Mashable: Latest 29 News Updates - including “One Step Closer to Minority Report: The Wireless Glove Mouse [VIDEO]”

One Step Closer to Minority Report: The Wireless Glove Mouse [VIDEO]
Marvel Comics Arrive on the iPad
Twitter: The Killer Box Office Predictor?
Hans Christian Andersen: Google Doodle Celebrates the Legendary Children’s Author
iPad Apps: The Next Gold Mine or Just Fool’s Gold?
Postling Raises Funding to Focus on Social Media Tools for Small Business
David Letterman Gets an iPad, Dedicates Top Ten to It [VIDEO]
Twitter Starts Featuring Popular Tweets in Search Results
Developers Scramble to Build iPad Apps [STATS]
Greenscroll Aims to Offset Your Website’s Carbon Footprint
Facebook Is Now #1 Searched For Brand in U.S.
Pandora Passes 50 Million Member Mark
The Muppets Celebrate Easter/Darwinism with New Cover [VIDEO]
HOW TO: Integrate Paid Search and Social Media for Better Marketing Results
Amazon Halts Sales of Some eBooks in Publisher Pricing War
Google Picks Its Favorite User-Created 3D Towns [VIDEO]
iPad Gets Half-Hour of Product Placement on “Modern Family” [VIDEO]
Facebook Introduces Community Pages
Butterfly Attack: The Making of Qualcomm’s Viral April Fool’s Day Joke
6 Ways Gmail Revolutionized E-mail
5 Ways to Go Green for Earth Day with Social Media
How to Get an iPad if You Didn’t Pre-order One
iPad Apps Start Appearing in iTunes
Introducing: Mashable’s FarmVille Channel
Apple Launches Site Showcasing iPad Video Support
Interview: Meet the First Person in Line for the Apple iPad [VIDEO]
ABC and CBS to Stream Shows on iPad for Free
Mashable’s Weekly Job Board Listings in Social Media
Former Bebo CEO Joins Facebook
The Future of TV?: The Story Behind Crackle’s “The Bannen Way”

One Step Closer to Minority Report: The Wireless Glove Mouse [VIDEO]

Posted: 02 Apr 2010 03:24 AM PDT

In the film Minority Report, Tom Cruise utilizes amazing technologies from the year 2054, including talking billboards, jetpacks, and most famously, augmented reality gloves that allowed him to interact with a computer interface without ever touching it. Needless to say, this very popular movie has spawned tons of technological inspiration.

Two students from MIT, Tony Hyun Kim and Nevada Sanchez, decided to go a step further, and the results are awesome to behold. For a class project last year, the two developed mouse gloves. By utilizing equipment that costs less than $100, they were able to create an interface where they could navigate, zoom, and manipulate a map, all by simply waving their hands through the air. Now they’ve made the gloves wireless, which you can see in action in the video below.

Of course the technology’s a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea. And while this is nowhere near Tom Cruise’s masterful manipulation of glove-based interfaces, it does make us believe that the technology of Minority Report is not that far away.

Here’s a video of the glove mouse in action, along with the famous scene from Minority Report that inspired it:

Minority Report Scene

[via Popular Science]

Tags: Augmented Reality, Glove, minority report, mouse, Mouse Glove, tech

Marvel Comics Arrive on the iPad

Posted: 02 Apr 2010 02:10 AM PDT

When people talk about content on the iPad, they mostly mention books, video, TV, and games. But there are many other niches which fit the iPad’s 9.7” screen perfectly, and one of the more important ones is comics.

It wasn’t hard to predict that big comic publishing houses will jump on the opportunity; you never know, perhaps kids will only ready comics on devices such as this in a couple of years. At iPad’s launch, Marvel will be one of them with their Marvel Comics App for iPad, featuring 500 of Marvel’s comic books with many more to come. Some of the titles featured at launch are Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Hulk, and Thor.

The app is based on the wonderful Comixology app which is already the source for Marvel comics on the iPhone. The app will also be available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it’s free; it will come with a couple of free comics, while further titles will cost $2 per issue.

Tags: apple, ipad, Marvel

Twitter: The Killer Box Office Predictor?

Posted: 02 Apr 2010 01:44 AM PDT

Twitter can predict box-office takings better than other industry-leading data sites, according to research just released by HP. Between the sentiments expressed and the rate at which buzz builds, the microblogging service outperforms other forecasting mechanisms for the film industry.

When compared to industry favorite The Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX), Twitter trumps on predicting real-world outcomes.

The HSX is essentially a web-based game that utilizes virtual currency to predict the success (or failure) of a given film, actor, or director. But the virtual prices at which one sees filmic properties being traded on HSX strongly correlates to real-world box-office dollars – and players’ favorites can translate into professional accolades. For example, in 2007, HSX correctly predicted 82% of Academy Award nominees in major categories and around 88% of Oscar winners.

However, HP’s dissection of Twitter streams shows that the social site is more accurate than HSX at determining box-office revenue, even for pre-release movies, by 1-2 percent. This might not seem like a significant statistic, but when one considers the box-office take of a Hollywodd blockbuster, a percent or two can add up to millions.

Also, Twitter provides a free and open stream of data that’s fairly simple to grab and parse – something most competent social media analysts can appreciate. And in addition to simple charts showing URL mentions, retweets, and acceleration curves, Twitter also provides a rich bank of user-generated sentiment – emotionally weighted statements that further show whether users are recommending or slamming a particular movie to their friends.

