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(Lire la suite) Sarah Kessler

HOW TO: Rent Anything Online par Sarah Kessler Mardi 15 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

As dumpster diving and extreme anti-consumerism edge their way into the mainstream, more and more renting seems like an easier way to “go green” while cutting costs.

While not everything should be rented, (toothbrushes, underwear, I can go on) most things can be, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that you can borrow just about anything without having to leave your home, or office, or coffee shop – basically anywhere you use your computer. Log on to these sites and let the wonder of temporary ownership begin.

Books

People have been renting books since as early as fourth century BCE, but only recently have they been able get their lit fix without logging off the Internet or succumbing to the annoyance of a due date.

There are a number of “Netflix for books” businesses that allow bookworms to read and return books at their own pace. Book Swim prices its plans depending on the number of books taken out at one time (a “devout reader,” with 11 books rented at a time, pays about $60 per month). Books Free, which isn’t actually free, offers similar plans but restricts the type of content you can order based on which plan you sign up for (starting at $10.99 per month for two-at-a-time paperbacks).

Since the average college student spends about $1,100 on textbooks a year, it is not shocking that textbook rentals are becoming an increasingly booming business. Deciding between the myriad of sites that offer the service might come down where you’d rather direct your goodwill. Rent a book from Chegg and they’ll plant a tree; rent a book from Book Renter and they’ll donate a book to a low-income child.

Movies

Gone are the days of going all the way to a rental store to rent a DVD, then having to deal with late fees if you kept it for more than a specifically allotted amount of time. Thanks to Netflix, anyone can rent movies by mail with no late fees or due dates. Plans starting at $8.99/month also come with unlimited streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV shows over the web.

Netflix users can stream movies over their computer or to their televisions via a connected device like the Wii, Xbox, PlayStation, Roku or any number of televisions and Blu-ray disc players. Many connected devices can also stream movies from Amazon Video on Demand, which offers 24-hour movie rentals starting at $0.99/per movie.

Another option for streaming video rentals is Apple’s iTunes, which offers thousands of movies and television shows for rent starting at $1.99 ($3.99 for HD). iTunes rentals can be streamed via computer or via the Apple
TV device.

Soon, other media center devices and software like the forthcoming Boxee Box and Google TV should offer additional home streaming media rental options.

Friends

Your mother may have told you that money won’t buy you friends, but your mama lied. There actually are firms that provide stand-in relatives, friends, boyfriends, and even groomsmen (complete with cheesy speeches about why you’ll always be “bros”). It may sound like the gimmick in a less than stellar rom-com (ahem The Wedding Date), but it’s a modest yet growing industry in places like Japan. So while renting your buds may be a less-established practice in the United States, there are still plenty of resources for those willing to admit their social circle is lacking and don’t mind shelling out a few bucks for some company (not that kind of company, get your mind out of the gutter.)

The website aptly named Rent A Friend charges a small fee to browse profiles by zip code. Would-be friends list what they’re up for –- which could everything from being your date to prom, to spending a Sunday afternoon taking a hot air balloon ride (weirdly specific, no?). So just who are these people eager to be your pal-for-pay? Profiles include anyone who the site’s “Party! Enjoy Life! Make Friends! Get Paid!” job description appeals to. Contact them to negotiate what your friendship is worth in an hourly rate.

Rent a Local Friend is another friend rental option that is great for those traveling on their own. The site sets up travelers with locals who either join them for a day as guides, or offer a list of insider tips so you can get the most out of the city. It’s a good way to get off the beaten path while traveling and the prices, which vary throughout the 15 available cities, are comparable to professional tours.

Dresses

Few women have $3,000 to spend on a dress, so many spend Monday nights coveting the wardrobe on Gossip Girl and wishing they could somehow afford a closet full of designer labels. All that wishing appears to have worked, and thanks to a slew of dress-rental sites, you don’t have choose between paying your Internet bill and investing in a seriously amazing wardrobe.

Typically these sites allow users to rent dresses for the price of about 10 percent their retail value. The dresses are delivered on a scheduled date, worn, and returned with minimal denting to the wearer’s wallet. Some sites, like Rent the Runway, which has a wait-list to become a member, and Wear Today, Gone Tomorrow, only allow members to browse and rent. Other sites, like Girl Meets Dress, allow browsing before membership.

Women’s bodies are unique and it’s frustrating because designer sizing is not. The sites have different strategies for dealing with fit. Rent the Runway allows renters to choose two sizes of the same dress so you can decide what fits best, while Wear Today, Gone Tomorrow has created a standardized sizing chart to guesstimate the right size. Girl Meets Dress actually allows its customers to schedule a date to try-on a dress before the big event. Renters ship the dress back the same day. If it fits, it’s redelivered. If not, more try-on dates are scheduled. Keep in mind, if you are all about saving money while getting the best fit, for all of these sites you can hit up your local Bloomingdales and try on the fashions before you rent.

Every woman knows that a dress alone is not enough. You need the shoes and the bag, and probably some jewelry too. Snag that Channel clutch you really can’t afford but really want from sites like Bag, Borrow, or Steal — which will also loan you designer sunglasses, jewelry and watches, Rent Me A Handbag, which is more than happy to lend out some Prada pumps, or Hand Bag Club, which has a nice selection of arm candy, as well.

Kid stuff

The number of children per family in the U.S. is averaging at about two, so it doesn’t make much sense for most people to buy kid things under the premise that they’ll be reused several times by future spawn. Fortunately the birthrate and the number of kid-related rental sites seem to be inversely related.

Cash-strapped parents will appreciate the rental packages at Rent Baby Toys, or Rent That Toy, a site that lets you rent specific toys, like the Kawasaki Ninja Tough Trike at $20 per month. New parents already dealing with maneuvering a stroller, and want to live as light as possible, may enjoy the Traveling Baby Company or Baby’s Away for temporary baby supplies while traveling. More savings and recycling can be had at Wear and Share, to avoid having to buy new baby clothes as fast as your child outgrows them.

Pets

Did you have a dog growing up, and miss throwing around a ball with old Fido? Do you live a busy life and don’t know if you can handle the responsibility of a full-time pet? Then maybe Borrow a Pet, is something to try. The organization facilitates pet lending in the name of “reducing the number of abandoned pets.” The idea is that by doing the good deed of putting their pet up for lease, pet owners can give pet seekers a better idea of what they’re getting into before it’s too late. The number of participants is still pretty slim, but the site launched less than a year ago.

Following a similar try-before-you-buy theory, many branches of the Humane Society, such as Marin in California, also have trial adoption programs that allow potential adoptive parents to take pets home for an extended period of time before committing to a full adoption.

On a less altruistic note, a growing number of hotels, including select locations of the Ritz Carlton and Fairmont, /www.flexpetz.com/how.html" target="_blank">FlexPetz, in New York, L.A. and London provides members with local access to dogs who were rescued or re-homed, but are fully trained.

Members can choose to spend just a few hours or a number of days with each dog. After new members have completed an introduction session with a trainer, they can use the online reservation system to book “doggy time” for fun with their temporary canine pal. The company has plans to expand to San Francisco, D.C., Paris and Boston, if they get the Massachusetts 2008 ban on renting pets overturned.

[What do you think of the concept of renting pets? Good idea or twisted? Sound off in the comments. -- Ed.]

Everything Else

Non-virtual rental shops are increasingly accessible on the web. Rentcycle makes it easy to find stores and search their inventory. All the rental shops listed are browsable by location and specialty, but if a rental shop nearby has chosen to sign up for Rentcycle, you’ll also be able to browse their inventory and check availability online.

For items like doughnut fryers, lecterns or Santa hats, there are several sites that allow you to target your neighbors for these less mainstream items.

Zilok lists more than 100,000 searchable items from both rental businesses and individuals. Renters set a price per day, week, or month as well as a deposit amount. Browsers can book items online and contact the owner to set-up an exchange.

Rent Instead and Rentoid are similar concepts with slight variations. Rent Instead offers a shipping option for out-of-area items, and Rentoid avoids bogus items by charging $4.00 per posting.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for — say a competition figure skating dress — Zilok has a function that allows you to send a rental request to registered renters in your area, while Rentoid similarly hosts a “wanted” board for posting requests.

Have you ever rented anything online? What was your experience? Let us know in the comments.

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More Social Media resources from Mashable:

- Group Buying: Should Small Businesses Jump In?
- 10 Essential Accessories for the Fashionable Geek
- Rentcycle Looks to Put Niche Rental Shops Online

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mbbirdy

Reviews: Blu, Facebook, Internet, Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: accessories, babies, books, clothes, dresses, friends, green, List, Lists, parents, pets, recycle, reduce, renting, reuse, social media, social networking, toys

FarmVille Maker Zynga Has Now Raised a Whopping $366 Million par Ben Parr Mardi 15 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Zynga, the creators of the blockbuster social game FarmVille, has raised another round of funding: $147 million, seemingly all from Japanese telecommunications and media conglomerate Softbank.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek and Nikkei English News, Zynga and Softbank have joined forces to spread Zynga’s wildly successful suite of social games throughout Asia. The company will focus on mobile devices — a smart move, considering that many Japanese consumers use their mobile phones as their primary access point to the web.

Just six months ago, Zynga raised an impressive $180 million from Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies, the same firm that invested $200 million in Facebook. Since then, Zynga has been rapidly rising in value; its most recently valuation placed it at over $4 billion. Zynga has raised a total of around $366 million in an angel and four subsequent rounds of funding.

Softbank has been making some high-profile investments into U.S. companies over the last year. In November 2008, Softbank invested millions in RockYou, another social application developer. More recently, live video platform Ustream raised $75 million in a round led by Softbank in order to expand its Asia operations.

Zynga will likely use the funds to accelerate its hiring spree and make acquisitions as it moves into Asia. Two weeks ago, the company acquired Challenge Games and its 35 employees for around $20 million.

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Tags: farmville, social gaming, softbank, Zynga

Microsoft Office 2010 Hits Stores Worldwide par Ben Parr Mardi 15 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

After years of development and beta testing, Microsoft Office 2010 is now available for purchase by consumers worldwide.

Microsoft Office 2010 hits stores today with three versions: Home and Student, Home and Business, and Professional. In stores, the versions will cost $149.99, $279.99, or $499.99 respectively, but by downloading the software and just purchasing a Key Card, the price drops to $119.99, $199.99, and $349.99 respectively.

