Mashable: Latest 28 News Updates - including “Tumblr Starts Offering Premium Themes” |  |
- Tumblr Starts Offering Premium Themes
- Etacts Transforms Your Gmail into a Contact Management Hub
- QuantumFilm Could Change the Way Your Camera Phone Takes Pictures
- When Do Twitter Users Sleep? [Apps]
- Twestival Global 2010 Raises Funds for Social Good Tomorrow
- DEMO: The Winning Startups in Mobile, Social, and More Are…
- Exclusive: Digg’s iPhone App Launches Wednesday [SCREENSHOTS]
- Russian Singer’s “Trololo” Meme Gets an iPhone App
- HTC EVO 4G: Sprint’s First WiMAX Phone
- iPhone Is Eating Sony PSP and Nintendo DS’ Lunch [STATS]
- Mashable iPhone App v1.2 Released!
- Foursquare Lets You “Follow” Celebrities
- Twitter Reduces Spam to 1% of Tweets
- The Future Newsroom: Lean, Open and Social Media-Savvy
- Samsung Galaxy S Marries Android to an Amazing Screen [PICS]
- iMac Steampunk Mod Is Retro Awesome [PICS]
- PayPal X Developer Challenge Winners Unveiled
- The New Digg Is Coming: Redesigned Buttons and Widgets Released
- Yahoo Releases Two iPhone Apps for Search
- YouTube Choir of 250 Fulfills Composer’s Dream [VIDEO]
- 10 Essential Design Tools for Social Media Pros
- Phone Halo Saves Absentminded Phone Owners from Themselves
- Exclusive: Merton the Chatroulette Piano Guy Speaks [VIDEO]
- Nintendo 3DS is Coming: 3D Gaming Without the Glasses
- Well, That Didn’t Work: China Censors Google Hong Kong Site
- Firefox 3.6.2 Fixes Critical Security Hole
- Sponsored Post: Sharp AQUOS LCD TVs Create Colors Never Before Seen on TV
- The Most Popular SXSW Music Acts by Social Media Buzz [STATS]
- Opera Mini Submitted to Apple’s App Store. Your Move, Apple
| Tumblr Starts Offering Premium Themes Posted: 24 Mar 2010 02:35 AM PDT  
Although monetization on blogging and microblogging networks is often mystified to the point that everyone expects something out of the ordinary, Tumblr took a very simple and basic route. Users have already had a big choice of “regular”, free themes. Now, those that want something more, or something specific (like the Photofolio theme, for example), now have a choice of 13 premium themes which cost from 9 to 49 dollars. This addition comes hot on the heels of several other important updates, such as static pages, direct video uploads, and a BlackBerry app. Besides that, Tumblr posted some impressive numbers and milestones two weeks ago, showing that it’s still growing and carving an increasingly important niche with its “dead simple blogging” approach. You can browse the Premium theme portfolio here. Reviews: Tumblr, Tvider Blackberry App
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| Etacts Transforms Your Gmail into a Contact Management Hub Posted: 23 Mar 2010 09:57 PM PDT 
Let’s all just agree: Contact management is a pain in the butt. You want to keep in touch with your friends, business contacts and others, but solutions such as Google Contacts don’t offer advanced customer relationship management (CRM) features like what you see in Salesforce — even though a lot of us could use it. That’s a need Etacts seeks to meet. Signing up for Etacts essentially occurs in one step: You connect to Etacts via Gmail Oauth. Once that’s done, it automatically imports your Google Contacts into its database and provides you with great information, such as how many e-mail conversations you’ve had with someone, when you first contacted someone, the amount of days since last contact and more. The usefulness of this data becomes immediately apparent as soon as you see it.  The usefulness ramps up to another level when you start using the system to remind you to reconnect with friends and business contacts. You can tell Etacts to remind you to contact your professor once every year or your friend in VC every month. It will e-mail you these reminders. The killer feature is Gmail integration. Within your Gmail, Etacts will integrate with your e-mail and remind you if someone hasn’t followed up with you, display social media contact information, and provide a general overview of your contacts. The website is simple and still sparse, but with a bit of effort, Etacts could become a central hub for contact management. The company believes that people will eventually spend “hours a day” within Etacts, because it will be your gateway to your friends. What are your thoughts on Etacts? What contact tools do you use, and what features are they missing? Let us know in the comments. Reviews: Gmail Tags: Etacts, gmail, y combinator
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| QuantumFilm Could Change the Way Your Camera Phone Takes Pictures Posted: 23 Mar 2010 08:12 PM PDT 
The biggest problem currently with camera phones isn’t so much the megapixel rating, it’s how much light the sensor can capture. If you have a lot of light, camera phones can turn out great photos. However, right now, capturing more light requires using larger CMOS sensors. QuantumFilm utilizes a custom-designed semiconductor material that is designed to replace some of the silicon in image sensors used in CMOS cameras. This material which is based on quantum dots, can capture much more light, and can plug into the existing CMOS manufacturing process.  Invisage claims that QuantumFilm can offer twice the light detection and twice the quantum efficiency of typical silicon-only sensors. The potential for QuantumFilm basically means that manufacturers could put cameras with substantially better quality into their products without having to adopt larger sensors or create a whole new manufacturing process. I talked to Invisage at the show and they said they hope to have a prototype done by the fall and hope to be partnered with ODMs for end-user consumption within the next 18 months. QuantumFilm is one of the more high-level products at DEMO, but if it can work, it genuinely has the possibility of pushing the next evolution of camera phone and other small CMOS devices forward. Tags: CMOS, demo, demospring10, digital cameras, invisage, quantumfilm
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| When Do Twitter Users Sleep? [Apps] Posted: 23 Mar 2010 07:00 PM PDT 
All you have to do is plug a username into SleepingTime.org’s main page. It determines the user’s timezone from his or her location and looks at the times of day he or she is least likely to send out tweets. If there’s consistently a big block of dead air, it figures that must be when that user sleeps. It even estimates how much sleep he or she is getting. It’s fun to play with these tools to see how accurate they are. In my case it seems like it’s not all that accurate, but run your own username through to see for yourself. Here’s what the results will look like:  If you use Twitter with a particular activity or place rather than tweeting all throughout the day it doesn’t quite work. Since I rarely use Twitter outside of a work context, my chart accurately shows the times of day and night I’m least likely to be working, but it’s not representative of my sleep schedule (and you’d be hard pressed to find a professional blogger who sleeps eight hours every night to begin with). We’re pretty sure it will work pretty well for you if you’re a compulsive tweeter, though, so give it a try. The site was designed by a blogger named Amit Agarwal. [via Download Squad] For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter
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| Twestival Global 2010 Raises Funds for Social Good Tomorrow Posted: 23 Mar 2010 05:52 PM PDT 
Last year 1000 volunteers and over 10,000 donors raised over $250,000 in support of charity:water, providing clean and safe drinking water to more than 17,000 people. Amanda Rose, founder of Twestival, said of the event, “Organizing online and gathering offline allows Twestival to harness the incredible communication power of Twitter to propel participation in real events around the world.” Check out the video below for an overview of Twestival Global 2010. To get a peek into exactly how Twestival’s impact for social good is playing out, head over to this year’s Twestival Results section, where you can drill down into statistics including funds raised to date and even exactly how they’re being applied (check the Impact tab for that information).  Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, who co-chairs the education-oriented organization 1GOAL (you can follow her on Twitter here), lends her impassioned support for Twestival’s like-minded educational efforts this year in the video below. Twestival also encourages all participants to sign up for Her Majesty’s 1GOAL organization in addition to their gifts of time, energy, and funding to Twestival. Will you be lending your support to this year’s Twestival Global? Let us know how you’re participating in the comments. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: charity:water, concern worldwide, education, social good, twestival, twestival global, twitter