These sentiments can forecast trends in sales, as well. One movie analyzed in this study, The Blind Side, had an “enormous increase in positive sentiment after release,” reads the paper. The film’s score jumped from 5.02 to 9.65 on HP’s scale. After a “lukewarm” first weekend, with sales around $34 million, the movie “boomed in the next week ($40.1 million), owing largely to positive sentiment.”

As the HP researchers note, “While in this study we focused on the problem of predicting box office revenues of movies for the sake of having a clear metric of comparison with other methods, this method can be extended to a large panoply of topics, ranging from the future rating of products to agenda setting and election outcomes. At a deeper level, this work shows how social media expresses a collective wisdom which, when properly tapped, can yield an extremely powerful and accurate indicator of future outcomes.”

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

Tags: Film, Movies, statistics, twitter

Hans Christian Andersen: Google Doodle Celebrates the Legendary Children’s Author

Posted: 02 Apr 2010 12:27 AM PDT

What do The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Emperor’s New Cloth and The Ugly Duckling all have in common? They are all the work of Hans Christian Andersen, one of literature’s most famous children’s authors.

Today, on what would have been his 205th birthday, Google is celebrating his life’s accomplishments with not one, but a series of five different Google doodles, each depicting one of his famous stories.

The Danish poet and author definitely deserves the Google treatment: H.C. Andersen is responsible for some of most cherished fairy tales of all time. The Princess and the Pea, The Snow Queen, and dozens of his other stories have become essential components of our childhoods.

Google’s been cranking out the Google Doodles in the last year. Most recently, Google celebrated Pi Day and math nerds everywhere.

Here’s a compilation of all of the Google Doodles celebrating Hans Christian Andersen. Can you guess which stories each logo commemorates? Make your guesses in the comments.

Reviews: Google

Tags: Google, google doodle, google logo, Hans Christian Anderson, The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling

iPad Apps: The Next Gold Mine or Just Fool’s Gold?

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 11:14 PM PDT

iPad day is rapidly approaching, and whether you’re waiting in line already or can’t handle anymore iPad hype, it’s impossible to deny that Apple’s new computing device has captured everybody’s attention.

Developers are hoping to cash in on the iPad phenomenon just as they did with the iPhone. in fact, many feel that the higher prices of iPad apps could make the iPad an even more lucrative platform for entrepreneurial minds with Objective-C development skills.

But is it actually a sound assumption? Is the iPad truly the next gold rush for developers, or will they be sorely disappointed when revenues don’t match expectations?

Some Numbers

For a developer to make any serious dough off the iPad app store, the equation is (relatively) simple: ((Price * Apps sold) * 70%) – cost = profit. Once Apple’s 30% cut of revenue and the development costs are taken out of the equation, you just have profit. The iPhone app store has proven to be a lucrative business for many apps, some of them overnight.

Now that the iPad app store is live, we can get a sense for the pricing of the iPad’s most popular apps. Brushes (iTunes Link), a popular paining application for iPhone and soon the iPad, is heavily anticipated on Apple’s tablet because of the advantages a larger touchscreen can provide for creating art.

What may not excite you but will excite developers though is the price tag for the iPad version: $9.99, up from the $4.99 you have to pay to get the iPhone equivalent. To make Steve Sprang (the developer of Brushes) only has to sell half as many iPad apps to make as much as he does on the iPhone.

Still, that’s no small task. The success of Brushes — and every other app in the iPad app store — depends on the willingness to pay more for iPad apps (unknown as of yet) and the amount of iPads that are sold. The latter doesn’t seem to be a problem, as iPads have already sold out and analysts predict that upwards of 6 million units will be sold in 2010.

Apple’s Record Cannot Be Denied

There’s always risk in creating products for a new market, but you’d have to be insane to bet against Apple. The iPhone app store has succeeded far beyond anybody’s expectations and has created an entirely new type of marketplace. App stores are all the rage; Apple has proven that software sells through them.

Will that success translate to the iPad? If I were a betting man (and I am), the answer is almost certainly yes. All indications point to strong iPad sales now and into the future. And with much stronger features, a larger interface, and more multitouch options, developers can create stunning, high-quality apps (many of which we’re going to review) that will more than justify the extra price tag.

What do you think about iPad apps: will they sell or will they flop? What iPad apps are you going to buy? Let us know in the comments.

Tags: apple, developers, ipad, ipad apps

Postling Raises Funding to Focus on Social Media Tools for Small Business

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 08:26 PM PDT

Social media management app Postling has achieved a measure of startup success, rethinking its user base and closing a $350,000 angel round, all within just a few months.

A member of Philadelphia-based accelerator DreamIt Venture’s fall 2009 class, Postling helps small businesses navigate the social web and manage their brands’ presence online. The product is a simple-to-use, all-in-one dashboard that rounds up the usual APIs. Users can even manage multiple brands from one account.

The company soon plans to add a real-time tracking feature, according to Co-founder Dave Lifson. “We’ve done a partnership with Collecta where local businesses will look at search terms and see any mention of those results in social media, blogs, mainstream media… we’re tying together the results to create a steady stream, and with a single click of a button, you can tweet it, comment on it, reblog it. It’s an amazing curation engine. No one is doing anything like this.”

Lifson also revealed that one week later, Postling will launch an RSS feed reader, a homegrown product they’ve built along the same lines and with the same featues using using XMPP . “We want to solve problems for people we really care about – small businesses,” Lifson said. “The number one thing they want is to know what people are saying about them online right away.”