The newest version of Microsoft’s productivity software provides some major additions and upgrades to the 2007 version, including Outlook Social Connector and new multimedia editing tools. The biggest addition is Office Web Apps, a slim but very functional version of its desktop counterpart that allows for live document collaboration, online storage, and integration with Hotmail and other Microsoft products.

The release of Office 2010 comes one month after Microsoft Office 2010’s upgrade release and two months after it was released to manufacturing.

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Tags: google docs, microsoft, microsoft office

Apple Store App Comes to Apple App Store par Stan Schroeder Mardi 15 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

The title may sound weird, but we assure you it makes perfect sense. Apple store – the physical one – now has its own app in Apple’s app store for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The app lets you locate Apple retail stores anywhere in the world, browse through and buy Apple products, find accessories and software, read customer reviews, as well as make personal shopping, Genius Bar, and one to one appointments.

The application is available for free in the app store, but it’s currently available only to customers in the U.S.

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Tags: apple, apple app store, Apple Store, ipad, iphone

iPhone 4 Now Available for Pre-Order par Stan Schroeder Mardi 15 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

If you want your iPhone 4 to be black, you can now pre-order it from Apple’s website for $199 (16 GB model) or $299 (32 GB model), together with the good old 8GB iPhone 3GS which is now $99 with a two-year contract with AT&T. Pre-orders are limited to two per customer.

Although Apple put the pre-order page up in the middle of the night (U.S. time), it still caused enough interest to suffocate Apple’s servers, so you might experience slow loading times or complete unavailability.

Pre-orders are also available in the UK and France, but these stores are down at the time of this writing. Once they’re back, customers will be able to buy an unlocked iPhone 4 which starts at £499 in the UK and €629 in France.

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Tags: apple, iphone, iphone 4, trending

Mac Mini Gets an Aluminum Unibody Update par Stan Schroeder Mardi 15 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Apple today launched an updated Mac Mini, which has aluminum unibody housing and far more powerful hardware than the previous iteration.

The specs for the most basic version include a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 2 GB of RAM, a 320 GB hard drive and a NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics chip, all of which will set you back $699.

Those in need of a slightly more powerful machine can get the $999 version, which sports a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo, 4 GB of RAM, dual 500 GB 7200-rpm hard drives, GeForce 320M graphics and Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard.

Both versions come with an SD card reader, 802.11n Wi-Fi, 4 USB ports, a Mini DisplayPort jack and a HDMI-out jack. The elegant new enclosure was created by Apple’s unibody construction process, and it’s only 7.7-inches square and 1.4-inches thin.

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Tags: apple, Mac Mini

The Day When Twitter Lost its Tweets par Stan Schroeder Mardi 15 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Update: the tweets are now restored in users’ timelines, and Twitter is generally working as intended.

Twitter is currently in a weird limbo. After having issues with missing tweets and incorrect tweet counts yesterday, and being down for the better part of the night, it is now up, but it has a different problem: all its tweets are gone.

All the Twitter accounts we’ve checked, even Twitter’s official ones, are completely empty: they seem to work, but there are no visible tweets in the timeline.

Twitter status blog has some info on the situation:

“We’re currently experiencing site availability issues resulting from the failed enhancement of a new approach to timeline caching. Our infrastructure and operations engineers are currently working to resolve this. We’ll update you soon with an ETA.
10:17 PM PDT: Users may temporarily experience missing tweets from their timelines. They will be restored shortly.
11:51 PM PDT: We’re recovering from the site outage. Remember, users may temporarily experience missing or duplicate tweets from their timelines. Normal timelines will be restored shortly.”

So, there’s no need to panic: our tweets are (probably) not gone completely. Still, it’s a bit worrying seeing a completely empty timeline when you know it should be populated by thousands of tweets.

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Tags: social media, twitter

Why Your Grandpa Is on Facebook [STATS] par Jolie O'Dell Mardi 15 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

“Old people” on Facebook: They couldn’t beat it, so they joined it.

But why? And how did they hear about social media in the first place? They can’t all be simply stalking their younger relatives, can they?

A new study from the AARP — formerly known by the longer moniker “the American Association of Retired Persons” — shows that baby boomers in the 50-years-old-or-better age bracket are cool with the Internet, down with Facebook, hip to the iPad and not just using the web to spy on their kids and grandkids.

The AARP spent some time last month interviewing 1,360 adults over the phone. The Association found that more than a quarter (27%) of Americans age 50 and older use social networks. Facebook is the most popular — in fact, 23% of all survey respondents said they preferred it to sites such as MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter. Another study earlier this year from eMarketer showed that boomers and seniors were flocking to Facebook, again showing a strong preference for this site over Twitter and MySpace — all of this in spite of the fact that older Americans are hearing an awful lot of bad news about Facebook.

When it comes to general web surfing, 49% of respondents between the ages of 50 and 64 and 40% of all adults age 50 and older said they consider themselves extremely or very comfortable using the Internet. In other words, we’re very close to seeing the majority of senior citizens embracing the web as a content medium and communication tool.

As for discovery of social services, however, it seems the young folks are to blame for spreading word of Facebook to more venerable generations. Around 47% of AARP’s respondents had heard of social networking from a family member other than their spouse, and of those, 70% were tipped off by a child or grandchild.

The overwhelming majority of these boomers are using the social web — at least to some degree — to keep in touch with family members. Almost three quarters of AARP’s survey group said they’re connected online to relatives other than children and grandchildren, 62% are connected to their children and 36% are connected to grandchildren, as well.

And don’t forget, many of these older Americans probably have the loot to spend on high-tech gadgets, if they so choose. Of the 1,360 respondents, 83% knew about the iPad, and 11-14% said they planned to purchase one. Two percent said they’d already bought an iPad.

If you’re in the age-50-and-older crowd, do you use the social web, and why? Is keeping in touch with family an important part of your online routine?

[img credit: prupert]

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Tags: AARP, baby boomers, facebook, older, retired, social media, social network, stats, study, survey

Google Docs’s New Upgrades Go Live for Everyone par Jolie O'Dell Mardi 15 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Google has recently made a slew of changes to its Docs office and productivity suite live for all users and all new documents. From now on, when you create a new spreadsheet, drawing, presentation or text document in Docs, you’ll be using the snazzy new interface and collaboration features as the default.

Two months ago, Google announced some major new features for Google Docs. Users were able to preview these upgrades, which included completely group chat, real-time collaboration tools, and completely redesigned editors for documents, spreadsheets, and drawings.

From now on, any time you create a new document, you’ll be doing so from the new version of Google Docs. Documents already created using the older editor will remain in that interface, and you’ll soon be able to move those older documents to the new version of Docs, too.

Here’s a little video that highlights some of Docs’ new features:

Enterprise-level users of Google Apps will also see the new default interface soon.

Here’s what the rebuilt Docs looks like, in case you haven’t been testing it out over the past couple of months:

This upgraded version becoming Docs’ new default interface comes at just the right time; Microsoft recently announced a Google Docs competitor in Office Web Apps, a web-based suite that includes a text editor/word processor, spreadsheet editor and presentation software.

Which company do you think has rolled out the better product for online document editing, collaboration and storage? And do you approve of the changes to Google Docs?

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Tags: editor, Google, google docs, office, spreadsheets

Google is Crazy About the World Cup, Too par Stan Schroeder Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

In three days, soccer (or football, depending on where you live) World Cup starts, and fans all over the world get into a collective craze that’s hard to compare to any other sporting event.

Now, we’ve seen Google change its logo for events such as this, but this time it chose to do something different.

If you search for “World Cup” in Google, you’ll get a list of the upcoming World Cup games, but if you scroll to the bottom, you’ll see that the other Google logo, stationed above the result page numbers, has changed to Goooooooal!

With Google recently giving users the option to create custom homepages, and all the logo changes, one has to wonder whether Google will lose its visual identity; or has Google become so big that it’s synonymous with the concept of search, and thus the visuals don’t play that big a part anymore?

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Tags: Google, google doodle, world cup

The WWDC 2010 Playlist par Jolie O'Dell Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

WWDC is an event known for its showcasing of interesting, unique tunes from new and classic artists and albums. The conference kicked off Monday, for example, with the sweet strains of Louis Armstrong wafting through Moscone West, setting a sophisticated mood for the thousands of developers and journalists in attendance.

We’ve compiled a little playlist of some of the songs we’ve heard at WWDC so far. From the pre-keynote tracks to the songs featured in demos and ads, this mix should conjure up mental images of all things Apple — the perfect soundtrack for your fanboy (or fangirl) fantasies while you wait for the iPhone 4 to hit the shelves in a few weeks.

If you catch songs at the show that we haven’t added yet, please email us and let us know.

We’ll be adding to the playlist throughout the week, so be sure to check back every now and then! A big thanks to Playlist.com for their wonderful, free embeddable playlist widget.

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: 2010, apple, music, playlist, songs, wwdc, wwdc2010

Netflix Coming to the iPhone With WiFi and 3G Support par Samuel Axon Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

One more tidbit worth pulling out from today’s WWDC announcements: Netflix will bring a streaming video app to Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch this summer. The company was quick to clarify two important points right out of the gate: The app is free, and it works over AT&T’s mobile 3G network, not just WiFi.

That last point is a small surprise, given that AT&T just discontinued its unlimited 3G data plan for new customers. Existing iPhone and iPad customers can keep their old arrangements, but anyone who’s signing a fresh contract will be limited to either 200 MB of 2 GB per month, depending on the plan.

If you’re planning on doing a lot of 3G Netflix streaming, you’ll want to stay on that unlimited plan since videos use up a lot of bandwidth.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced the app on stage Apple’s WWDC conference alongside the new iPhone 4, but he wasn’t on stage long enough to go into detail about the app’s features. He did say that Netflix for iPhone will pick up where you left off in movies or shows you’ve already started watching — even on other devices. Also, the app uses “adaptive bitrate technology” to maintain its connection when you move between networks.

This app already seemed like a sure thing months ago when Netflix sent out a customer survey gauging interest in an iPhone or iPod touch version some time before Netflix for iPad launched.

[img credit: Ars Technica]

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Tags: App, apple, apple app store, att, Film, iphone, iPod Touch, Movies, netflix, reed hastings, television, tv, video, wwdc, wwdc 2010

Apple’s Amazing “Hyperwall” of 10,800 Apps [VIDEO] par Ben Parr Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

If you want to understand just how huge Apple’s app store ecosystem really is, look no further than the Apple App Store “Hyperwall.”