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| DEMO: The Winning Startups in Mobile, Social, and More Are… Posted: 23 Mar 2010 05:38 PM PDT 
And the million dollar winner:
Reviews: Facebook Tags: blueskies hospitality, demo, demospring10, everloop, exaudios, gwabbit, phone halo, tagthelook, zosh
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| Exclusive: Digg’s iPhone App Launches Wednesday [SCREENSHOTS] Posted: 23 Mar 2010 04:24 PM PDT 
News of an impending iPhone app leaked back in October, when Kevin Rose mentioned it in an interview. Now, Diggers will finally get a native application that supports browsing popular, upcoming, and recent stories across topics, as well what looks like the ability to Digg and bury stories from within the app. Each story also appears to have options for navigating comments and related stories. The launch comes at a key time for Digg, who recently unveiled plans for a major overhaul of its entire site. A big part of that overhaul includes mobile, where since 2007 Digg has offered only an iPhone-optimized version of its site. We imagine Digg’s tech-savvy audience will be quick to embrace the native app, and expect apps for other platforms and the continued rollout of features for the new Digg to continue at an aggressive pace (in fact, the site’s revamped buttons and widgets just debuted earlier today). For now, some screenshots of the app, which should arrive in the app store at some point on Wednesday:     Reviews: Digg, news
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| Russian Singer’s “Trololo” Meme Gets an iPhone App Posted: 23 Mar 2010 04:08 PM PDT 
The free app arrived in the Apple App Store on Saturday, and it’s free today “to celebrate the International trololo day.” It features a Jib Jab-esque re-creation of the Trololo vid, with Eduard Khil dancing across the screen in time with the music. You’re given a few ways to mess with the scene and unlock more as you use it. It’s kind of Pocket God-esque [iTunes link], but not as robust or polished. Exactly why or how the features are unlocked is anyone’s guess; they seem to just pop up as the song plays. You can make Khil walk on lava, crush him with a deadly chicken or put a birthday hat on his head — there’s a pic below (yea, the app is kind of silly). Khil was recently interviewed by Russian website Life News, and up until that point he hadn’t heard that he was a viral video sensation. He seemed cool with it though. “I haven’t heard anything about it,” he said. “It’s nice, of course! Thanks for good news!”  The Original Viral Video[via KRAPPS] For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: apple app store, eduard khil, iphone, music, trololo, video games, viral videos
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| HTC EVO 4G: Sprint’s First WiMAX Phone Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:57 PM PDT 
While AT&T and Verizon quibble over 3G coverage, a new generation of wireless networks are somewhat quietly being built out. Sprint is backing a technology called WiMAX, which it has already rolled out in a number of major markets — and it just announced the addition of seven more coming this year. Both AT&T and Verizon are supporting a competing technology called LTE or Long Term Evolution, which promises similar speed and throughput gains, but won’t be ready until much later this year. Verizon has stated it won’t have any handsets to take advantage of LTE until at least the middle of 2011.  In other words, the HTC EVO 4G is an important device not only because of its blockbuster specs (4.3-inch screen, Snapdragon processor, 1GB built-in memory, 512MB RAM, Wi-Fi, 720p video recording and playback, HDMI out to play content on your TV, 8-megapixel camera with flash and a lower resolution front-facing camera for videoconferencing, and ability to Android 2.1), but also as the first phone to support the next-generation 4G WiMAX network for theoretically blazing fast data speeds. It can also act as a portable hotspot to connect your other devices to broadband Internet speeds — if you’re familiar with the MiFi device, it’s like that but built into your phone. And it will be available this summer. Anyone else drooling yet? [imgs courtesy of Engadget; check out more in their hands-on gallery and as compared to the iPhone and Nexus One] For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Android, Facebook, Twitter, Wimax Tags: 4G, android, CTIA, CTIA2010, htc, HTC EVO 4G, sprint, WiMax
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| iPhone Is Eating Sony PSP and Nintendo DS’ Lunch [STATS] Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:47 PM PDT 
The research establishes a correlation between the iPhone’s growth and the PSP and DS’ decline, but not a causation. Regardless, it looks like folks who feel inclined would be justified in buying an iPod touch or an iPad rather than investing in a device that exclusively plays games — at least until the Nintendo 3DS arrives. The Pie ChartThe revenue share pie chart is below. The data was collected from the NPD’s sales figures, Apple’s published data and some of Flurry’s own analytics. The iPhone OS devices grew from 5% of total portable games revenue to 19% between 2008 and 2009, while the DS shrunk for 75% to 70%. Sony’s PSP slipped from 20% to 11%. Ouch! Sony’s portable device has faced a gauntlet of issues, including high launch prices, a failed media format, a lack of games for mainstream players and disappointing sales of the PSP Go — its reinvented, digital download-only device PSP Go device.  Is the iPhone OS a Gamer’s Best Bet?Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter — a sort of celebrity analyst in the games industry — called the iPhone and iPod touch “the most dangerous thing that ever happened to the publishers, ever” because of the lower App Store pricing. He argued that while publishers have become used to selling games like Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars for $30 or $40, they’ll have to sell their products on the open market of the app store for $10 or less to entice buyers. Flurry reported earlier that games account for nearly half of all iPad app developer projects. When Apple’s iPod and iPhone were introduced in 2001 and 2007, respectively, not many people predicted that they would together evolve to become major players in the video games industry. The few folks who engaged in then-wild speculation about the possibility ought to be proud of themselves now; if the iPad continues to sell well, it could drive the platform to even greater success. Mobile gamers: Do you still play games on portable game consoles or has your iPhone or iPod touch taken over your wallet and your subway train commute time? Share your experiences and insights in the comments. [via AppleInsider] For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter, iPhone Tags: apple app store, Apple iPad, flurry, ipad, iphone, iPod Touch, nintendo ds, sales, Sony PSP, video games
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| Mashable iPhone App v1.2 Released! Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:27 PM PDT 
Today version 1.2 enters the App Store, with a bunch of updates based on your feedback. Changes include:
These updates are in addition to the v1.1 changes – faster loading of stories, addition of comments and push notification support. If you already downloaded the app, you’ll receive a notification that there’s an update available. If you haven’t tried the app yet, why not give it a shot? >>Download the Mashable iPhone app from iTunes Tags: iphone, iphone app, iphone apps, mashable, mashable iphone app