In addition to real-time technologies, Postling hopes to integrate geolocation data — increasingly vital to small and local businesses — in the near future.

The differentiating factor between Postling and its competitors is that, instead of peddling their wares to marketing agencies, the Postling team has recently decided to cut out the middleman and give the product directly to small businesses who wish to take control of their own social media marketing. This decision, said Lifson, is a large part of what helped them get the funding they needed — and get it quickly.

Funding via AngelList

Hot on the heels of a $150K friends and family round earlier this year, the team became the second-ever startup to be funded by AngelList, a VentureHacks-founded team of investors that also found funding for a Y Combinator stealth-mode team a few weeks ago.

Here’s how AngelList works: Startups fill out applications; if one makes the cut, the application is circulated among the angel investors involved, and e-mail introductions are made between interested parties. In the case of Postling, several introductions were also made at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin last month. The result was a cool $200,000 round of funding secured in a few meetings held over the course of six days.

The all-star team of investors for this round include Dave McClure, who invested in Mint.com; Chris Yeh, who invested in PBWorks; Paige Craig, who invested in Plancast; David Rose, who invested in Gowalla; and Gary Vaynerchuk, who founded Wine Library TV.

So, how did they do it? With a team that included two Etsy co-founders, the company’s personnel foundation was solid. The product was marketed on a freemium basis, which means Postling had a revenue stream out of the gate — something investors generally like to hear.

And when the team realized they were competing in a crowded space, they gave their product a different spin — working with small businesses rather than ad agencies — to ensure Postling would stand out in the market.

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Reviews: Facebook, Gowalla, Mint, Twitter

Tags: business, business-apps, postling, small business, social media, startup, sxswi

David Letterman Gets an iPad, Dedicates Top Ten to It [VIDEO]

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 07:24 PM PDT

Apple's iPad media blitz continues this evening, with the tablet device set to be showed off on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Tonight's Top Ten list is dubbed “Top Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before Waiting in Line for the iPad," and is teased by CBS in the video below.

In it, Letterman – who recently demonstrated his Twitter ineptitude on-air – seems perplexed by the device, shaking it like an etch-a-sketch and licking in an effort to get it to work properly. The "Top Ten" itself is also presented on an iPad.

This isn't the first product placement for iPad – the first man to get his hands on it publicly other than Steve Jobs was Stephen Colbert (at the Grammy's) and last night's Modern Family on ABC was essentially a half-hour iPad sketch.

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

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: apple, david letterman, ipad

Twitter Starts Featuring Popular Tweets in Search Results

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 07:04 PM PDT

Twitter has turned on a new feature in search that lets user filter for what the microblogging service is calling "top results." As opposed to strictly showing the most recent mentions of a given query, users now have an option to click a "top results" link that displays a few popular tweets on top of the page.

Those top results seem to be based on retweets. Search for one of Twitter's trending topics – like "April Fool's" – and you'll see some tweets that have been retweeted hundreds of times. Most of those tweets originate with users that are very popular on Twitter, and we expect that as such, this feature will give these users a bit more pull in search results.

As we first reported a few weeks ago, Twitter is also rolling out this feature in its search API, meaning developers will be able to integrate it in their applications. Overall, the change makes Twitter search a bit more like conventional search engines, using retweets as the special sauce for determining what's important.

For now, the fact that "top results" are a click away as opposed to turned on by default means there won't likely be a huge immediate impact, but in the long-run, it's an important piece of Twitter executing its vision of organizing the world's real-time discussions – a vision that was also apparent in this week's rollout of a new homepage.

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

Tags: Search, trending, twitter, Twitter Search

Developers Scramble to Build iPad Apps [STATS]

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 06:02 PM PDT

Although stats yesterday indicated that developer interest in the iPad (perhaps to-be-expected) has fallen off somewhat since it was first announced, another report today from mobile analytics firm Flurry indicates that the iPad has completely shaken up the dynamics of what's currently being built in the mobile app world.

Analyzing their own data (i.e. – companies that have setup Flurry analytics on their apps), iPad apps have represented 22% of new project starts over the past 60 days. That's taking a big bite out of Android, with its share of project starts falling from 18% to 10%.

The advent of iPad also took some wind out of iPhone’s sails, but on the whole apps for Apple platforms made up 89% of total project starts during the period.

Nonetheless, Android interest does remain strong. Flurry writes that they "count approximately 300 new Android projects in March, which represents a 50% increase over February." The rush to get an iPad out at launch day though has apparently taken at least some of the share away from Google's mobile platform.

If you're a developer, which platform are you most excited about right now? Let us know in the comments.

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Reviews: Android, Facebook, Google, Twitter

Tags: android, apple, ipad, iphone, stats

Greenscroll Aims to Offset Your Website’s Carbon Footprint

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 05:29 PM PDT

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

Name: Greenscroll

Quick Pitch: Helps people offset their website’s carbon footprint by investing in green energy projects.

Genius Idea: Most of us realize that the internet is fueled by electricity that’s churned out by power plants, which in turn impacts the offline world.

Enter Greenscroll, a non-profit that encourages online publishers and companies to pledge a small amount of money each month to offset their website’s carbon footprint. Greenscroll will estimate a suggested monthly contribution depending on a site’s pageviews. Recommended contributions range from $5 per month for 10,000 pageviews to $100 per month for more than one million page views.

Should you choose to participate, the company will invest your monetary contributions into green renewable energy products, such as wind energy centers, and give you a Greenscroll certificate to announce your efforts on your site. Since its launch last summer, the organization claims to have “greened” a rather modest 90,000 page views.