Here at WWDC in San Francisco, Apple has once again erected a video wall demonstrating the reach of the App Store. It contains 30 synchronized 24-inch LED screens that display the top 50,000 apps as they are being downloaded. In just a few minutes, the entire walls gets filled up with with 10,800 downloaded apps from around the world.

How did they pull it off? Here’s Apple’s somewhat technical explanation:

“This hyperwall is powered by 30 Mac Pro towers with Mac OS X Snow Leopard and EVGA NVIDIA GTX 285 graphics cards. As apps are downloaded from the App Store, their data is coalesced via an XML feed every five minutes. Apps are sorted and scheduled using Cocoa and Objective-C. The data is then passed to an OpenCL kernle, which drives the animation. Quartz Composer brings all the technologies together and renders the final synchonized output using Quartz Composer Visualizer.”

Check out the video for the awesomeness of the Hyperwall.

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Reviews: App Store, Facebook, Twitter

Tags: app store, apple, Hyperwall, iphone, iphone app, wwdc

Send Your Face To Space on the Next Shuttle par Barb Dybwad Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

It might be too late for most of us to become astronauts, but thanks to NASA our visages can at least make it into space. Simply upload a headshot of yourself to the Face in Space landing page for the opportunity to get your picture on one of the two remaining space shuttle missions left as the program prepares to shut down.

You’ll have to be at least 13 years old to participate, but there’s even an option for the camera-shy: you’re welcome to skip the image upload and simply enter your name. Participating in the program also nets you a printable commemorative Flight Certificate signed by the shuttle’s Mission Commander after the spacecraft returns.

Although various personal ephemera have accompanied NASA missions in the past, this is the first time the agency has invited the public to send their own portraits into space. I just secured my head’s slot on the September 16 STS-133 Discovery mission, or you can choose the final STS-134 Endeavour launch in November to get your face into orbit.

Will your countenance be aboard one of the final upcoming shuttle missions?

[via Major Nelson]

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Tags: discovery, endeavour, face in space, NASA, shuttle, space

(Lire la suite) Christina Warren

What Does the New iPhone Mean for Wireless Data Caps? par Christina Warren Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

At the WWDC keynote today Steve Jobs demonstrated not only the new iPhone 4 but also lots of new applications and features that are part of iOS 4. These apps, which included Netflix for the iPhone, FarmVille and Guitar Hero look really fantastic, but they also look pretty bandwidth intensive.

While that might not be a problem provided users are connected via WiFi or on a network that can provide these theoretically awesome HSDPA/HSUPA speeds, what does this mean for iPhone users who might have data limits imposed on them by their carriers?

AT&T made waves last week when it announced new changes to its smartphone data plans. While these new plans might mean substantial savings for customers who don’t use a lot of 3G data on their iPhones, it also imposes a set data cap for usage. With more and more data-intensive apps and services on the way, this may make those new limits disappear more quickly for more users.

Internationally, data caps for mobile usage varies based on the country and the provider, but plenty of users all over the world are already having to be cautious about their data usage. What happens when you have fully interactive iAds added to free apps and more and networked services are added to games via the Apple Game Center?

To be sure, there are things that app developers can do to limit data usage based on how a device is connected — using HTTP Streaming to deliver video at adaptive bitrates for instance — but this is still going to be a hurdle moving forward.

Users Will Have to Monitor Data Usage More Closely

For instance, when Reed Hastings showed off the Netflix app for Phone, my first thought was: How much bandwidth will this use over 3G and how much of AT&T’s 2GB data cap will a single movie occupy?

While you can make the argument that most video viewing on a device like the iPad will likely be done over a WiFi connection, that same argument isn’t as easy to make for the iPhone 4. I have an iPhone 3GS and an iPad 3G. I would say that 90% of the time, my iPad is connected directly to WiFi. However, my iPhone probably uses the 3G data connection at least 50% of the time.

I don’t like knowing that if I want to watch an episode of Lie to Me on the train that I’ll have to think about how much it will affect my monthly download quota.

Beyond that, while Apple’s iAds look great and could offer a very nice way for developers to make money and for users to be provided with genuinely entertaining ads, how much bandwidth will these ads use? Will there be an option to deliver a lower-resolution creative depending on connection?

This is before we even get into one of the most exciting features of the iPhone 4: On-device video editing via iMovie for iPhone. Shooting 720p 30fps video is something I can’t wait to do on my phone — but will it even be conceivable to transfer that video to YouTube over a 3G connection without blowing past my data cap?

Data caps are a part of almost every wireless company — they have for all intents and purposes, replaced voice minutes as the “moneymaker” — and just as many of us had to deal with juggling and monitoring voice minutes five years ago, it looks like we’re going to have to be more and more careful of and conscientious about our data usage for today’s smartphones.

What do you think about the bandwidth implications of the new iPhone 4 and iOS 4? Let us know!

Reviews: YouTube

Tags: att, bandwidth caps, iphone 4, netflix, wireless data

Apple’s iOS 4: Here’s What’s New par Jolie O'Dell Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

One of the most exciting announcements from WWDC today was iOS 4, the iPhone’s new operating system.

The OS, which contains around 100 new and upgraded features, will be rolled out with the new iPhone 4 next month, and it will also be available as a free software update on earlier devices, including the iPad, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and second and third generation iPod touch with 32GB or 64GB storage.

In his keynote address, Steve Jobs chose to highlight a select few of the iOS’s new features, including multitasking, iBooks, advertising and file management. But there wasn’t enough time to cover all the upgrades and improvements. Some of iOS 4’s features that slipped under the radar include app gifting, wireless keyboard support and many others.

We first learned about iOS 4 back in April. At that point, we knew multitasking would be coming to the iPhone “in a way that doesn’t hinder performance or battery life.” Today, Jobs confirmed and demonstrated services such as Pandora and navigation running in the background while other apps were also running in the foreground.

Two other hotly anticipated upgrades for iOS 4 are the Mail app’s major facelift and the all-new app organization functionality.

Now, users can organize their iPhone apps into separate folders for better organization and easy access. iOS 4 will be able to manage up to 2160 applications on a device. Folders will feature the familiar drag-and-drop functionality that Apple device users know and love.

Email on the iPhone is also getting a major overhaul in iOS 4. You’ll be able to view messages from all your accounts in a single, integrated inbox. Messages will be threaded, and you’ll be able to open attachments using third-party apps, as well.

Apple made some significant announcements for multimedia functionality, too. iOS 4 will support custom playlist creation for iTunes, tap-to-focus video, 5x zoom for camera functions, and a Photos feature called “Faces and Places,” which allows users to sort and view photos based on where they were taken and who appears in them.

Finally, applications can now be gifted to friends and family, the background wallpaper on your home screen can be easily changed, a spell-checker has been built into Mail and other apps, and Bluetooth-enabled wireless keyboards will now play nicely with the operating system.

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

Reviews: Bluetooth, Facebook, Pandora, Twitter

Tags: apple, iOS, iOS 4, iphone, iphone 4, ipod, Mobile 2.0, trending, wwdc, wwdc 2010

What Apple Didn’t Announce at WWDC, and Why par Ben Parr Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Today was clearly iPhone 4 day. Apple CEO Steve Jobs used almost all of his keynote time WWDC to talk up the new iPhone and its many features. And while iOS 4.0, FaceTime video calling, and a completely redesigned iPhone were what we wanted to hear about most, a lot of other rumored announcements were conspicuously absent from the two hour presentation.

There were a lot of rumors as to what else Apple might announce. The list wasn’t small and it didn’t come out of thin air. We were expecting a cloud-based version of iTunes, likely called iTunes Live. We thought there would be announcements regarding a refresh to the Macbook line. There were also credible rumors regarding the potential release of Safari 5 today (which was released later despite not being announced in Jobs’s keynote), not to mention Apple TV and the mythical Verizon iPhone.

As we now know though, with the exception of Safari 5 none of those things became reality today. Why weren’t they announced today?

The Virtue of Focus

Apple is notorious for being the center of countless rumors. The secretive company doesn’t spring a lot of information leaks (though it does lose the occasional prototype). That makes for lots of speculation and a lot of incorrect predictions.

If you don’t think Apple’s working on a cloud-based version of iTunes or refreshes to the existing Mac lineup though, then you’re just deluding yourself. Apple’s always working on improving its existing products. The Macbook AIR will be updated… eventually. Apple will bear fruit from its Lala acquisition… eventually. And yes, eventually there will be a U.S. iPhone that is not on AT&T.

However, Steve Jobs understands the necessity of focus. He didn’t want to drown out the iPhone 4’s debut with other major announcements. He wants people talking about the phone, and only the phone. He doesn’t want or need people to be distracted by Safari 5 or Apple TV.

So while we’re as disappointed as you are that we’re not getting our iTunes in the cloud today, it will eventually come. Today was iPhone 4, but tomorrow could be Mac OS. Expect Apple to hold another media event later this summer to talk about the company’s many other products.

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

Reviews: Facebook, Safari, Twitter

Tags: apple, att, iphone, iphone 4, itunes, iTunes Live, macbook air, safari, Safari 5, Verizon iPhone, wwdc

“Guitar Hero” Rocks Out on iPhone par Samuel Axon Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Guitar Hero for iPhone [iTunes link] costs $2.99, and it’s available in the App Store right now. The game was announced during Apple’s WWDC conference just moments before the new iPhone 4.

Guitar Hero is one of the most popular franchises in video game history, having raked in $2 billion since its debut in 2005. Everyone dreams of being a rock star at some point, right?

The iPhone version has the player tap and strum in time with classic rock tracks — not unlike Universal Music’s Six String app. Don’t call it a ripoff, though; while some of the interface might have been borrowed from previous iPhone music games, don’t forget that Guitar Hero birthed the music video game phenomenon to begin with — for the public at large, at least.

You can create a custom, 3D avatar to control when you’re rocking out, and supported bands include Queen and The Rolling Stones.

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

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, iPhone

Tags: activision, App, apple, apple app store, gaming, guitar hero, iphone, iPod Touch, music, queen, the rolling stones, video games, wwdc, wwdc 2010

(Lire la suite) Zachary Sniderman

3 Ways to Watch the 2010 World Cup par Zachary Sniderman Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

worldcup image Soccer fanatics all over the world are eagerly anticipating the kick-off to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Internet has already started to fill up with soccer-themed viral videos, Twitter accounts and epic trailers. This year’s tournament has already been hyped as “the first social media world cup,” but what if you want to actually watch your favorite team compete?