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| Foursquare Lets You “Follow” Celebrities Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:22 PM PDT 
Starting with Jersey Shore's DJ Pauly D, users can now sign up to "follow" celebrity users as opposed to establishing a reciprocated friendship. This is the same model used by Twitter and on Facebook Fan Pages. Celebs will still be able to set up those two-way friendships on Foursquare if they want, though, and selectively update certain checkins to all or just to their actual friends. On Foursquare, this makes a lot of sense –- a celebrity checking in to Starbucks could cause a mob scene, but checkins at a more controlled environment like an official appearance could help ensure a packed house. In addition to Pauly D, celebs from MTV/VH1 shows including The Hills, The City and The T.O. Show will be utilizing Foursquare in various ways. For example, users will be able to earn badges relating to their favorite shows –- a concept already in action on Bravo. The celebs will also offer tips about venues in their cities, which isn't a big leap from the way restaurants and clubs are already integrated into some of MTV and VH1's programming. Pauly D already seems to be using his account to hype a number of locations in New York City. Celebs were paramount to Twitter's move into mainstream, so it's not surprising to see Foursquare tweaking its service to accommodate them. Of course, whether or not this ends up providing value to followers or becomes a never-ending cycle of product placement ads depends on how the celebs go about using Foursquare. Nonetheless, given what sounds like a heap full of cross-promotion, it could be just what Foursquare –- who increased its userbase by almost 20% in 10 days around SXSW –- needs to move into the mainstream.  For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter Tags: foursquare, mtv, vh1
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| Twitter Reduces Spam to 1% of Tweets Posted: 23 Mar 2010 01:50 PM PDT 
Considering estimates that about 90% of all e-mail is spam, honing that figure down to 1% is fairly impressive. The company doesn’t go into too much detail regarding its methods for actually battling spam, but does remind users that clicking the “report for spam” link on suspicious-looking profile pages is one way we can all help improve the Twitter experience. You can also send a tweet to @spam, and find out even more about spam reporting at Twitter’s help site. Have you noticed a dropoff in spam in your usage of Twitter over the past few months?  For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: social media, spam, twitter
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| The Future Newsroom: Lean, Open and Social Media-Savvy Posted: 23 Mar 2010 01:31 PM PDT 
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this sociological Petri dish is that many of the players began as teenagers. In other words, the old/new media rivalry might not be generational, but ideological. What follows is a practical look at the successful social media strategies of Onward State, and a comparison of the world views of two camps of student journalists and their professional counterparts — a comparison that portends a long war to come. A Crowdsourced Newsroom "We focused on our Twitter presence from the very beginning, and it's paid dividends for us in terms of referring traffic to the site and really becoming a part of the community," said Davis Shaver, founder of Onward State. Tapping the power of the crowd has been essential to multiplying the resources of Onward State's relatively tiny news team. By being responsive to the social media community, Shaver told Mashable that they "curated this ecosystem in the sense that people will actually send stories to us on Twitter." The transparent back-and-forth embeds Onward State into the hub of campus conversation. For instance, when an academic department decided to try its hand at democracy and hold a naming contest for the new student center, Onward State was a natural partner, whom they first informed via Twitter. As such, Shaver never underestimates the "sheer power that a well-run Twitter feed can have." On the other side of the aisle, The Collegian takes a decidedly expert-based approach. Editor-in-Chief Rossilynne Skena said that while social media is "great for getting out short bursts of information," the Collegian's competitive advantage is "really going into depth and detail about a particular subject," complete with perspectives from local leaders. Instead of putting their ear to the social media grindstone, The Collegian tracks down leads through trusted sources. Once a connection is made, Skena prides herself on being able to assign a person experienced in the field with personal "training" from the Collegian. Shaver's defection from The Collegian, due to what he believed was a technologically-phobic bureaucracy, is a mirror imagine of what was happening to some newsrooms in the mid-2000s. Erin Weinger, a former Los Angeles Times fashion writer, recounts her frustrations with her editorial team. "It took multiple meetings and various e-mails to get the permission needed to get my section on Twitter," she said. "Journalism has remained so unchanged … that journalists didn't feel they had to change." As such, there was a general skepticism of online sources. "Leads can be found everywhere now, from places you’d never deem credible in the past. Amateur blogs, for one … But, five years ago, if you said you were citing a stranger on the Internet you’d [probably] get yelled at by an editor." Appropriately enough, Erin now runs her own LA fashion blog. To Link, or Not to Link It should be no surprise then that Onward State happily promotes a competitor's story with direct links, while The Collegian questions the very logic of such a strategy. Shaver admitted that he doesn't always produce the web's best content, and has "no qualms about writing the blog post and porting to the story." For Skena, linking to a competitor's story "doesn't make sense." A symbolic move which tells readers to "go read our competition" would be devastating to the trust they've worked for over a century to gain, according to Skena. The largely philosophical wrestling match over linking stories became a professional journalism crisis when a New York Times journalist was caught plagiarizing in order to push out a time-sensitive news story. Felix Salmon, a blogger for Reuters, argued that the root of this dishonesty lies squarely in the link-phobic mindset of old-media journalists. "[W]hat's more depressing still is that even the bloggers at the [New York Times] and [Wall Street Journal] are link-phobic, often preferring to re-report stories found elsewhere, giving no credit to the people who found and reported them first. It's almost as though they think that linking to a story elsewhere is an admission of defeat, rather than a prime reason why people visit blogs in the first place. Salmon concluded, "It's a print reporter's mindset." Virtual Collaboration"Our office really consists of my dorm room, I guess. We don't have any kind of physical structure, so we use [Google] Wave as our virtual newsroom," said Shaver. Throughout the day, Shaver and his team monitor several waves at once, each tailored for a different department. In a single browser tab, Shaver has a unique eagle's-eye view of the entire newsroom. In real-time, his editorial team can toggle between multiple conversations or throw an idea out to the crowd for greater perspective. Consistent with its crowdsourcing mantra, Google Wave permits more inclusive perspective and helps keep eyes everywhere on campus. For perspective, Shaver uses Google Wave to canvas his writers, which hail from different social groups on campus. As such, he'll put "the nucleus of an idea up in wave and [let] it float and see what people say about it." As for keeping tabs on campus activity, because there is no formal workplace, Onward State writers are already situated throughout the university. For instance, when the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile came to Penn State, Onward State reporters were already sprinkled