Greenscroll offers an amenable solution for website owners who desire to be environmentally conscious with minimal effort.

Social and Search Should Work Together

The most important thing to remember when starting a search-and-social integration program is that search and social each provide different benefits to your business, so you should leverage their strengths instead of trying to get them to deliver results that aren’t suited to the medium.

Marketers usually participate in social media to create an active dialogue with consumers around their products and services, with the main goal of building brand value, and a secondary goal of driving sales. On the other hand, marketers use paid search primarily to drive sales, leads, and conversion, and don't expect the short text of their paid search ads to do much for branding.

But together, the two disciplines can increase the value that each program delivers. By creating social content that attracts an engaged audience, marketers can then craft targeted paid search campaigns to "capture" this audience and turn them into buyers.

As an example of how this works, consider these findings from an October 2009 study conducted by GroupM Search, M80, and ComScore. The report found that consumers exposed to a brand's social media content are 2.8 times more likely to search on that brand's terms. What's more, consumers exposed to social media are more likely to perform deeper searches, going further down the purchase funnel and completing more purchases. Consumers exposed to a brand’s social media are 1.7 times more likely to search with the intention of making a purchase, and, overall, brands reported a 50% lift in click-through rates from consumers exposed to both social media and paid search, according to the study.

What these statistics show is that stronger brand awareness through social media helps drive paid search effectiveness in three ways:

Target audiences are more likely to search (more impressions on your ads)
Target audiences are more likely to click (more clicks on those impressions)
Because of higher clickthrough rates, ads are placed higher on page (higher quality score)

Smart Strategies

There is no silver bullet for integrating search and social, but there are several concrete strategies every marketer can use to start bringing the two disciplines together. Here are a few tips to help you optimize social and paid search programs to work in a complimentary way to boost overall ROI.

Make your social campaigns search-friendly. Make sure your social media programs (Facebook, Twitter, viral video, etc.) are appropriately tagged and indexed, and that metadata for pages includes your top keywords. This will allow people searching for your brand content to not only find your paid search ads and natural search results, but to find your social media content as well. The first step to building brand engagement through social activities is to enable consumers to easily find your content.
Experiment with keyword advertising on social media sites. Facebook and YouTube both allow for keyword targeted advertising, but the way that these ads work is vastly different from how advertising works on Google or the Content Network. Facebook ads allow you to target users based on preferences they list on their profile. For example, a retailer selling DVDs would create ads that target interests such as "action movies," "horror," or "funny movies." YouTube's advertising system allows you to target specific user queries. However, remember the queries that occur on YouTube are different than those on Google, because users on YouTube are searching for content, not products. For example, people may be trying to find "Avatar trailer" or "car scene from Modern Family," rather than searching for a particular DVD, so make sure to target your ads to these more specific types of search queries.
Create social media-influenced paid search campaigns. Closely analyze the topics and discussions taking place around your social media campaigns, and then mine these discussions for new keywords you can use in paid search campaigns on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Whatever people are talking about, bid on keywords that reflect these conversations. As always, you should measure the performance of these campaigns to prune non-performing ads and increase investment on terms that are more likely to capture downstream conversions. In addition, consider running controlled experiments with social media advertising turned off and on, so you can measure the impact these campaigns have on your paid search programs by observing changes in your paid search click-through and conversion rates.

By quantifying the uplift that social media delivers to your paid search programs, you can gain insights into your marketing programs that search marketers who limit their view to just one channel do not –- and improve the performance of both your paid search and social programs.

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

More business resources from Mashable:

- How One Small Biz Turned Their Company Retreat Into Social Media Success
- How Startups are Using Social Media for Real Results
- Growing Your Business: 5 Tips From the Founder of Foursquare
- 5 Essential Apps for Your Business's Facebook Fan Page
- Why Your Brand Needs to Be on Facebook Now

[Image Credit: romainguy]

Reviews: Bing, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo!, YouTube

Tags: bing, business, Google, paid search, Search, search engines, small business, social media, social media marketing, Yahoo

Amazon Halts Sales of Some eBooks in Publisher Pricing War

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 02:34 PM PDT

The Amazon vs. Apple digital book pricing war rages on as Amazon halts sales of certain electronic titles from publishers Penguin and Hachette.

The war began shortly after the iPad was first announced, when Amazon halted sales of Macmillan books in response to collapsed pricing negotiations. Whereas Amazon had previously dealt with publishers under a “retail model” — capping digital book prices at $9.99 — Apple reportedly wanted to allow book sellers to set their own eBook prices under an agency model — similar to what they already do for their iPhone and iPod touch app developers.

This set off a chain reaction. Major publishers put pressure on Amazon to renegotiate under an agency model deal. Apparently CBS-owned Simon & Schuster and News Corp-owned Harper Collins were able to negotiate deals successfully, but in light of still up-in-the-air talks with Penguin and Hachette, Amazon has decided to play hardball by stopping the sales of some of its titles. In the case of Penguin, older eBooks will still be available but no new ones will be offered just yet.

The buy button has been removed from Hachette eBooks completely, although Amazon promises that’s temporary. At the eleventh hour, an agreement was reached with Hachette over e-book pricing on agency terms, but the online book retailer says they cannot be “operationally ready” to sell the publisher’s books under those terms. Sales should be restored by April 3, but until then consumers will have to sit tight while publishers duke it out with Amazon.