ESPN and ABC have teamed up to bring to your television — in some combination — every single soccer match being played. For footy-fans who don’t have a television, need even more coverage, or simply prefer watching sports on a laptop screen, here are some options for you to watch this year’s World Cup.

1. Live Stream

No TV? ESPN3.com will be live streaming all but 10 of the 64 matches, with ESPNradio and ESPN Mobile providing coverage and stat updates for the rest. You can access individual match streams via the sports drop-down on their website. The best part is that ESPN3’s World Cup coverage is absolutely, 100% free after a prompt to login to your Internet service provider. The catch is that you can’t access the streams unless your Internet provider already pays for access (no love for Time Warner Cable, but full access for Comcast, Verizon or Yahoo users).

Univision will also be live streaming every single match for free online at UnivisionFutbol.com. In addition to matches, Univision has updated their suite of social media options with real-time game stats, commentary, player interviews and behind-the-scene exclusives. For anyone looking to get a jump on the games, Univision offers video on match history and player profiles from World Cup legends past and present. While the site is pretty self-explanatory, knowledge of Spanish helps.

2. Highlights, Recaps, and Post-Game

Half the fun of World Cup soccer is reliving the best goals, moves and moments. There are a slew of sports sites that can dig up ongoing coverage after the match, but several stand out.

FIFA

The official home of the FIFA World Cup is also home to an extensive video library constantly updated with highlights, exclusive interviews and features including a tribute to Nelson Mandela, match reactions and culture spots.

Footytube

Footytube is a website dedicated to soccer videos — from the smallest European leagues all the way up to the World Cup. It’s a good place to look for previous highlights from your favorite players and more esoteric vids like an unofficial World Cup song from Germany. Footytube features highlights from each game as well as a soccer video news feed.

ESPN on YouTube

For those unable to reach ESPN3, their official YouTube channel has a bunch of video previews organized by team as well as commentary from sportscasters. It’s a little glossier and a little less in-depth than Footytube, but look for content to spike when the games officially start.

3. Watch It With Real People

Nothing’s better than sharing that last-minute clutch goal celebration with a group of fellow fans, or having a shoulder to cry on when your team gets eliminated (knock on wood). When television or live streaming isn’t enough, check out these lists of soccer bars to watch the action with your country-men-and-women:

The New York Daily News offers this extensive list of hotspots around New York with “Get Ready to Fill Your Cup,” while GQ Magazine throws in its own national picks for “The Best Soccercentric Bars in America.”

Along with a slew of stats and updates, LiveSoccerTV also dedicates a whole section of its site to soccer pubs. With more than 200 bars listed across America (and more than 125 in Canada) you’re sure to find some place that’s showing the game. While Premium Listed pubs have good information like which teams the pub supports, most listings are just street addresses, so you might want to look them up before you go.

Who knew there was a U.S. Soccer Official Bar Program? This site is a goldmine for those supporting Team USA, featuring an interactive map of pro-USA bars across the country. There is an application process to get on the list so you know the bars have been approved and vetted by U.S. Soccer.

New York’s Internet week (June 7-14) also has its share of World Cup meet ups. Celebrate the start of the games by watching USA vs. England at a sponsored World Cup Kickoff & Tweetup this Friday. Whatever team you support, dress (and tweet) accordingly.

Bonus: Watch It On A Boat

If you’ve always wanted to watch the World Cup on a boat, One Ocean Club has set up a World Cup cruise that will broadcast the matches while sailing between Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth. Other cruise lines have promised to show the games, but be careful — some of them have staked their team loyalties. For example, Carnival’s U.K. brands are pro-England while Thomson Cruises will also be showing Brazil and Spain.

Whatever your persuasion, be sure to check back for continuing World Cup coverage or leave your own viewing suggestions in the comments below.

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

More sports resources from Mashable:

- Top 6 Free World Cup iPhone Apps
- 10 Best World Cup Goals on YouTube
- When Social Media Gets Athletes in Trouble
- 5 Predictions for Athletes on Social Media in 2010
- 5 Social Media Lessons the NBA Can Teach Businesses

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, monkeybusinessimages

Reviews: Facebook, Internet, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphoto

Tags: espn3, fifa, footytube, List, Lists, Live Stream, South Africa, sports, twitter, us soccer, viral videos, web video, world cup

Safari 5 Announced, Then Pulled par Barb Dybwad Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

A press release announcing the release of Safari 5 hit the wires and was pulled shortly thereafter — indicating that although we didn’t hear anything about it in today’s WWDC keynote, the next version of Apple’s WebKit-based browser should be available in the extremely near future.

UPDATE: — Safari 5 is now officially available.

We don’t see Safari 5 available via System Update yet which, combined with the pulled press release, may indicate some problem serious enough to cause delay was encountered at the last minute. Nevertheless we should expect the new browser version to hit the streets (and by “the streets” we mean “the tubes“) very soon, so let’s take a look at the new goodies we should be expecting to see in this release:

Safari Reader — a new scrollable interface for reading RSS feeds “without distraction.” We’re imagining some kind of stripped down and uncluttered newsreader interface.
Safari Extensions — this ups the ante from Safari Add-Ons that arguably weren’t widely known or used and should make extending the browser capability more equivalent to the robust extensions experience enjoyed by Firefox and Chrome users.
Extension Builder — a new tool for developers to help make it easy to develop and deploy extensions. Along with this, Apple reports a “new, free Safari Developer Program allows developers to customize and enhance Safari 5 with extensions based on standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript.”
The option to use Bing as the default search engine, just like it was announced for Safari Mobile today
30% performance boost over Safari 4
Improved developer tools
Over a dozen new HTML5 technologies

The press release had indicated that Safari 5 would be available today, but since that document was now been pulled it’s hard to say when this might finally drop (we’ve embedded the text below). It will likely be pretty soon however, so if you notice the browser turn up before we do please shoot us a tip.

What are you most looking forward to in Safari 5?

Pulled Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO, June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple today released Safari 5, the latest version of the world’s fastest and most innovative web browser, featuring the new Safari Reader for reading articles on the web without distraction, a 30 percent performance increase over Safari 4,* and the ability to choose Google, Yahoo! or Bing as the search service powering Safari’s search field. Available for both Mac and Windows, Safari 5 includes improved developer tools and supports more than a dozen new HTML5 technologies that allow web developers to create rich, dynamic websites. With Safari 5, developers can now create secure Safari Extensions to customize and enhance the browsing experience.

“Safari continues to lead the pack in performance, innovation and standards support,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Safari now runs on over 200 million devices worldwide and its open source WebKit engine runs on over 500 million devices.”

Safari Reader makes it easy to read single and multipage articles on the web by presenting them in a new, scrollable view without any additional content or clutter. When Safari 5 detects an article, users can click on the Reader icon in the Smart Address Field to display the entire article for clear, uninterrupted reading with options to enlarge, print or send via email.

Powered by the Nitro JavaScript engine, Safari 5 on the Mac runs JavaScript 30 percent faster than Safari 4, three percent faster than Chrome 5.0, and over twice as fast as Firefox 3.6.* Safari 5 loads new webpages faster using Domain Name System (DNS) prefetching, and improves the caching of previously viewed pages to return to them more quickly.

Safari 5 adds more than a dozen powerful HTML5 features that allow web developers to create media-rich experiences, including full screen playback and closed captions for HTML5 video. Other new HTML5 features in Safari 5 include HTML5 Geolocation, HTML5 sectioning elements, HTML5 draggable attribute, HTML5 forms validation, HTML5 Ruby, HTML5 AJAX History, EventSource and WebSocket.

The new, free Safari Developer Program allows developers to customize and enhance Safari 5 with extensions based on standard web technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The Extension Builder, new in Safari 5, simplifies the development, installation and packaging of extensions. For enhanced security and stability, Safari Extensions are sandboxed, signed with a digital certificate from Apple and run solely in the browser.

Pricing & Availability

Safari 5 is available for both Mac OS X and Windows as a free download at www.apple.com/safari. Safari 5 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8 or Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.2 or later. Safari 5 for Windows requires Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista or Windows 7, a minimum 256MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor. Full system requirements and more information on Safari 5 can be found at www.apple.com/safari. The Safari Developer Program is free to join at developer.apple.com/programs/safari.

*Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection and other factors. All testing conducted by Apple in May 2010 on an iMac 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system running Mac OS X 10.6.3, with 4GB of RAM. JavaScript benchmark based on the SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript Performance test.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II, then reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh. Apple continues to lead the industry with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife, iWork and professional applications. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

2010 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, Leopard and iMac are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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

Reviews: App Store, Bing, Chrome, Facebook, Firefox, Google, Safari, Twitter, Windows, Windows Vista

Tags: apple, Browsers, chrome, css3, extensions, firefox HTML5, javascript, safari, Safari 5, safari extensions, software, webkit, wwdc, wwdc 2010

(Lire la suite) Brenna Ehrlich

“Glee” Actress Stars in iPhone 4 Parody [VIDEO] par Brenna Ehrlich Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Did you know there’s a new iPhone coming out this month? Yeah, we thought so. Well, if you’ve had it up to here (holds hand somewhere near crown of head) with Apple-related news, you might want to check out this iPhone commercial parody, starring Jane Lynch (a.k.a. Glee’s Sue Sylvester).

Yeah, the “Get a Mac” commercials may have gone toe-up, but the send-ups keep coming. This one was made by Take180 — an online network for teens that creates web shows via audience participation — as part of its web series, Electric Spoofaloo. The spoof’s target? The iPhone 4.

We’re sure that the “dropped call” reference will serve as at least a little (cold) comfort for those who were hoping for an announcement involving Verizon today.

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

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: apple, GLEE, humor, iphone 4, pop culture, web video

Facebook Launches New Analytics for “Like” Data par Jennifer Van Grove Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Facebook has released a refreshed Insights dashboard that provides deeper analytics on user demographics, “Likes,” shares and reshares. The dashboard is designed for page owners, publishers using the new social plugins and application developers.

The aggregate data covered in the new dashboard essentially highlights Facebook users’ sharing behavior related to both content on and off the site with better data, graphs and charts.

Users can visualize top level info, as well as drill down to look at specific metrics around individual stories and comments “Liked” on the page. Graphs in the Insights dashboard can even be saved, printed, or upsized and viewed in full screen mode.

