hofstetter points out, “but when we're looking for key talent at 360i, nothing matters to us more than intellectual curiosity and passion…In a business where answers and solutions aren't always obvious, you need to be innately curious (about everything) and obsessed with the ‘why’ behind the ‘what.’” It may sound cheesy at first, but she has a point. Without inquisitiveness and zeal, we’re just work drones on a mission to take over the Internet. Plus, these traits have a positive effect on the way we work, Hofstetter says: “People who have these qualities can innovate and identify trends from seemingly ordinary data — they're the first to try new things (platforms, tools, technology) and think about how marketers can benefit from them. They don't always have the answers, but when you're being asked to do never-been-done-before things, there isn't a rulebook. That's why when we're recruiting, we look for people who know how to ask the right questions. 10. Unplug for Your Sanity Staring at a computer screen all day long can take a toll on your body, mind and social life. Get away from that monitor and breathe for crying out loud! Bakas advocates getting out every once in a while to work on who you are as a person outside of work. “Because transparency is important, it's important to be a good person in the real world,” he says, “It'll translate into the digital world — you can't fake being a good person if you're a jerk in real life. Unplug for your own sanity, but also to continue growing as a person in life.” I second that. Now, get out of here and get a job. Digital Marketing Job ListingsEvery week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the best digital marketing jobs from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!
More Job Search Resources from Mashable
Image courtesy of RICEinteractive; iStockphoto, track5 Reviews: Facebook, Google, Internet, LinkedIn, PHP, Twitter, iStockphoto More About: advertising, digital marketers, digital marketing, job search, job search series, MARKETING, online advertising, online marketing, trending For more Business coverage:
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| Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART] Posted: 02 Oct 2010 11:08 AM PDT   Just when you thought you’ve got those rascally Twitter trends all figured out, Justin Bieber goes and tweets about maple syrup, and you’re back to the drawing board. The boy wonder Biebed his way back into the number two slot this week, but couldn’t quite top the buzz around New Twitter, which began rolling out to the unwashed masses. The hit show Glee bounced back into the top 10 topics thanks to a much-discussed Britney-flavored episode, and the sports topics that have been dominating Twitter for the last few weeks were banished to the bottom in the wake of other news and entertainment. Check out the complete chart below, compiled by our friends over at What The Trend. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart. You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section as well as read more about this past week's trends on What The Trend. Top Twitter Trends This Week: 9/25 – 10/1
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ricardoinfante Reviews: Twitter, iStockphoto, justin bieber More About: entertainment, football, justin bieber, List, Lists, soccer, social media, sports, Top Twitter Topics, trending, trends, twitter, twitter trends For more Social Media coverage:
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| Weekend Gaming: “Dead Rising 2″ [OPEN THREAD] Posted: 02 Oct 2010 06:37 AM PDT   Dead Rising was actually the reason I broke down and bought my (first) Xbox 360. I played through that game about a dozen times and unlocked almost everything in it before moving on to Mass Effect. I’ve since gone through a few Xbox 360s, but Dead Rising 2 has maintained its place on my most wanted list.It’s set in Fortune City, NV, which is basically a fictional version of Vegas. It adds a totally new environment, a ton of new weapons and the ability to construct unique weapons from items you find while exploring the game. Dead Rising 2’s biggest addition comes by way of a new co-op mode. Gamers can now sync with friends to explore Fortune City and mow down zombies together. I haven’t played it nearly enough yet, but so far it feel like fans of the original will not be disappointed. If zombies aren’t your thing, what are you playing this weekend? FIFA Soccer 11, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock or are you just getting around to Mass Effect 2? It doesn’t matter if you’re playing on an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii or PC, we want to hear from you. Comments are open to: tips, critiques, (good-natured) smack talk and basically anything else related to gaming. The weekend gaming open thread is intended to bring Mashable gamers together through conversation about games. This thread is for those of us who had the first NES and for those whose first gaming experience happened on an Xbox 360, so let's try to keep it fun for everyone. Reviews: Mashable More About: dead rising 2, open thread, pc gaming, playstation 3, Weekend Gaming, Wii, Xbox 360 For more Tech coverage:
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