How do you think this will play out? Will Amazon have to capitulate to agency terms for most or all of its publishers after Apple swooped in with new terms for the iBook Store?

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: amazon, amazon pricing war, apple, books, digital books, ebooks, ipad, publishers

Google Picks Its Favorite User-Created 3D Towns [VIDEO]

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 01:50 PM PDT

Five teams from around the world have been selected as finalists from more than 100 entrants in Google’s Model Your Town Competition. Now, it’s up to you to vote for the best entry.

The competition was announced in December 2009 as a way for citizens to show pride in their hometowns by creating detailed 3D models of their communities. The contest also served as a cheap way to add more 3D content to Google Earth and as a nice platform for showcasing the capabilities of two Google 3D modeling tools: SketchUp (a 2006 acquisition) and Building Maker (a Google product launched in fall 2009).

Teams in Barranco, Lima, Peru; Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, Germany; Donostia-San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain; Dursley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom; and West Palm Beach, Florida, United States have all made the cut. It’s interesting to note that the Spanish team is the only entrant with multiple contributing members; every other town modeled was a solo project.

Users will have until May 1, 2010, to cast their votes for the best-modeled town. To help you decide, each entry comes with a one-minute demo video, a KML file of models in Google Earth, a showcase of the models in Google’s 3D Warehouse and a gallery of real-world photographs from each team — presumably to allow non-residents to judge the accuracy of the 3D models. The winner will be announced on or around May 15.

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

Reviews: Facebook, Google, Google Earth, Twitter

Tags: 3D, building maker, Google, Sketchup, social media

iPad Gets Half-Hour of Product Placement on “Modern Family” [VIDEO]

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 01:37 PM PDT

American sitcom Modern Family ran an entire episode about the iPad this week. A character’s birthday is April 3 — the same day the iPad launches — so his wife decides to try and get him an iPad.

The episode begins with an impassioned pitch. “The iPad comes out on my actual birthday. It’s like Steve Jobs and God got together to say, ‘We love you, Phil,’” he says. “It’s a movie theater, a library and a music store all rolled into one awesome pad.”

The show features an actual iPad — not a mockup, but the real thing. His wife brings the iPad home, he blows out the virtual candles in a birthday cake app and then the family gathers around and oohs and ahhs at the device.

We’ve embedded a YouTube video below, but you can watch the complete episode at ABC.com’s streaming site.

This reminds us of the canned Windows 7 Family Guy episode. Is a whole episode of product placement too much, or are you OK with it as long as it’s funny?

[via The Unofficial Apple Weblog]

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

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Tags: abc, advertising, Apple iPad, comedy, disney, humor, ipad, MARKETING, modern family, product placement, sitcom, steve jobs, television, tv

Facebook Introduces Community Pages

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 01:25 PM PDT

Think the distinction between Facebook profiles, Pages and Groups is confusing? Add a new wrinkle to the mix: the Facebook Community Page.

The new feature looks a whole lot like the Facebook Pages businesses and brands create, but there's one key difference: It's for the hordes of "unofficial" Pages that have been created by users in support of topics or causes (like "Can this pickle get more fans than Nickelback?").

There's a big difference in functionality too –- Facebook says that if a page becomes popular enough, administration will be handed over to the Facebook community. In other words, Community Pages become a whole lot like a wiki once they reach a certain threshold.

Another goal for Facebook is to keep official Pages in the hands of their respective brand owners. A company spokesperson tells us that Community Pages "give our users opportunities to express their enthusiasm and creativity, while allowing for Official Pages to continue representing official entities such as businesses, bands and public figures."

At the same time, this means that we might start to see a whole lot more "unofficial" Pages crop up for brands and public figures, free of nasty naming rights issues (remember that girl who claimed Baja Fresh in the Facebook name land grab?).

You can create Community Pages here. What do you think of the feature? What might you use it for? Let us know in the comments.

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

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: facebook, facebook pages, trending

Butterfly Attack: The Making of Qualcomm’s Viral April Fool’s Day Joke

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 12:47 PM PDT

On March 30, footage from two separate savage butterfly attacks was leaked to the web, stirring up speculation about “butterflies gone wild.”

Earlier today, Qualcomm held an emergency press conference to reveal that the two men attacked by the butterflies had stolen two mirasol display prototypes from a Qualcomm lab in San Jose. These prototypes are powered by display technology that mimics the reflection of light off of butterfly wings.

Fortunately for both the butterflies and the victims, the incidents are all part of an elaborate hoax that Qualcomm designed to promote its mirasol technology.

Butterfly Attack: The Videos

The company’s annual April Fool’s Day pranks began three years ago. This year’s carefully orchestrated Butterfly Attack hoax aimed to best the schemes of years past, boost employee morale and help solidify social media presence.

Qualcomm worked with Viral Factory to create the following videos. Each tells a piece of the three-part butterfly attack story. The second video garnered the most attention, amassing 288,000 views in two days.

Butterfly Attack: The Making Of

You would be correct in assuming that such a carefully orchestrated prank would take months to coordinate. In an exclusive interview, Cherry Park, Qualcomm’s director of marketing, global corporate marketing, said that the company started working on the campaign at the beginning of the year. Its goal was to get “more sustainability for the campaign.”

In order to stir up a commotion, Qualcomm seeded the attack videos late Monday night to dozens of targeted entertainment blogs and news sites and has been tracking the results ever since. The company plans to make the most out of its effort by following up with Facebook and Twitter tie-ins.