Domain administrators who associate their domain with a user ID, page or application can view detailed — yet anonymous — demographic data for each domain. These demographic visualizations cover gender, age, country, city and language breakdowns for a comprehensive look at audience makeup.

Application developers can get information about referral traffic to their applications, feedback on stream stories and other significant data on user engagement with the application.

The refreshed Insights dashboard appears to be designed to prove to publishers and application developers that sharing and the new Instant Personalization feature are being heavily adopted by users. It’s a smart upgrade that will better help business-oriented Facebook users measure progress within the social network and on their own pages.

[img credit: Christopher S. Penn]

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

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: facebook, Facebook Like, insights dashboard, MARKETING

(Lire la suite) Jennifer Van Grove

Watch the Mashable Media Summit Livestream Tomorrow par Adam Hirsch Mardi 8 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Tomorrow we’ll be kicking off Mashable and CNN’s first joint one-day conference in New York City: Mashable Media Summit 2010.

Tickets have officially sold out — but if you didn’t get a ticket you can still join in via our livestream. Just RSVP for the Mashable Media Livestream event on Facebook and you’ll receive a reminder as the conference approaches. The livestream will be available on Mashable.com and Livestream.com on starting 9:45 a.m. Tuesday.

We’ve added some exciting speakers, including award-winning actor Edward Norton, Alec Ross, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Senior Advisor for Innovation, and CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

More Ways to Follow the Summit

If you’re joining us for the summit, we encourage you to update using various social services. Help us keep those unable to attend informed on what’s happening. If you’re not attending, here are a few ways to following the news at the Summit.

Twitter: On Twitter using the #mashablesummit tag.
Pegshot: Mashable Media Summit Event on PegShot (You can register here).
Hot Potato: Live event updates on Hot Potato.

About the Mashable Media Summit

Date: Tuesday, June 8 2010
Time: 8:30 a.m. Registration – 6:30 p.m. End of Wine & Cheese Networking Event (see full agenda)
Location: TheTimesCenter, 242 West 41st Street, NYC (see full venue details)

The Mashable Media Summit will be hosted by Shira Lazar and feature presentations from thought leaders in the fields of:

Location (Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder of Foursquare)
Acting (Edward Norton, award-winning actor)
Government (Alec Ross, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Senior Advisor for Innovation)
Health (Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent at CNN)
Branding (Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks Coffee Company)
Social & Digital Media (Pete Cashmore, CEO of Mashable.com)
Research (Duncan Watts, Principal Research Scientist at Yahoo!)
Online Video (Ricky Van Veen, CEO and Co-Founder, Notional and College Humor)
Social & Digital Media (Adam Ostrow, Editor-in-Chief of Mashable.com)
Comedy (Baratunde Thurston, Web Editor at The Onion)
Music (Josh Charles, singer/songwriter/pianist)
Hospitality (Brian Simpson, Roger Smith Hotel)
Sports (Len Berman, That’s Sports)
Online Media (KC Estenson, SVP & General Manager at CNN.com)
Non-profits (Wendy Harman, Social Media Manager at American Red Cross)
Digital Media (Peter Kafka, Senior Editor at All Things Digital)
Design (Scott Belsky, CEO & Founder of Behance)
Records (Dan Rollman, President at URDB World Records)
Causing a Scene (Charlie Todd, Founder of Improv Everywhere)
Mobile (Christy Wyatt, Corporate VP of Software & Services Product Management, Motorola Mobile Devices)

In Partnership with

“CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.”

Exclusive Mobile Partner

MOTOBLUR from Motorola was built expressly for the way people communicate today. It’s the only service that automatically delivers and organizes your conversations, contacts and content from all your favorite sites and sources in easy-to-manage streams. Whether it’s Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, text messages, Gmail or work e-mail, MOTOBLUR keeps track of it all and serves it up on a customizable home screen and integrates it through the phone. Plus, with MOTOBLUR you have peace of mind, because all of your info is backed up and secure. Available exclusively on select Motorola handsets, MOTOBLUR lets you spend less time managing life and more time living it.

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

Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Gmail, Internet, Mashable, MySpace, Twitter, Yahoo!, sports

Tags: announcements, mashable events, mashable media summit, media summit

(Lire la suite) Adam Hirsch

iPhone 4 vs. HTC Evo vs. Droid Incredible [INFOGRAPHIC] par Shane Snow Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Now that the iPhone 4 has been officially revealed and Steve Jobs has shown off all of the supposedly remarkable things it can do, we thought we’d cut through the hype and pit the new iPhone against its competition in the clearest way we know how: with an infographic.

The infographic below compares the latest wave of touchscreen smartphones head-to-head: the HTC Evo, the Droid Incredible and the Apple iPhone 4.

From the Evo’s giant screen, to the Droid’s removable battery, to the iPhone’s 300 hour standby time (advertised), see how the hottest phones stack up. Which of these phones would you rather own? Do you already have any of these phones or do you plan to get one? Let us know in the comments.

Update: A previous version of this graphic incorrectly listed the HTC Evo and Droid Incredible prices. It has been corrected.

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

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: droid, droid incredible, evo, htc, htc evo, HTC EVO 4G, infographi, infographics, iphone, iphone 4

(Lire la suite) Shane Snow

Free Music Monday: Tune in for 10 Free Downloads par Barb Dybwad Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Howdy, music lovers! Thanks for checking out this week’s edition of Free Music Monday, in which we give you 10 free tracks in honor of the #musicmonday tradition on Twitter.

We hope you enjoy this edition’s eclectic selection of free tunes we’ve collected. If there’s a genre you’d like to hear more of, drop us a line in the comments. And if you’d like to appear in a future edition of Free Music Monday, please check out the submission guidelines at the end of this post.

As ever, thanks for tuning in to Free Music Monday!

1. [ROCK] YUCA: “It’s About Something” — This British Columbian quartet recently represented their province with performances at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Right-click for your free track, and check out more about the band on their website.
2. [ALTERNATIVE] Mojave: “Wake Up” — Vancouver duo Paul and Lisa Jarvis are behind the “spooky, folky soundscapes” of Mojave. They offer Mashable readers a free track (use the widget below to get it) from their sophomore effort, Crow’s Funeral, released on their own label, Black Canvas Records. Fun fact: the theremin you hear in the bridge is powered by the iPhone app CosmoVox.

Wake Up by mojave
3. [INDIE/POP] Paul Loren: “Daddy’s Dime” — Looking for “espresso-fueled bop, livingroom pop, and Wurlitzer-driven romps”? Then get your right-click on for this track from New York’s Paul Loren. Find out more about the artist on his website and on Facebook.
4. [ELECTRO] Thunderheist: “Drive-In [A B-LIVE ORIGINAL]“ — Thunderheist is Canadian producer / singer combo Grahm Zilla and MC Isis. Download a free copy of this exclusive mix developed for Bacardi’s B-LIVE online music program from the widget below, plus grab a bonus free remix of the track from Drop the Lime from the next embedded player.

Thunderheist – Drive-In [A B-LIVE ORIGINAL] by BACARDI B-LIVE

Thunderheist – Drive-In [DROP THE LIME'S B-LIVE MIX] by BACARDI B-LIVE
5. [INDIE] State Bird: “Good Vibes” — Use the widget below to get your free track from Dover, Ohio’s creative rocking four-piece, State Bird. Check out more about the band on MySpace and at their label, The Record Machine.
6. [METAL] Hellyeah: “Cowboy Way” — This hard rocking supergroup is comprised of members from Pantera, Mudvayne, Damageplan and Nothingface. Their upcoming sophomore album Stampede will drop on July 13, and the band offers Mashable readers a free preview track (right-click to get it). Check out more about the band on their website.
7. [INDIE FOLK] Peggy Sue: “Watchman” — Brighton, England’s Peggy Sue offers Mashable readers a free track from their just released album Fossils and Other Phantoms. Right-click to snag the harmony-infused indie folk number, and check out the official video below.

Watchman from Peggy Sue on Vimeo.
8. [HIP HOP] Jonay Ft. Jasmine Kara: “Skydiving” — Swedish artist and producer Jonay took an unusual approach to this track, beginning with a beat and a poll on music community Jamendo. Having crowdsourced the song’s topic, he got help from the Dropzone skydiving community for the lyrics. Download the track below, and get lots more from the artist on his website.
Free music for professional licensing
9. [SINGER/SONGWRITER] Melanie Edwards: “Daniel’s Lane” — “Musical scientist” and cabaret enthusiast Melanie Edwards offers Mashable readers a free track (right-click to get it) from her recently released EP, Between the Binary. Find out more about the creative cross-genre artist/mad scientist on her website, and pick up the whole EP on iTunes.
10. [COUNTRY] Anthony Smith: “Love is Love is Love” — Originally hailing from East Tennessee, singer and guitarist Anthony Smith likes plenty of classic-toned rock with his country. Having penned numerous hit songs for a roster of superstars from Kenny Rogers and George Strait to Trisha Yearwood and Faith Hill, the artist and performer has started his own label to put out his upcoming album Sunshine. He offers Mashable readers a free download (right-click) of the first single from the album, slated to drop this summer.

As always, big thanks to all who tuned in for this week’s Free Music Monday! If you find something you like in this feature, please feel free to share it with your music-loving friends. You can always check out the latest edition of FMM, plus all the past editions, on the Free Music Monday tag page, so be sure to tune in each week. We’ve also included the list of past Free Music Mondays at the end of this post in case you want to check out the back catalog.

Huge thanks to everyone who has submitted tracks. If you sent us something and we haven’t included it yet, stay tuned for a future Free Music Monday. Here is how to submit your music to FMM:

Attention artists/labels: there are new submission guidelines for Free Music Monday. Please pick one track you’re willing to give away to Mashable readers as a free download and either a) include it as an attachment in your email to barb+FMM AT mashable DOT com (25 MB file size limit, please) or b) include a link to a location where we can download the song (use temporary file sharing sites like zshare at your own risk, because we may not get around to auditioning your track before the links expire). If you want to use “in exchange for email” or other specific widgets to offer the track to Mashable readers that’s totally fine — just send us or point us to the embed code. Please also include any relevant information about the artist (or link to their bio) plus their Twitter account, if they have one.