throughout campus, and a writer in the vicinity could have been tapped to snag a quick photo. As silly as it may seem to give priority to something like the Weiner Mobile, hyper-local news is still about competitive advantage, and speedy reporting gives Onward State an upper-hand. The low-overhead of a crowdsourced newsroom has become an appealing alternative as the Internet’s top destinations, from Craigslist to Google, erode the advertisement cash cow that once funded well-staffed newspapers. Now, a talented writer with a broadband connection can reach the same audience. As new media advocate Jeff Jarvis wrote on his blog "I'm seeing that it's possible for someone to come along with relatively little investment and a much smaller staff that operates more collaboratively to compete with the big, expensive traditional newsroom at low cost." In contrast, The Collegian thrives in the dynamic of a centralized newsroom. "What we really like is when we're able to work with the people face-to-face," said Skena. Instead of tossing up an idea to a digital billboard, Skena likes the ability to throw the keyboard to a colleague for help punching through writer’s block. Hobbyists Aren't in it For the MoneyWhen Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Newscorp, began elaborating on its threats to pull Fox News content from Google News, the thrust of his point was simple: "Quality content is not free." Arriana Huffington, who's blog was implicitly indicted in Murdoch's article, responded with a visceral rebuttal. Huffington argued that people like Murdoch "can’t understand why someone would find it rewarding to weigh in on the issues — great and small — that interest them. For free. They don’t understand the people who contribute to Wikipedia for free, who maintain their own blogs for free, who Twitter for free, who constantly refresh and update their Facebook page for free, who want to help tell the stories of what is happening in their lives and in their communities… for free." Onward State's motivational strategy seems to be representative of this view. "Money making is not something that we’ve really embraced yet," said Shaver. The money from one fund raiser they did manage went to a staff party. A Divergent FutureIn reality, the “old vs. new media” split is not a cleanly sliced dichotomy. Media titans, such as CNN, now regularly respond on-air to Twitter chatter, especially during the 2009 Iran Election Crisis, for example. But, as Jon Stewart has joked, the adoption of social media has been a messy collision of disparate worlds. Perhaps the future of how this will all unfold is again best foretold by the situation at Penn State. Onward State plans to dive into the dark waters of amateur content, developing a larger space for user-generated content on both Facebook and its website. The Collegian, in contrast, has just begun (as of January) to play with a more interactive Twitter feed, and is explicit about keeping user content at arm's length. However, it's far too early to tell which strategy is, ultimately, more advantageous. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the flash-bang success of online college newspapers may be unsustainable, especially if a charismatic leader leaves the paper for, say, a semester abroad. Professional blogs as well, may find some undiscovered Kryptonite. If the pace of innovation is any indication, it may not be long before we know the answer. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookMore journalism resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, fotosipsak Reviews: Craigslist, Facebook, Google, Google Wave, Mashable, Twitter, Wikipedia, iStockphoto Tags: BLOGS, citizen journalism, facebook, journalism, newspapers, social media, twitter, universities, university
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| Samsung Galaxy S Marries Android to an Amazing Screen [PICS] Posted: 23 Mar 2010 12:58 PM PDT 
Just announced at CTIA, the Galaxy S will feature a new screen technology dubbed “Super AMOLED,” which reportedly improves on regular old AMOLED by being 20% brighter, 80% less reflective and better at color reproduction while draining less battery. The 4-inch screen will be complemented by a 1GHz processor, a content exosystem Samsung is calling “Smart Life,” native GPS support, DLNA (a technology that allows media sharing amongst devices that support it), and more details yet to come. It will be available worldwide this year, including the in U.S., although no release dates or pricing were announced. Check out a few more pics of the device below. How do you think the Galaxy S stacks up against the current Android selections?    For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Android, Facebook, Twitter Tags: AMOLED, android, CTIA, CTIA2010, DLNA, galaxy s, gps, samsung, samsung galaxy s, smartphones, Super AMOLED
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| iMac Steampunk Mod Is Retro Awesome [PICS] Posted: 23 Mar 2010 12:46 PM PDT   Are you a modern tech geek with retro sensibilities? Old Time Computer might be able to help you out with these gorgeous handcrafted oak and brass mods. Inflation renders these kinds of antiques pricier than their original counterparts, but you can pick up your own custom antique skin on Etsy or order yourself a full custom build. More pics below. Watson, come here. I need you… to order me a steampunk iMac! [via Wired]   For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: apple, case mods, iMac, mac, mods, retro, steampunk
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| PayPal X Developer Challenge Winners Unveiled Posted: 23 Mar 2010 12:28 PM PDT 
PayPal already showed off some of what is possible when you combine its API with an innovative app when it released PayPal Bump last week. I had a chance to talk to Osama Bedier, the Vice President of Product Development at PayPal and both the first and second place winners of the contest to gain more insight into what PayPal is doing for developers and what developers are doing with PayPal’s API. The PayPal X Startup AcceleratorIn addition to announcing the winners of the Dev Challenge, Bedier also introduced the new PayPal X Startup Accelerator. PayPal’s accelerator is kind of similar to Microsoft’s BizSpark program (note: Mashable works with BizSpark in our Spark of Genius Series of Posts) in that it allows startups and developers to gain access to tools, investors and other startups during the incubation phase. To that end, PayPal is working with the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, California to get PayPal X developers some great connections and support. In the future, Bedier told me that PayPal wants to offer resources to developers all over the world.  I spoke to Bedier at the Future of Web Apps conference last month about the PayPal X program and the new iPhone SDK (which is still in closed beta but will be opening up to the public later this spring) about what PayPal wants to do in the future and quite simply, the company wants to be able to integrate with as many service and business ideas as it can. Over the last decade, the company has really cracked the nut of doing financial transactions, large and small, and now that the micro-transaction and mobile payments have become a reality (and the primary method of payment in some parts of the world, like Kenya), PayPal wants to work with others to use its infrastructure and backend to help facilitate future projects and future markets. The Startup Accelerator is really about giving developers and startups access so that they can really make their ideas as good as they can be. The WinnersThe two big winners of the PayPal X Dev Challenge Rentalic and Appbackr are both interesting because they are really innovative uses of digital payments. Both companies have the potential to kick off some genuinely new marketplaces with what they are doing. RentalicRentalic, which was the first place winner and received $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in waived fees, is kind of like a mashup between Craigslist and eBay — but for rentals. Instead of letting your lawnmower or snow skis sit unused for most or part of the year, why not rent it out to someone local? Listing items with Rentalic