Park also spoke extensively about Qualcomm’s mirasol display technology and the company’s desire to find a humorous way to introduce the sophisticated IMOD reflective technology to consumers. She also stated emphatically that the primary purpose of the campaign is to “boost employee morale” — a huge priority over the past few years.

Qualcomm also happens to be a latecomer to the social media space, having established its presence just three months ago. The viral video campaign was an opportunity to not only promote its Twitter account, Facebook Page and an upcoming Facebook application, but a way to further the connection between the company and consumers.

Park also talked about how social media is helping the B2B chipmaker better grasp the significance of brand recognition at a consumer level. Social media sites are helping Qualcomm educate consumers on the technology that powers their devices. Response has been extremely positive thus far, encouraging the company to experiment further with social media initiatives.

Make sure to mark your calendars for April 1, 2011, as next year we anticipate even more viral videos and social media antics from the company.

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: april fools, b2b, MARKETING, qualcomm, viral videos

6 Ways Gmail Revolutionized E-mail

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 12:37 PM PDT

Today is Gmail’s birthday, marking 6 years since Google brought us more email storage than ever before, replaced folders with “labels”, and introduced threaded conversations for easier email consumption.

How did Gmail change webmail? And were these changes for the better or worse?

That’s the topic of my CNN column this week.

Check out the column at CNN.com >>

Reviews: Gmail

Tags: cashmore, cnn, mashable, pete cashmore

5 Ways to Go Green for Earth Day with Social Media

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 12:34 PM PDT

Earth Grass Image Geoff Livingston co-founded Zoetica to focus on cause-related work, and released an award-winning book on new media Now is Gone in 2007.

Last week’s World Water Day and Earth Hour began a big green spring online that will culminate in April 22nd’s 40th annual celebration of Earth Day. Coinciding with Earth Day, both environmental non-profits and green corporate social responsibility programs are ramping up efforts to promote environmental action.

Here’s a look at just five of the many tools and initiatives for environmental action taking place on the social web over the next several weeks.

1. One Billion Acts of Green

As part of this year’s 40th anniversary effort, the Earth Day Network is promoting its Billion Acts of Green initiative as a means to give people a reason to take action on behalf of the environment, and then be counted. The end goal: Send a message to world leaders for urgent, meaningful change for the planet.

Interested parties can participate online using a widget that will cross-post updates on Twitter and Facebook. The widget will launch in the next week, and a Billion Acts of Green iPhone application is imminent, too.

“There is no deadline to reach a billion acts of green, and once that metric is met, Earth Day Network hopes to continue the program,” said Matt Young, Online Advocacy and Marketing Manager. “You can see a running tally on the home page of earthday.org, and in the next week or so, you will be able to record an act from the home page.”

2. The Save Your Water Calculator

Underwriter Laboratories introduced the “Save Your Water” consumption calculator with metrics based on the U.S. EPA's daily household water consumption statistics. Once people calculate their water consumption, they can make a pledge to enact simple lifestyle changes and conserve water. For each of the first 15,000 pledges received, UL will donate one dollar to Water for People.

“With less than 1% of the world's fresh water supply accessible to humans, preserving this resource is a critical issue,” said Len Kendall, a consultant on the Save Your Water calculator project. “UL wants consumers to realize a little savings goes a long way, especially if people from around the world get on board. In a week's time, people have already pledged to save more than 15 million gallons for water during the next year.”

3. Go Green Twitter Sweepstakes

Create the Good has teamed with the AARP for the Go Green Twitter Sweepstakes. Contest entrants are vying for a trip to Washington, DC for the official Earth Day celebration on April 24-26. A carbon offset contribution will be made once the winner and flight distance are confirmed.

The contest features users tweeting at @createthegood with methods for environmental action by using the #gogreen hash tag. Entrants must submit their tweet by April 6th, and also follow the @createthegood Twitter account.

“Create the Good defines any participation in the sweepstakes as a success,” said Nathan Winters, a social media consultant with Truth + Tribe who is working with the AARP and Create the Good on the effort. “Their goal is to get people thinking about Earth Day (April 22nd) and entice them to act green on a daily basis.

“In addition to giving @createthegood followers a platform to share a diversified commitment to finding ways to ‘go green,’ they hope the incentive of a trip to [Washington,] DC attracts new people to the conversation,” added Winters. “If even one person starts taking action toward a healthier planet as a result of the sweepstakes, Create the Good will consider it a success.”

4. Run for Water

On April 18th, Live Earth in partnership with Dow will execute a six kilometer Run for Water in more than 150 countries worldwide. Six kilometers is the distance many women and children walk every day to secure water in the developing world. In a completely integrated effort, the events feature concerts and water education activities to ignite a massive global movement to help solve the water crisis.

“Using IP address geo-location, we're able to get specific with our audience immediately; when you visit our event landing page, the event map zooms in to your location and you'll see a listing of events in the region,” said Andy Sternberg, interactive director, Live Earth. “In addition to Live Earth's presence on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and other social networks, our local event directors have created event-specific Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter accounts, and Orkut groups to engage and inform local communities about the issues and the event while setting online word of mouth in motion at the micro and peer level.”

Sternberg added, “As the world's largest worldwide water initiative on record to help combat the global water crisis, we hope the Run for Water will ignite a tipping point to help solve the water crisis. One in eight people don't have access to safe, clean drinking water. Communities in Africa, Latin America and Asia suffer 1.8 million deaths every year from diarrheal diseases and the death of 5,000 children each day due to inadequate water infrastructure.”