If you’d like to also point us to more of the submitted artist’s work online where we can stream and/or download it, please feel free — but you must complete either a or b to be considered for Free Music Monday. Due to overwhelming submission volume we are sadly unable to include each and every submission or even reply to every inquiry. If we haven’t posted your track yet, you are welcome to submit another new track at a reasonable and totally not pushy time interval. If we’ve already posted a track from your band or artist, we are unlikely to double up and post something else from you for some time — as much as we love all of you! This makes FMM more diverse and inclusive of new music. Thanks!

Free Music Monday Back Catalogue

- 10 Completely Free Downloads (April 12, 2010)
- 10 Entirely Free Downloads (April 5, 2010)
- 10 Free downloads and More (April 26, 2010)
- 10 Free Downloads Just for You (March 22, 2010)
- 10 Free Tracks (March 8, 2010)
- 10 Free Tracks to Download (May 10, 2010)
- 10 Fresh and Free Downloads (May 24, 2010)
- 10 Totally Free Downloads (March 29, 2010)
- Alternative Rock Edition
- Covers, Remixes, and Mashups Edition
- Free Music Monday: Download 10 Free Tracks (May 3, 2010)
- Electronica Edition
- Free Downloads for Your Collection (Feb. 8, 2010)
- Free Downloads for Your Ears (Feb. 1, 2010)
- Fresh and Free Downloads (Jan. 25, 2010)
- Get 10 Free Downloads Right Here! (March 1, 2010)
- Get Your 10 Free Downloads (May 17, 2010)
- Get Your 10 Free Downloads (April 19, 2010)
- Hip-hop Edition
- Labor Day Edition
- Live Edition
- Memorial Day Edition (May 31, 2010)
- Rock and Pop Edition
- Singer-Songwriter Edition
- This Week’s Free Downloads (Feb. 15, 2010)
- Video Edition
- Your Submissions Edition
- Your Submissions, All Downloads Edition

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Reviews: Facebook, Mashable, Twitter, Vimeo, love
Tags: free music monday, Lists, mp3s, music

(Lire la suite) Jennifer Van Grove

iPhone 4 Supports Video Calling with FaceTime par Jennifer Van Grove Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Steve Jobs’s WWDC 2010 “one more thing” surprise at today’s WWDC 2010 was that the new iPhone 4 will include FaceTime — a.k.a video calling.

FaceTime is a one-tap feature on the new iPhone that will work from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 via the native calling functionality. The feature is practically self-explanatory: Simply tap on the FaceTime button — located where the Hold button is now — to initiate a video call.

FaceTime is a Wi-Fi-only feature at launch, which means it will not work over AT&T’s 3G network or international carriers’ networks.

In spite of network limitations, FaceTime over Wi-Fi is quite remarkable and can switch seamlessly with a single click between the front and back cameras to change the camera perspective during a call. Apple designed the front-facing camera especially for video calls, which means it was built to focus on your face when you hold it at arm’s length. FaceTime also works in both landscape and portrait modes.

As mentioned above, FaceTime is a part of the standard calling functionality of iPhone 4, so no additional setup is required. The technology is also being released as an open industry standard, which means developers will be able to add FaceTime functionality to their applications.

We have a sneaking suspicion that this single feature will help to ensure that Apple sells large quantities of the new iPhone 4 once pre-orders become available on June 15, and when it hits store shelves on June 24.

For a demo of FaceTime in action, start watching at the 45 second mark in the video embedded below.

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Tags: iphone, iphone 4

New iPhone Release Date Announced at WWDC 2010 par Samuel Axon Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Ready for an upgrade? Apple says that the new iPhone 4 will be available in stores in the U.S., the UK, France, Germany and Japan on Thursday, June 24, and in 88 more countries by September — so now you know when you can get your hands on one.

Steve Jobs just announced the newest iPhone at WWDC, the company’s annual conference for application developers.

If you’re interested in purchasing an iPhone 4, you’ll be able to pre-order the new iPhone beginning Tuesday, June 15. Hit up the Apple and AT&T store the day phone launches if you’d rather pick up your phone in person.

As with the release of the iPad and previous-generation iPhones, expect the lines to be full of eager would-be buyers. Camp out or wait a couple days — the choice is yours. Let us know which way you’re going to go.

The iPhone 4 will be available in both black and white, either with 16 GB of storage ($199) or 32 GB ($299) with a 2-year contract. AT&T is granting early upgrade dates to some iPhone buyers, so if you’re a current 3G or 3GS owner, be sure and check your AT&T account website to see if you’re eligible.

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: apple, iphone, iphone 4g, iphone hd, wwdc

(Lire la suite) Shane Snow

iPad By the Numbers [INFOGRAPHIC] par Shane Snow Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Before he got to all of the juicy details about the iPhone 4, Steve Jobs spent some time at today’s WWDC keynote event going over the state of Apple’s last major product, the iPad. According to Mr. Jobs, the iPad nation is well and thriving.

With millions of devices sold, thousands of apps, and e-book sales numbers that might be making Amazon nervous, the iPad appears to be a continued success. Check out infographic below for the full skinny on the state of the iPad.

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Reviews: Amazon.com, Facebook, Twitter

Tags: apple, infographic, infographics, ipad, stats, steve jobs, wwdc

Apple iBooks Gets Annotations, Bookmarks and PDFs par Samuel Axon Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

The iPhone 4 wasn’t Apple’s only announcement at WWDC today; Steve Jobs also unveiled some upgrades to iBooks for the iPad, including PDF viewing capabilities and support for both annotations and page bookmarks.

iBooks will have two bookshelves — one for regular iBooks content and one for PDFs. The PDFs will be presented just like the books, and whenever you come across a PDF file in an e-mail or on the web, you’ll be able to jump right into iBooks to view it.

You’ll also be given better tools for keeping track of important passages in any iBook or PDF file. The new app lets you bookmark any page with just one tap, or highlight text and leave annotations for future reference.

As announced a couple of weeks ago, Apple will let independent authors self-publish to the iBookstore, bypassing the big book publishers. That news wasn’t in focus at WWDC, but it bears mentioning regardless, as it could have significant implications for the publishing industry if iBooks evolves into a massive success.

Apple also has plans to launch iBooks on the iPhone and iPod touch, with PDF support included. All versions will wirelessly sync your notes, places and bookmarks between all your devices. And thanks to its resolution bump, the iPhone 4’s new Retina Display will be the next best thing to an iPad for reading books and PDFs in iBooks.

[img credit: gdgt]

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, gdgt

Tags: apple, iBooks, wwdc

(Lire la suite) Christina Warren

iPhone 4 Pricing Revealed par Christina Warren Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

At WWDC, Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPhone 4. According to Apple, the newest iPhone will be available at standard prices in five countries starting June 24, and will be released to dozens more countries over the course of the summer.

You can pre-order the iPhone 4 online beginning June 15.

As with the release of the iPad and previous-generation iPhones, expect the lines to be chock-full of buyers eager to get their hands on Apple’s latest smartphone.

Now that you know when you can get one, the next question is: How much will it cost?

For new AT&T subscribers or for customers who are eligible for an upgrade, the new iPhone will cost $199 for the 16GB version and $299 for the 32GB version with a two-year contract, and will be available in white and black.

As has been the case in years past, AT&T customers who purchased the iPhone 3GS last year at launch will be eligible for the upgrade pricing on day one. AT&T is actually making the upgrade available now to anyone who can upgrade 2010 (check eligibility on AT&T’s website). Existing customers who are not eligible for upgrade pricing can still get the new phone at the unsubsidized prices of $499 and $599 respectively.

Last week, AT&T announced that it was making some changes to its smartphone data plan prices and these rates will be the default for brand new AT&T iPhone customers. Existing customers can choose to keep their current data plan/rate or they can switch to one of the new plans. Please note, tethering will only be available for customers who switch to one of the new data plans and it will be an additional $20 per month.

Of course, the U.S. isn’t the only country that has the iPhone, and iPhone 4 will be shipping to four other countries on launch day: France, Germany, United Kingdom and Japan.

[img credit: gdgt]

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, gdgt

Tags: apple, iphone 4

“FarmVille” Is Coming to the iPhone par Samuel Axon Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

The day has finally come: FarmVille is coming to the iPhone. Game maker Zynga revealed the new app at Apple’s WWDC conference this morning.

FarmVille is one of the most popular games ever made for any platform, with tens of millions of players on Facebook, and those players won’t have to miss a beat to start playing on the go. The iPhone version of FarmVille will sync up with the Facebook one, so nobody will have to start over.

In fact, FarmVille for iPhone will offer a certain edge to virtual farming fanatics; push notifications will let them know when their crops are in danger of withering. Some exclusive content will be available on the iPhone version as well, including a snow leopard — a tongue-in-cheek reference to Apple’s Mac software.

Sure, Time named FarmVille among the world’s worst inventions, but Yahoo, 7-11 and the iPhone are all connected to FarmVille now. It’s a force that can’t be stopped, apparently.

[img credit: gdgt]

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo!, gdgt

Tags: apple, facebook, farmville, games, iphone, online games, social gaming, Zynga

iPhone Gets iMovie for HD Video Recording and Editing par Jolie O'Dell Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Amateur and on-the-go video artists will appreciate Apple’s announcements today regarding the iPhone’s latest and greatest video capabilities.

Not only will the device’s upgraded 5MP camera with LED video flash be able to shoot HD video; the device will include an all-new app for editing those vids on the fly.

iMovie for iPhone 4 will allow users to record, edit and share video directly from the iPhone. You’ll be able to record clips directly into the video timeline or choose from previously shot clips and photos in the device’s memory.

Moreover, music can be added to these movies. The app comes with a few tunes pre-installed, and users can choose to add more tracks from an iTunes library.

Videos can be rendered in 360p, 520p and 720p. Users can also choose to add geolocation data to their videos. The app will be available in the App Store for $4.99.

What do you think of this new capability? Can you see it being a useful tool for instant video?

[img credit: woodleywonderworks]

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Tags: apple, imovie, iphone, iphone 4, wwdc

The iPhone 4 Is Here par Jolie O'Dell Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Today at WWDC, Steve Jobs officially announced the new fourth-generation iPhone, to be called the iPhone 4.

Thanks to that whole lost prototype incident, we’ve known what the phone was going to look like for several months. But now we have confirmation of the final design as well several of the 100 new features and specifications.

The new phone is powered by an A4 CPU (the same chip used in the iPad) and sports a 3.5-inch screen with 960×640 resolution, dual mics, and an upgraded camera system that will include HD video recording and editing capabilities.