and setting a rental fee (per day, week, month, etc.) is really easy, but the app’s brilliance is in how the system can facilitate trust between both parties. After you list an item, a person can come across your listing and agree to rent it. Using PayPal’s API, you can verify that the person has enough money in their account for the deposit (which you can set). Once that’s verified, the person renting the item gets a secret code. Only after meeting up in person and verifying that the item is what they want and is as described do they then give the code to the renter. Conversely, if you’re meeting in a place where you don’t have access to your computer, the person renting the item can call an 800 number, enter in their PayPal account number and then enter in their secret code, At this point, the renter gets your deposit on the item. After you return the item and it is deemed to be returned intact, the renter just releases the deposit. Already Rentalic operates in 20 states, and this is with virtually no marketing. The winning funds from PayPal will go towards developing an iPhone app, with other mobile platforms to follow. AppbackrAppbackr, which won second place — receiving $25,000 in cash and $25,000 in waived fees — is a developer marketplace for the iPhone App Store, although other platforms will be supported later. Appbackr was designed to make it easier for indie developers to procure funding and bring apps to market. Let’s say you have a really great application, but you either cannot get funding to complete the app or you don’t have a way to try to market it and get it in the hands of other people. Conversely, there are some people who really want to build an application but need to be connected to a developer. The marketplace lets developers show off their applications or ideas and then buyers can buy copies of the app at a wholesale price. Once the app hits the App Store, buyers get a cut of the profits for each application sold. By buying in advance, developers get funding, which they need, and buyers get a piece of the back end action. The real beauty if Appbackr is that it can connect like-minded markets together. For instance, if I see an app aimed at movie lovers, I might want to invest — buying a few thousand copies at $0.30 a piece. I can then promote that app to my circle of friends once its out to make sure it is successful. For niche markets this can be pretty powerful. Appbackr uses PayPal to facilitate payments and it plugs into the App Store’s backend to keep both parties aware of what’s being sold and to keep everyone honest. It’s a really, really smart idea that offers developers a way to get funding now, while also allowing the investors to invest in something that they can, if they choose, take a part in promoting. For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Mashable, Twitter Tags: app store, appbackr, apple, demo, demospring10, developers, iphone, micropayments, mobile payments, paypal, paypal x, rentalic
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| The New Digg Is Coming: Redesigned Buttons and Widgets Released Posted: 23 Mar 2010 12:06 PM PDT 
If you’re a regular reader of Mashable, you’ve seen the new buttons by now; we implemented them not long before Digg’s big announcement at SXSW. The buttons feature a thumbs-up, rather than the “Digg it” of the past. The thumbs-up is a more universal symbol, which makes it ideal for the new Digg: Anonymous users will be able to digg stories once the new version rolls out. The other new change is the updated Digg widget generator. It’s slicker, faster, provides more links to the publisher’s content, and can be customized with tabs and columns. I’ve embedded a quick version of the widget specific to Mashable to give you an idea of what the new widgets look like (Note: For some, the widget reverts to an old style; we think this may be a bug that has yet to be fixed):
Digg has a lot to do in advance of the launch of the new version, but the release of the buttons marks an important step in that process. With faster and more user-friendly Digg buttons in place, it won’t be long before alpha invites for the new Digg are sent out. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Digg, Facebook, Mashable, Twitter
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| Yahoo Releases Two iPhone Apps for Search Posted: 23 Mar 2010 11:30 AM PDT 
The first app is Yahoo Search [iTunes link] — the mobile-optimized version of its search engine. It doesn’t just search, though; it contains voice search, integration with Google Maps, stock quotes, movie reviews and a couple of other nifty features based on Yahoo Search. Essentially, it includes a lot of the rich, integrated search elements available on Yahoo’s web engine. The app also refines search results based on your current location. The second application is more interesting — Sketch-a-Search [iTunes link], something we learned about last month at Yahoo’s SearchSpeak Event. The iPhone app allows you to draw a shape on a Google map and bring up restaurant results located within that area. And much like Yelp and Urbanspoon’s apps, you can filter results based on reviews, distance and cuisine. Both apps seem relatively well-designed and implemented, although Yahoo Search is definitely late to the game. Sketch-a-Search could be a hidden gem in the restaurant search space, though; sketching the location in which you’re trying to find a restaurant feels like an intuitive action. To really make headway against the current competition, though, Yahoo will have to do more than just release an app; it will have to put some promotional muscle behind it.   For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Google, Google Maps, Twitter, Yelp Tags: apple, iphone, Sketch-a-Search, Yahoo
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| YouTube Choir of 250 Fulfills Composer’s Dream [VIDEO] Posted: 23 Mar 2010 11:07 AM PDT 
Whitacre and producer Scott Haines used social media — his blog, a Facebook page and YouTube — to assemble and audition singers for his piece. He sent the sheet music out so people could submit videos featuring them singing individual parts. He then sifted through the videos and edited the audio parts together to form a very professional-sounding choir. For the video, he visualized the choir in a 3D, virtual array of living rooms and bedrooms, with him standing in the middle conducting. You probably haven’t seen anything quite like it before. The most similar thing we can think of is Israeli musician Kutiman’s Thru-You (which is also worth a look and listen), but Kutiman assembled unrelated videos of people expressing themselves musically on YouTube without any prior planning or composition, so it’s not quite the same. Watch the performance below. It’s rather stunning. [via kottke.org] For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Tags: choir, classical, composer, conductor, eric whitacre, lux arumque, music, viral videos, youtube
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| 10 Essential Design Tools for Social Media Pros Posted: 23 Mar 2010 10:46 AM PDT 