Full Disclosure: I volunteer time as a social media advisor for Live Earth.

5. 350 Launches 2010 Activities

Last October’s 350 day brought global attention to the carbon dioxide pollution problem with over 5,200 actions in 181 countries. Since then, the 350 crew listened to the global community and recently created and announced a community-powered plan for 2010. The effort features social tools as a means to tie a community together and “Get to Work” building real climate solutions in participants’ hometowns with a culminating day of action on October 10th.

“The tie-in to Earth Day is that we’re going to be inviting organizers to host their first Get to Work meet-up, to figure out big plans for their community, the week of April 22-29,” said Joe Solomon, social media coordinator for 350. “We see this as a sweet and symbolic way to sketch out how we’re going to save our planet.”

350’s ultimate goal is to achieve global action to lower the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million. NOAA estimates the current CO2 pollution ration at 390 parts.

What are some of the ways you engage with the green movement on the social web? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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

More social good resources from Mashable:

- 4 Ways Non-Profits Can Use Google Buzz
- 5 Ways Non-Profits Can Increase Engagement With YouTube
- Why Sex-Ed Remains a Challenge for Social Media
- The Future of the Non-Profit Internet
- 5 Winning Corporate Social Good Campaigns

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, cinoby

Reviews: Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto

Tags: earth day, earth hour, environment, environmentalists, facebook, green, social good, social media, twitter

How to Get an iPad if You Didn’t Pre-order One

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 12:15 PM PDT

At this point you’re either weary of iPad mania or you’re squealing like a girl at a Justin Bieber concert over the Apple tablet’s impending launch.

If you were on the fence enough to avoid pre-ordering but have changed your tune in the meantime, what’s the best strategy to go about obtaining one? We hope to help in this process.

The Apple Store lines for new product launches can be legendary, so being prepared to queue up early can be your safest bet. But there are some other options worth considering as well, so let’s take a look at some potential game plans. Keep in mind that for all the below, we’re talking about the Wi-Fi iPad units only, as these are the only devices available at launch. For the 3G-capable lineup, you’ll have to wait until later in April, and, of course, be willing to shell out that extra $130 — plus service plan.

Apple Stores

As mentioned above, the Apple Store locations are typically the iconic locales for long and early lines forming in advance of a new product launch. The iPad will probably be no exception, but considering it’s been confirmed that all 221 of Apple’s official stores will carry a larger stock at launch than the number of pre-ordered units, there’s still a good chance you’ll be able to grab one on launch day.

With some stores being more popular and heavily trafficked than others, it might be worth your while to map out the locations of multiple stores within your own “acceptably drivable” radius, especially if you live in a major metropolitan area. If you have friends or colleagues who have made pre-orders or are also on the hunt for available unclaimed units, consider banding together to distribute trips to different stores and share information about the length of any lines or how much extra stock individual stores might carry. Sometimes, it takes a village to get an iPad.

Stores will open at 9 a.m. with a separate line to speed pre-order folks through. However, after 3 p.m., any unclaimed pre-order inventory will be released. In other words, if hell or high water prevent any poor souls from picking up their pre-ordered iPads, it could end up being your lucky day — so if you’re committed to the hunt but luck out in the morning, it might be worth a swing back in advance of 3 o’clock.

Best Buy

We knew Best Buy would be selling iPads as of last month, and more recently a leaked Best Buy playbook confirmed the consumer electronics retailer would have units in stock on day one. Unfortunately, the quantity is expected to be limited to 15 iPads per store, so once again we wouldn’t be surprised by an early line and even overnight camp-out phenomenon emerging at some stores.

On the other hand, with more than 670 stores slated to receive stock, there’s also a decent chance of scoring an iPad — especially at some of the more out-of-the way locations. As with the Apple Store advice above, try to stake out multiple locations, stores that are more off the beaten path than others, and see if you can coordinate with your friends to share tips on the shortest lines.

If you end up having no luck snagging the device on launch day, the leaked playbook also says stores are expected to receive another shipment of 15 units each for the following week, on Sunday April 11. If you know you won’t have a lot of time to wait in line or drive around to try and track down an iPad on day one, it might be worth marking April 11 on your calendar as a decent Plan B option.

Apple Specialty Stores

In addition to the official Apple Stores, it looks like select Apple Specialist locations will also have iPads in inventory. Apple Specialists are independent dealers of Apple products or Apple-approved outlets who offer in-store or on-site servicing.

You can use Apple’s Service Provider Locator tool to check for Apple Specialty Stores within your “acceptable driving radius.” You can also try calling ahead to inquire about whether or not a particular location will have inventory, but keep in mind most of these stores have been under strict non-disclosure agreements and so may not be able or willing to disclose whether or not they’ll actually be able to sell you an iPad on day one. Still, a well-timed call on Saturday morning might net you some information and perhaps even your own shiny new iPad.

Good hunting to all, and may the iPads be flowing like wine to all who want them. If you have any other good tips for tracking one down, definitely let us know in the comments.

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

Reviews: Apple Store, Facebook, Twitter

Tags: apple, Apple Store, best buy, gadgets, how tos, ipad, tablets

iPad Apps Start Appearing in iTunes

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 11:47 AM PDT

Apple has started to update the iTunes store, adding iPad apps to its catalog! You can now browse through pages and pages of applications, see their pricing and click on descriptions to see screenshots and other information.

While you can copy App Store URLs for the iPad apps, they don’t yet open up in the iTunes web interface — meaning that for now, you can only view apps in iTunes. We expect that will change by Saturday.