Here are a handful of specs we’ve learned so far:

9.3mm thick, 24% thinner than current iPhone
3.5″ display, same as current iPhone
326 ppi display, 4 times the previous iPhone’s pixel density
Case uses stainless steel and glass, including a glass back for the device
Powered by the A4 chip
Larger battery means 7 hours of talk time, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of WiFi browsing, 10 hours of video, 40 hours of music and 300 hours of standby
7.2MB download and 5.8MB upload speeds, depending on carrier capabilities
Gryroscope in addition to accelerometer
5MP camera with 5x zoom, tap to focus and LED flash
HD video recording, and iMovie for editing video on the iPhone
Front- and rear-facing cameras for FaceTime, the new video chat app
iOS will allow for multitasking

Rumors about the latest iPhone, which has often mistakenly been called the iPhone HD have been flying around since early this year. At the end of March, the most substantive rumors were posted by John Gruber. Many of those features are included in the final product.

One of the most anticipated features of the new iPhone is iPhone 4.0 OS, or iOS. The new operating system supports multitasking, video chat, better file management and folders, iBooks, the new iAd platform and the Apple Game Center.

Current iPhone owners who have an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS can also upgrade to the new iPhone OS 4.0, but only third-generation iPod touch, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 owners will be able to take advantage of multitasking.

The new iPhone is available in black and in white, with storage capabilities of 16 and 32GB. The device will be available starting June 24 in select countries. Pricing starts at $199 for the 16GB model with an AT&T upgrade and 2-year contract. The 32GB device starts at $299.

If you want to learn more, or if you just want to watch some Apple-sanctioned iPhone porn, check out this video, ripped from the Apple site by the fine folks at Geekwood:

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: apple, iphone, iphone 4g, iphone hd, iphone OS 4, wwdc

(Lire la suite) Stephanie Marcus

10 Essential Accessories for the Fashionable Geek par Stephanie Marcus Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Just because you sit behind a laptop all-day doesn’t mean you don’t know fashion when you see it. How can you show the world you are Internet-savy and proud?

Wear your passion for tech on your sleeve with this awesome, quirky, geek-chic gear.

With reporting by Zachary Sniderman

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

More entertainment resources from Mashable:

- 5 Matching iPhone and iPad Cases
- 9 Fantastic Facebook Pages for Fashion
- 9 Ways to Geek Out Your T-Shirt Collection
- 10 Awesome Apple iPad Cases
- Super Fly T-Shirt Displays How Much E-Mail You Have [VIDEO]

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: accessories, belt, cuff link, fashion, geek, guitar, headband, jesus, necklace, Nike, pacman, panties, Star Trek, tshirt, twitter, workout wear

LIVE: Steve Jobs Keynote at WWDC par Ben Parr Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Today, the spotlight is directly on Apple and its co-founder and CEO, Steve Jobs. It is the opening day of Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference — WWDC — here in San Francisco, and Jobs will be opening up the event.

This year’s WWDC is expected to be packed with major announcements. Not only do we expect to see the new iPhone unveiled, but
rumors are swirling around iPhone OS 4.0, a cloud-based version of iTunes, Mobile Me upgrades, Safari 5, Macbook Air upgrades, and even the mythical, unicorn-like Verizon iPhone.

In a few minutes, we’ll know which of these announcements are real and which ones were just speculation. We are here now in the audience of WWDC, awaiting Steve Jobs to take the stage. Below are my live notes for his keynote:

Image Gallery

Live Notes: Steve Jobs at WWDC

- It’s 9:10 AM PT, and we’re waiting in line to get into the keynote. Press and VIPs have lined up. Here’s the line:

- 9:30 AM. We’re finally sitting. It’s Louis Armstrong playing on the speakers.

- Hey, here’s a picture of the stage:

- 9:56 AM: “Please turn off all cell phones and PDAs.” The show’s about to begin.

- It’s 10:00, and Steve is on stage!

iPad

- Yup, Jobs is starting with the iPad. He’ s talking about how it’s magical. It got a girl interested in a happy customer, apparently.

- 2 million iPads sold, 10 countries.

- They just showed off a cute video of international iPad coverage.

- 19 countries by the end of 2010.

- 17 apps per iPad, 35 million apps downloaded.

- Gowalla, WebMD, eBay, and some education apps are getting a shoutout on the iPad.

- “I earned more on sales of The Elements for iPad in the first day than from the past 5 years of Google ads on periodictable.com” – from Wolfram Associates, an iPad app developer.

- iBooks is getting updated. First 65 days, 5 million e-book downloads. So 2.5 books per iPad.

- iBooks has a 22% market share in the ebook market.

- Can view PDFs in iBooks now. It’s just like a book.

App Store

- 225,000 apps in the app store.

- Steve Jobs is now talking about the app store approval process. 15,000 apps submitted per week in 30 languages.

- 95% of apps are approved within 7 days.

- So…here’s why apps are not approved. 1) The app doesn’t funciton as advertised by the developer. 2) Use of private APIs, and 3) the app crashes.

- Now eBay’s app is getting Apple’s love. 10 million downloads, $600 million in volume in its first year. It’s going to do $1.5 billion to $2 billion this year.

- Three more apps getting love from Apple. First is netflix, and Reed Hastings, CEO, is on stage.

- Announcement: Netflix coming to the iPhone this summer for free.

- You can take movies you’re watching on your TV and continue htem on your iPhone seemlessly. It works on-the-go (aka 3G).

- Second app: Zynga. Mark Pinkus, CEO, is on stage.

- Announcement: Farming for the iPhone from Zynga, the company behind FarmVille.

- You can access your farm from the iPhone, buy animals (some exclusive to the iPhone), and even get push notifications for your crops.

- “For those of you who don’t farm…you should.” Classic Mark Pinkus.

- #3: Activision, who is talking about Guitar Hero. Karthik Bala, SVP, is on stage.

- It is a unique Guitar hero experience for iPhone. It utilizes tapping mechanics, but it also has strumming mechanics for iPhone. This actually looks quite hard to master!

- It’s available for $2.99

- Announcement: 5 Billion Downloads from the app store. Last week, they crossed the threshold.

- How much has Apple paid to developers from its 70%? $1 billion dollars is what.

- #3: Activision, who is talking about Guitar Hero. Karthik Bala, SVP, is on stage.

- It is a unique Guitar hero experience for iPhone. It utilizes tapping mechanics, but it also has strumming mechanics for iPhone. This actually looks quite hard to master!

- It’s available for $2.99

- Announcement: 5 Billion Downloads from the app store. Last week, they crossed the threshold.

- How much has Apple paid to developers from its 70%? $1 billion dollars is what.

iPhone

- Stebe Jobs is talking about the iPhone market share. RIM #1 with 35%. iPhone #2 with 28%. Windows Mobile #3 at 19%, and #4 Android 9% in Q1 2010 for smartphone.

- iPhone has 58.2% market share of US mobile browsing usage. Android is at 22.7%.

- 2007: iPhone re-invents the phone.

- iPhone 4 Revealed!

- He’s going to cover 8 new features of the new iPhone.

#1) All new design. “Some of you have already seen this.” — haha, poking at Gizmodo.

- But it does look like the Gizmodo phone. Glass on the front and rear, stainless steel all around

- LED flash and camera on the back. Cmaera in the front. Microphone, 30-pin connector and speaker on the bototm. It has two mics, a headseet, and sleep-wake button. It’s the thinnest iPhone yet.

- “What are these lines?” There are 3 slits in the phone, “brilliant engineering” that makes the case part of the antenna system. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS, GSM and UMTS has integrated antennas.

#2) Retina Display.

- “What’s that?” They increased the pixel density of the iPhone by 4x.

- Retina Display has 326 pixels per inch.

- 300 is the limit of human retina, where the eye can differentiate between them. “Continuous curves,” as Steve Jobs puts it.

- He’s going to Demo the Retina Display

- Wow, it’s very clear with the pixel display. Steve Jobs really loves his Retina Display.

- Even Steve Jobs hates Moscone Center’s wifi. The demo has been damaged by bad wifi.

- 3.5 inch display, 960×640 pixels, 326 pixels per inch, 800:1 contrast ratio (4x better0, IPS technology for wide viewing angle, sharp text and images.

- 78% of the pixels of the iPad.

- Existing apps look better because it renders text and controls in the higher resolution.

#3) iPhone is powered by the Apple A4 chip

- You have to hunt to find the A4 chip. It has a micro SIM tray, 3G radios, speaker, Lithium ion battery, flash memory, et.

- 40% more talk time on 3G, from 4 to 7 hours.

- 6 hours of 3G browinsg, 10 hours of wifi browsing, 10 hours of video, 40 hours of music, and 300 hours of standby.

- Up to 32 GB of storage, quad-band HSDPA/HSUPA, 6.2 Mbps down, 5.8 Mbps up (theoretical, since carriers don’t support that fast yet)

#4) GYROSCOPE

- He added a 3-axis gyroscope. Damn. It comes with every iPhone 4.

- The iphone is really precise with it. If you turn aroud, the image on the phone turns around.

- He just played a 3D game pulling the bricks out of a tower. I forgot what you call that game.

#5) New camera system.

- They focused on capturing photos and not the megapixels. They’ve gone from a 3MP to a 5MP sensor, but they’re using a backside illuminated senor to get a lot more photons.

- 1.75 micron-sized pixels.

- 5x digital zoom and tap to focus

- LED flash

- “But that’s not all!” It records HD video. 720p at 30 fps.

- Tap to focus video

- Built in video editing, One click sharing

- LED flash stays on for video

Announcement: iMovie for iPhone

- On stage: Randy Ubillos, Chief Architect, Video Applications

- Ubillos is showing off the features. Things such as theme transitions, titles, etc.

- Camera records geolocation and automatically locates it in the theme of imovie.

- You can bring in audio from your iTunes library or theme music from iMovie.

- It has nice transitions. It’s really rich.

- Cost: $4.99

Funny: Steve Jobs is asking everybody to turn off MiFis, laptops, and putting them on the floor. He waited for everyone to do it.

#6) iPhone OS 4.0 has been renamed, iOS 4.0.

- Yeah, this make sense.

- 100 new user features.

- Steve Jobs is talking about its features — Folders, Multitasking, etc. These are things we’ve seen before.

- Now Steve Jobs is playing Pandora. And the wifi worked!