Whether you’re a professional designer or an armchair artiste, tools abound that you can use to snazz up your web presence, and give it that polish that professionals, potential customers, and online friends have come to expect from a social media maven. We’ve talked to the experts about what they use for inspiration, collaboration, and getting down to the business of design in a social media world. Here are some of the suggestions they offered up. 1. Core Application Alternatives In days of old, the software powerful enough to create and edit high quality graphics was expensive — and it still is, if you must have the name-brand products. But if you’re open to experimentation and perhaps a bit of digital quirkiness, there are free, open source alternatives to some of the staples of the digital design tool set. “I use Photoshop for any image editing I need to do, but it comes at a price,” says Alex Mathers, a freelance designer and illustrator who writes about design and social media promotion at Red Lemon Club. “I would recommend Gimp for those requiring similar functions, and Inkscape as an alternative for creating vector illustrations over Adobe Illustrator … All of these programs are excellent.” We’ve mentioned Gimp before as a powerful free alternative to Photoshop, and Inkscape has a similar mission in the realm of scalable vector graphic (SVG) creation. Unlike bitmapped images (JPEGs, PNGs, which are the final products viewed on a website), vector graphics are mathematical representations of images, and can be scaled up indefinitely to meet any size requirement. This means that one file can be used in any medium (web, print, etc.) at any size. They are indispensable to the illustrating designer. 2. Design Communities If you’re a creative person, there’s no better way to improve your craft than by getting social. You can start by following designers and design blogs on the major social networks, but if you’re looking to really explore others’ work and share your own, design communities are key. “Society6 is an online community that allows artists to showcase their work, sell prints and find others to collaborate with,” says Mathers. “Behance, This is Central Station, Creattica and Design Taxi are some other great creative communities that I have used that help designers connect and promote their work.” Like any social network, the value is in sharing. “I upload any recent work I have to Society6 and Behance and use both platforms to interact with other creatives, find people to collaborate with, send and receive feedback, and generally communicate with others in similar industries,” says Mathers. “Both sites, particularly Behance, received a healthy amount of traffic … [they] are an excellent way to gain exposure in front of the right people.” 3. Design Element Resources If you’re not an illustrator or digital artist by trade, but you love “putting it all together” for blogs, social media profiles, and websites, you’ll need a good resource base to draw from. There are many great blogs and sites that compile textures, fonts, vector illustrations, and other graphic elements that you can incorporate right into your projects for free. “Dezignus is a good resource for free vector illustrations and textures, and they have a large selection of downloads that is constantly expanding,” says Mathers. “Colourlovers.com is a fascinating resource for designers looking for color scheme inspiration and help.” Mathers added that for his typographical requirements, he regularly visits Dafont.com “for a huge selection of free fonts that are easily accessible and downloadable.” Jacob Gube, founder and chief editor of the design blog Six Revisions, adds that deviantART is also “a great resource for sharing and getting design assets (Photoshop brushes, textures, icons, and more).” It can also be a source of design inspiration. “One of the first things I do to get a quick burst of creativity is to click around deviantArt. Seeing what your colleagues are doing can serve as a good motivational factor for getting your own work done,” says Gube. 4. IconFinder Linking out to social networks is a core element of social web design. Having a Twitter or Facebook icon front and center gives visitors a recognizable channel through which they can connect. Wonderfully creative social media icon sets abound on the web, and many of them are free for commercial use. But finding the one that perfectly compliments your design (or perhaps inspires a theme in its own right) can be a tiresome process of searching and browsing resource blogs. IconFinder makes the process a bit easier. It’s a search engine for icons submitted by users, with detailed information on their graphic formats and licenses — nearly all of which are free and available for commercial use. The interface provides a convenient way to download icons right from the search results. “I’m constantly going back to this site every time I need icons for a site that I’m working on,” says Jad Limoco, professional designer and editor of Design Informer. “Instead of bookmarking every site that offers free icons, Icon Finder does the work for you … It makes life a lot easier.” If you’re not hunting for something specific, the site also offers a browsable catalog of icon sets. 5. MockFlow Building a socially-minded website from scratch requires quite a bit of planning. “One step in the design process I rarely skip is wireframing,” says Grace Smith, owner of Postscript5, a micro-design studio based in Northern Ireland. “It’s perhaps one of the most important stages as it helps give an overview of usability, information architecture, layout, and site content.” For larger projects and applications, Smith uses Mockflow for this stage. She says the process is “an intermediary phase between initial sketches and the actual design phase.” MockFlow is a versatile tool that enables you to quickly render functional website prototypes without a big time investment. There are also real-time collaboration and note taking features built into the platform. “[It] may sound like a waste of time when you can just move on to a full color comp, but it allows you to spot potential problems early, make adjustments quickly, and cuts down dramatically on revisions later in the design treatment stage.” A similar tool recommended by other designers is Mockingbird. 6. Notable If you find yourself collaborating on a design project, whether with a colleague or client, the feedback process can get cumbersome via e-mail. It helps to be able to take visual notes on a visual product. “I use Notable for feedback on projects,” says Smith. “Notable is superb and is ultimately built to allow quick and easy collaboration. It’s helped me streamline my feedback process and keeps all parts of a project organized using sets and workspaces.” Notable works on the web, so you can capture and notate web pages from any computer, as well as your iPhone. Image captures and their respective notes stay organized on your notable account dashboard, and can easily be shared out to your collaborators or team. 7. Campaign Monitor Believe it or not, e-mail marketing is still very much a part of successful social media campaigns. Whether you’re looking to up the design ante for your business’s newsletter, or reach out creatively in search of new freelance projects, a design-focused e-mail marketing tool is worth investigating. “Campaign Monitor is an intuitive e-mail marketing application created for designers. It has excellent tools for designing professional HTML e-mails, creating and managing e-mail campaigns, useful e-mail analytics, and more,” says Jacob Gube. In addition to the valuable features Gube notes above, Campaign Monitor can also be a viable source of income in itself. “For designers looking to expand their service offerings, you can re-brand, customize, and resell Campaign Monitor to your clients,” says Gube. 8. Proposable As part of a small team or as a lone freelancer, a designer must wear many hats. Because of the competitive market right now, Gube stresses the importance of salesmanship. “Designers can [have] great success by using online proposals to win over a project bid.” He recommends Proposable, an online tool that allows you to build highly customized, branded presentations. A Proposable account incorporates an asset library (which can include rich media like video), a variety of templates, and a comment management system for real-time feedback. “Proposable makes generating professional-level proposals a cinch,” says Gube, “and it has reporting features to analyze the performance of your proposals. It was created for salespeople, but as a designer, being a salesperson is a huge part of the gig, whether you’re freelancing or pitching a design idea to your managers.” 9. Freshbooks Staying on the business side for a moment, getting paid can often be a struggle for freelancers. For the social web-minded designer, the idea of a cloud-based invoice management system is likely appealing. Enter Freshbooks, “an all-in-one web app for invoicing, tracking expenses, time-tracking, and more,” according to Gube. “I use it to keep track of my expenses, manage payments, and to generate professional invoices quickly and effortlessly,” he adds. “There are many billing tools out there, but this one stands out because it caters to freelancers, is aimed towards creatives (designers, developers, writers, artists), and is one of the few web app start-ups that still values customer support.” And the fact that it’s all on the web allows you to “send someone a bill from your favorite WiFi-enabled coffee house.” 