So far, a few apps that have struck our fancy are NPR for iPad, Twitterrific for iPad and The Wall Street Journal for iPad.

What cool looking apps have you run across? Let us know!

[via @rmpenguino]

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

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: app store, apple, ipad, ipad apps, itunes

Introducing: Mashable’s FarmVille Channel

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 11:35 AM PDT

The Mashable team is thrilled to announce the launch of our FarmVille channel!

Millions of you play FarmVille — so much so that you’re spending your life savings on virtual crops. Some of you are even getting yourselves fired because the game is so addicting.

Moreover, Zynga, the parent company of FarmVille, is said to be worth as much as $3 billion. The bottom line is that we believe the virtual economy will surpass the real economy sometime in 2014, and Mashable is not one to be left behind the curve.

Thus, we have decided to launch an entire channel dedicated to solely to the FarmVille phenomenon. Whether you’re a newbie or a virtual crop-growing pro, we’re sure that you’ll find our wide range of FarmVille articles, features and opinion pieces to be most satisfying.

Here’s a taste of the amazing articles you can expect from our new channel:

HOW TO: Score More Virtual Currency
Sustainable Farming in the Virtual Environment
How Wind Power Will Revolutionize FarmVille
10 Tips for Growing Healthy Virtual Crops
Why Farming Online is Good for the Economy
7 FarmVille-Inspired Mashups
The Top FarmVille Gifts to Get Your Sweetheart
Top 10 FarmVille Plot Arts
Ethanol Subsidies: Good or Bad for the FarmVille Economy?
FarmVille Gossip: Who’s Making Waves?

You can expect the same level of focus, dedication and quality in our FarmVille channel that you have come to expect from our Social Media, Mobile, Tech, Web Video, Business and Apple channels. We won’t skimp, because FarmVille is serious business.

What should we cover in our new FarmVille channel? We want to hear all of your thoughts in the comments!!!

Update: Happy April Fools.

Reviews: Mashable, social media

Tags: Announcement, announcements, farmville, mashable

Apple Launches Site Showcasing iPad Video Support

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 11:11 AM PDT

If the lack of Flash support on the iPad concerns you, be sure to check out Apple’s new page for video support.

The page lists the major sites that will offer compatible video for its newest gadget. While the usual HTML5 sources (Vimeo, YouTube) are featured, other content providers and major publishers are featured as well.

So far, these are the sites on Apple’s list (although it’s important to note that just because a site isn’t on the list doesn’t mean it doesn’t support the iPad):

CNN
Reuters
New York Times
Vimeo
Time
Major League Baseball
The White House
Virgin America
Sports Illustrated
Flickr
People Magazine
TED

Today has been a big day for iPad video news. Earlier we reported on the official Netflix iPad app, the upcoming Hulu app, and CBS and ABC’s plans to support the iPad.

While the lack of Flash support will still frustrate plenty of users, publishers and content providers are already showcasing their support for the device. Once we see some actual sales numbers, we can expect the number of supported sites to increase.

Do these alternative video options make you more likely to buy an iPad? Let us know.

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

Reviews: Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube

Tags: apple, cnn, flickr, ipad, ipad video sites, TED

Interview: Meet the First Person in Line for the Apple iPad [VIDEO]

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 10:52 AM PDT

You think you’re stoked for the release of the Apple iPad? Meet the famous Greg Packer, a retired highway maintenance worker from Long Island who also happens to be the first person in line at New York’s Fifth Avenue Apple Store.

Packer is an Apple enthusiast — he still has the first generation iPhone — who has decided to nab the iPad in lieu of a laptop. He’s been at the Apple Store since Tuesday. Dude even slept in Penn Station. That, my friends, is dedication.

We caught up with Packer at the Apple store this morning. Take a look at the video below and keep it here this weekend for more iPad madness.

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

Reviews: Apple Store, Facebook, Twitter

Tags: apple, ipad, video

ABC and CBS to Stream Shows on iPad for Free

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 10:31 AM PDT

Both ABC and CBS plan to stream their TV shows on the Apple iPad just in time for its Saturday launch, The Wall Street Journal reports. They’re each doing it a little differently, however. ABC will use an app, while CBS shows will stream over the web through the iPad’s Safari browser.

Not all shows will be available right away, but CBS has promised episodes of Survivor on day one, along with promos for other shows including the sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

Critics initially argued that the iPad would not be ideal for watching video online because most video websites use Adobe’s Flash technology, which the iPad doesn’t play nice with. However, several sites have launched iPad-friendly versions using new HTML5 tech and there’s also a Netflix iPad app on the way for the device. Additionally, Hulu’s iPad app is rumored to be in the works.

Some CBS shows will also be available on day one via the iPad-compatible TV.com iPhone app. NBC also offers some of its shows on an iPhone-friendly version of NBC.com that will presumably work on the iPad as well.

Apple and Adobe have been scuffling over the iPad’s lack of in-browser Flash support. Apple prefers the newer HTML5 format for rendering rich media like games and videos, claiming that Flash is responsible for a large number of application crashes on Mac computers. HTML5, however, is still in its infancy while Flash is ubiquitous around the web. Who will win the war?

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

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: abc, adobe flash, apple app store, Apple iPad, cbs, Flash, HTML5, ipad, safari, streaming video, television, tv, web browser, web video

Mashable’s Weekly Job Board Listings in Social Media

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 09:22 AM PDT

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

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