10. 960 Grid System Creatively, the sky’s the limit when it comes to web design. But the interfaces of the social web generally follow certain patterns that users are accustomed to. If you’re building blog templates or other interactive websites, the 960 Grid System is a good way to map out your page elements so they can achieve alignment harmony. Many of the designers we spoke to stressed the importance of good old fashioned pen-and-paper sketching in their creative process. “Sketching enables me to break down ideas and fully explore UI options. I find putting it down on paper tends to raise questions and ideas and leads to changes,” says Smith. “I use the Sketch Sheets supplied with the 960 Grid System which display a browser frame and grid lines.” 960 Grid provides examples of how the system works with a number of sites, and also offers a wealth of other code-related resources for web designers. What other tools and resources do you use to make your social web designs really pop? Share them in the comments below. Series supported by Wix.com  Wix.com offers you a simple, powerful, drag & drop editing platform to create stunning Flash websites, social network layouts, and more, for free. You can choose from 100’s of high quality, professionally designed templates that are completely unique and customizable. Or, create your own design from scratch. Upload image files, videos and mp3’s. Add Twitter, Facebook, and blog links with ease. Use a Wix domain or connect to your own. The options are practically limitless. With added e-commerce features, search engine visibility and other professional tools, Wix is the ultimate solution for creating and publishing spectacular web content for free. Start Creating! Image courtesy of iStockphoto, DNY59 Reviews: Adobe Illustrator, Facebook, GIMP, Inkscape, Twitter, deviantART, iStockphoto Tags: BLOGS, design, icons, List, Lists, social media, web design, Web Development
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| Phone Halo Saves Absentminded Phone Owners from Themselves Posted: 23 Mar 2010 10:45 AM PDT 
It uses GPS, e-mail and SMS to keep you alerted audibly when you leave a device behind, and also to let you know the location of your device after you realize you’ve lost it. This is a topic pretty near and dear to my heart, because I lost my iPhone in a cab while in Miami last month. I literally stepped out of the cab, realized that my phone was still inside (I stupidly had it in my pocket and not where I normally keep it) and then, because I didn’t have Mobile Me, was utterly screwed when it came to tracking down my device. Although a lovely soul (Paul, YOU ROCK!) did end up finding my phone and returning it to me, that was after I spent $500 at the Apple Store in South Beach buying a replacement. Hey, a girl has to have a phone. Check out this video for Phone Halo: Phone Halo is available for BlackBerry and Android today, and will be coming to the iPhone in the future. How it works is simple: Connect a dongle — or halo — to one or more of your important iterms (phone, keys, wallet, e.g.) and then have the software installed on your smartphone. If you become separated from any of the registered devices, both parts ring, thanks to Bluetooth. So you can be alerted, for instance, that a yellow cab is taking off with your phone — and you can stop it before it leaves the area. Even if you don’t catch the cab, you can still track the GPS location of the device on a computer, plus have text messages and e-mails sent to friends and family with the location — and even opt to have your social networks updated that you have lost your device. It’s a cool system, and something that with a little refinement could really, really take off. For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Android, Apple Store, Bluetooth, Facebook, Twitter, iPhone Tags: android, blackberry, demo, demospring10, gps, lost phone, phone halo
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| Exclusive: Merton the Chatroulette Piano Guy Speaks [VIDEO] Posted: 23 Mar 2010 10:06 AM PDT 
Yesterday, roughly four million hearts broke when Merton’s ultra viral vid was deep-sixed by YouTube "due to terms of use violation." Well, have no fear viral video vigilantes, Merton is back with an edited version of the vid, which has already racked up nearly a quarter of a million views. (Merton couldn’t really comment that much on the removal, but if you check out the video, some of the faces have been blurred out.) You can revisit that below, but first check out our raw, uncut interview with Merton (his first ever!), who talks about everything from how people now recognize him on Chatroulette to his musical background. Homeboy is adamant about remaining anonymous as of right now, but we can tell you that he used to serenade his girlfriends with improvisational tunes, and he’s not — we’re pretty sure — Ben Folds (or is he?). Make sure to watch until the end, when he sings to me. For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Tags: chatroulette, merton, music, Piano, trending, viral video, youtube
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| Nintendo 3DS is Coming: 3D Gaming Without the Glasses Posted: 23 Mar 2010 09:05 AM PDT 
Nintendo’s press release [PDF] wasn’t sent to news outlets, but it’s sitting undisturbed at Nintendo’s website. It says the handheld console will launch in the fiscal year that ends in March 2011 (so late 2010 or early 2011), and that it will be fully unveiled at the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles this June. The 3DS will will add some motion sensing technology to its control scheme, and it will play your old DS and DSi games. Nintendo doesn’t say whether it will keep the two-screens-and-a-stylus layout that we’ve all become accustomed to on the existing handhelds. Nintendo’s Wii and DS consoles have turned the video game world upside down, using unique control schemes and affordable hardware to attract millions of people who were never before interested in video games. 3D is already a big deal, and Nintendo hopes that whatever 3D tech it’s using will attract even more people to the video game hobby. Note that Sony’s PlayStation 3 will go 3D on supported TVs this year, though, so Nintendo’s neither alone nor first. (The picture included here is not of the 3DS but the already-out DSi. No photos or renders of the 3DS have been released yet.) For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: 3D, Nintendo, nintendo 3ds, nintendo ds, nintendo dsi, Nintendo DSi XL, video games
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| Well, That Didn’t Work: China Censors Google Hong Kong Site Posted: 23 Mar 2010 08:28 AM PDT 
In a way, it’s back to square one — for users in China, Google is still censored, just as it was before. There will be further repercussions for Google; for example, China Mobile is expected to cancel a deal that was supposed to make Google its default mobile search provider. But one cannot escape the feeling that Google’s entire anti-censorship episode didn’t have much success, at least from the perspective of Internet users in China. In its blog post from yesterday, Google said it hopes that the Chinese government will respect its decision, announcing it will be “carefully monitoring access issues.” Well, there’s definitely an access issue now; the question is: What will Google’s next move be? Reviews: Google Tags: censorship, china, Google, Hong Kong
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| Firefox 3.6.2 Fixes Critical Security Hole Posted: 23 Mar 2010 07:35 AM PDT 
Users of Firefox 3.6 will have this update automatically downloaded and installed, but you can also manually apply it by selecting "Check for Updates…" from the Help menu. The release notes for Firefox 3.6.2 can be found here. Reviews: Firefox
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| Sponsored Post: Sharp AQUOS LCD TVs Create Colors Never Before Seen on TV Posted: 23 Mar 2010 07:34 AM PDT  This post is brought to you by Sharp. For More information on sponsored posts read here.
Sharp has taken it upon themselves to close the color-gap between the world you see outside your window and the world you see on your television. In short, Sharp wants to reproduce every color in the world possible on your TV. How? With their newly-introduced Quattron™ quad pixel technology, Sharp adds a fourth color — yellow — to the standard RGB TV color system. This proprietary Quattron quad pixel technology enables colors never before seen on TV, creating more sparkling golds, Caribbean blues and sunflower yellows. It reproduces over a billion colors that you can’t see with standard three-color TV technology. (This post is brought to you by Sharp. For more information on sponsored posts please read here.) Tags: Sponsored Post
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| The Most Popular SXSW Music Acts by Social Media Buzz [STATS] Posted: 23 Mar 2010 07:16 AM PDT 
At the top of the first list are a trio of lesser-known acts — for you music snobs out there, only one of them has been reviewed on Pitchfork: the band holding court at the number-one spot, Fang Island, which garnered a review of 8.3 from the music site for their self-titled debut album.  The preponderance of smaller bands on this list is due to the fact that it shows biggest percent change in buzz, meaning that a band that went from zero to thousands of fans during SXSW week would rank pretty high on the list. There are, however, a few more well-known bands on the list, such as GZA of Wu-Tang Clan fame and The Antlers (whom we have just added to our SXSW music video post), who were considered one of the break-out bands of 2009. Here’s the full top ten list, head over to the Next Big Sound site for a more detailed breakdown of where these fans are coming from:
In terms of bands that netted the most fans overall, the mix is rather eclectic. At number one is indie/emo act NeverShoutNever, whose Butch Walker-produced disc What is Love? just dropped in January; followed by The xx, a British indie rock outfit whose debut album showed up on scads of top 10 lists last year (and got the consummate nod from the teen pop culture set when hit single “Crystalised” made it onto Gossip Girl); and Wale, a D.C. rapper who has been recording music since roughly 2006 with a debut album Attention Deficit dropping in 2009.  Also present on the list are experimental/ambient indie band Broken Bells (composed of Danger Mouse and James Mercer of The Shins) and Sum 41 (who were super popular when I was in high school). Here’s the complete list:
And since it wouldn’t be a music post without some actual jams, here’s a couple of songs from the number-one acts on each list. Did any of your faves makes the cut? Fang IslandNeverShoutNever[img credit: Gorski] For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on FacebookReviews: Facebook, Twitter Tags: music, social media, sxsw-2010
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| Opera Mini Submitted to Apple’s App Store. Your Move, Apple Posted: 23 Mar 2010 06:03 AM PDT 
This fact alone wouldn’t be that big of a problem if Apple’s rules weren’t prohibiting other apps to duplicate the functionality of their own apps. Simply put, if Apple doesn’t suddenly change that policy, Opera Mini, which Opera has now officially submitted to the App Store, doesn’t stand a chance of being approved. On one hand, the folks at Opera are acting as if they don’t know this. "Opera has put every effort into creating a customized, stylized, feature-rich and highly responsive browser that masterfully combines iPhone capabilities with Opera's renowned Web experience, and the result is a high performing browser for the iPhone," said Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera Software. On the other, Opera launched a counter, measuring how much time has passed since Opera Mini has been submitted to the App Store. Below, there’s a poll, asking visitors the following: “When do you think Opera Mini will be approved by Apple? The closest guess wins a brand new iPhone!”  It’s hard to say whether the folks at Opera really think that Apple will cave in under a bit of pressure like that and approve Opera Mini or if they’re expecting the app to be denied, and are trying to make a bit of a fuss about it even before it happens. What do you think? Will Apple approve Opera Mini? Share your thoughts in the comments! Reviews: Opera, Opera Mini Tags: apple, iphone, mobile apps, opera, opera mini
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Digg's much anticipated native application for iPhone is set to make its debut tomorrow, Mashable has learned. We've obtained a few screenshots, which you can check out below.
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Foursquare has announced a deal with MTV & VH1, and with it, introduced a new "Celebrity Mode" that introduces the Twitter concept of following –- i.e. not friending — to users.
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On the campus of Penn State University, a rivalry between a rogue campus blog and the official newspaper has become a fascinating mirror of the strife between old and new media. In only a matter of months, the unofficial campus blog 
The Galaxy S from Samsung could well be the “new hotness” in the Android lineup — something to follow the glow of the 
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The world’s second-largest search engine, Yahoo Search, finally has an 
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Good design is a critical part of any web or social media presence. Like the clothes you wear to a job interview or a business meeting, a sharp looking social profile or website is the first step toward being taken seriously online.
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For everyone out there who has become enamored of 
Nintendo has announced the successor to the Nintendo DS line of handheld gaming devices. 
In response to Google’s recent tactic of 
Mozilla addressed a critical security vulnerability with a minor Firefox update, bringing the browser to version 3.6.2. The 
Wondering which bands garnered the most buzz at SXSW this year? Well, stats service 
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