- Mail: Unified inbox, can switch inboxes quickly.

- Threading: it’s like Gmail! Threaded messages!

- Multitasking, folders, retina display integration, unified inbox and threading, enhanced camera and photo apps, deeper enterprise support.

- Bing search added as a search engine. Google will remain the default.

- 100 millionth iOS device will be sold this month.

#7) iBooks

- It’s coming to the iPhone with iPhone 4

- Same controls, same highlighting, same bookmarking, and other features like hte iPad.

- Wireless to iPhone, iPad, and iPod. And downloading a book means it’s available for all your devices for no extra charge. It automatically syncs your page, your bookmarks, and your notes. You don’t have to fiddle and find the page on your iPhone if you were reading it on the iPad.

- 150 million accounts with credit cards ready to “buy your apps”

- 16 billion downloads of all Apple stores.

#8) iAds

- Why did Apple build iAds?”To help our developers earn money so they can continue to create free and low-cost apps”

- Apple has been selling iAds for the last eight weeks.

- Committed companies: Nissan, Unilever, AT&T, Chanel, GE, Liberty Mutual, State Farm Insurance, Geico, Cmabell’s, Sears, JCPenney, Target, Best Buy, DirecTV, TBS, Disney.

- Steve is showing off a Nissan iAd and how it works. For example, there is a feature of the Nissan add called “the new mpg” o compare mileage. “How far can you drive on $1?”

- Oh, and you can win a new car through the ad.

One More Thing

- Yup, video chat. you can do video chat through your Phone 4.

- “It’s an old idea. We just had to wait an awfully long time to make it real.”

- It’s called Apple Facetime.

- It is between iPhone 4 devices, Wi-Fi only in 2010 due to carriers not being prepared ofr it, works portrait or landscape mode, etc.

- Now Apple is showing off a commercial that, well, shows off Facetime in normal situations. For example, showing off your clothes, or streaming a graduation, etc. They even show it off in a hospital. it shows off the ability to switch cameras, shows off its ability to make calls for the deaf (this is a really useful application), and more.

- Showing its acpabilities for the deaf is really powerful.

- FaceTime will be an open industry standard.

Price and Availability

- Here we go…

- $199 for 16 GB and $299 for 32GB

- Comes in two colors — Black and White.

- If your contract expires ANYTIME during 2010…yo uare immediately eligible for a new iPhone 4 with a 2 ear contract. Up to 6 months early eligibility.

- The iPhone 3GS is now $99 for 8GB, and the iPhone 3G is beign retired.

- They go on sale June 24th, pre-orders start June 14th.

- July it ships in 18 more countries.

- Shipping in 88 countries in 2010.

- Showing off acessories. Dock, an iPhone “bumper” cover for $29 (in multiple colors)

- iOS upgrades for the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 3G (not all the features are supported), and the iPod touch (excluding 1st generation)

- Upgrades are all free, starting June 21st.

- New video showing off the iPhone 4 is on display.

- The glass is 30x stronger than plastic. It can bend and take damage.

- Now Steve Jobs is thanking his team. That’s the end, folks. No Safari, iTunes, or Mac announcements. Oh, and no Verizon iPhone.

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Reviews: Android, Bing, Bluetooth, Facebook, Gmail, Google, Gowalla, Pandora, Safari, Twitter

Tags: apple, ipad, iphone, itunes, iTunes Live, iTunes.com, mac, mac os x, music, safari, trending, wwdc

(Lire la suite) Zachary Sniderman

Top 10 Online Mascots par Zachary Sniderman Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Behind every great website is a great mascot. While the Internet has been flooded with cute social media icons, only 10 of the very best made our list.

Whether it’s the sharp colors of Twitter’s “Fail Whale,” the simple lines of the Reddit Alien, or the lush, orange Firefox, each of these mascots are special in their own way.

Click through to find out some little known facts about our favorites (“twitter” refers to a sperm whale?) or add your own in the comments.

With reporting by Stephanie Marcus

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

More Resources from Mashable:

- Fail Whale in Pop Culture
- Fail Whale Artist’s Newest Icon: Win Penguins
- 20 Icon & Graphics Generators
- 20 Great Online Image Editors
- 5 Ways to Share Images on Twitter

Reviews: Facebook, Firefox, Twitter

Tumblr Paints Its Dashboard Black to Raise Money for BP Oil Spill par Brenna Ehrlich Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

@BPGlobalPR isn’t the only social media source seeking to raise money to combat the massive oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico; Tumblr has painted its iconic ocean blue dashboard black today in an effort to raise awareness about the disaster, while simultaneously allowing users to donate right from their dashboards.

If you’re a Tumblr user, you can log on today and donate to a myriad of groups: Save Our Gulf, the National Audubon Society or the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Donating will also unlock the Limited Edition Black Dashboard as an account preference — and Tumblr will match every donation it receives. Check out what it looks like below:

We’re excited to see such a creative effort to combat this disaster. Tumblr users, will you donate?

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

Reviews: Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter

Tags: money, Political, social good, social media, tumblr, twitter

(Lire la suite) Brenna Ehrlich

Adobe to Bring Flash-Based Ads to iPhone par Samuel Axon Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

Adobe has partnered with ad company Greystripe to deliver Flash-based ads to Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Greystripe makes this possible by converting Flash ads (which the devices do not currently support) into the competing HTML5 format.

Apple prefers HTML5, which it uses in its new iAd platform for rich media ads on mobile devices. The company has no intention of ever directly supporting Adobe Flash on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, so this could be the only chance Adobe has at reaching iPhone users with mobile ads — a massive growth market.

The ads distributed through this deal between Adobe and Greystripe will challenge Apple’s own, HTML5-based iAd platform. We’re not sure what (if anything) Apple will do about this.

Adobe tried another route not long ago, offering developers the ability to compile their Flash work into native iPhone applications. In response, Apple changed its developer agreement to forbid developers who want to be published in the Apple App Store from using the feature.

In addition to the iPhone OS and the mobile web, Adobe/Greystripe ads will also work with Google Android smartphone applications and any desktop web browser that supports HTML5.

This Won’t Sit Well With Apple

The battle between Adobe and Apple over Flash and HTML5 will have far-reaching implications for the advertising market and all of the content industries that it supports. Apple advocates HTML5 in part because its platform is not maintained by any one company.

Apple already takes a cut of app sales on the iPhone OS, but it hopes to also take a significant percentage of mobile ad revenues on the device; that revenue stream could become much larger than sales in coming years. But if Adobe Flash remains the standard for ads, Adobe will have power over the ad market instead of Apple.

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

Reviews: Android, Facebook, Google, Twitter

Tags: adobe, adobe flash, ads, advertising, android, apple, greystripe, HTML5, ipad, iphone

(Lire la suite) Lauren Indvik

Oscar de la Renta to Stream Runway Show Live on Facebook par Lauren Indvik Lundi 7 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

At 1 p.m. ET Monday, June 7, American fashion designer Oscar de la Renta will unveil his Resort 2011 collection before a select coterie of fashion critics, buyers, celebrities and other industry professionals on a runway in New York — as well as thousands of fans watching the show live on Livestream and Facebook.

A number of fashion blogs will also be hosting the Livestream, and users can use the platform’s chat features to discuss the collection with other viewers on Facebook and Twitter during the show. A few minutes before the show starts, the designer will address the online audience about the collection and the company’s social media efforts.

The event is part of a broader shift in the attitude of the fashion industry, which has been frequently criticized for its hyper-exclusivity and the slow rate at which it has embraced certain technologies, like sustainable manufacturing and online platforms.

It wasn’t until this February that a small number of fashion houses, including Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabanna, began streaming their runway shows for the first time on their websites and mobile applications, and even then only a few of those shared their videos on Facebook and Livestream as well. Now, fashion enthusiasts can see entire collections at the same time as the buyers and press, and begin sharing their opinions about each look as it comes down the runway.

“The audience of [our] shows has evolved over the last 50 years,” explained Alex Bolen, the CEO of Oscar de la Renta. “Previously it was the buyers who were sitting in the first and foremost seats and while they are an extremely important constituency for our show, there’s a broader constituency we want to know about our brand.”

Oscar de la Renta has ramped up its social media efforts as of late, leveraging Facebook to share behind-the-scenes footage with its more than 30,000 fans and to drive sales at its online store. The brand is also very engaged with followers on Twitter via the whimsical and personable @OscarPRGirl.

“We’re a family-owned, relatively small business competing against big players,” Bolen said. “We have to constantly be looking for ways to get an edge, to punch above our weight. It’s my belief that some people are moving slowly in the e-commerce space. We embrace the fact that things are rapidly changing, understand the fact that we’ll have some missteps, but we want to be in the game and figure out which direction things are moving.”

Although Oscar de la Renta has been relatively quick to appropriate social media resources, there are several reasons why the industry as a whole has been hesitant to do so. For one thing, the fashion industry has always thrived on the aura of exclusivity it creates around the unveiling of its collections; invitations for major fashion shows are generally reserved for celebrities and the industry elite.

Now, thanks to the livestream, anyone with an Internet connection can watch the runway show live. As Natalie Massenet, founder and chairman of Net-a-porter.com explained, “Buyers and the press have been privileged and blessed to be in this little club, but now the consumer is in the room with us, and everything has changed.”

Timing is a larger issue. Collections are generally unveiled six months before they are purchased and worn by consumers; fall clothes are shown in February, just before spring weather arrives, and spring previews occur in September, just as consumers are stocking up on chunky knits and leggings for the cooler months. The clothes that Oscar de la Renta shows today will not appear in stores until the holiday season.

“What’s the point of showing these clothes so early on… when you’re promoting a product that’s not even available to buy?” Lazaro Hernandez, the co-founder of fashion label Proenza Schouler, asked in an interview with Portfolio.

Bolen acknowledged the general fear that the event will be “overexposed and the clothes will be tired in six months.” The only solution, he said, was to get the clothes into stores more quickly, although production, especially work by hand, takes a certain amount of time. “But there’s no stopping it,” he said. “The information is going to be out there. It’s not as if we’re going to be able to prevent people from looking at our clothes…We [just need] to get quicker.”

What do you think of Oscar de la Renta’s decision to stream the show live online? Should the fashion industry continue to embrace social media, or is there a risk that certain brands may lose their luster? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

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Tags: facebook, fashion, livestream, oscar de la renta, social media

HTC EVO 4G Now Available par Stan Schroeder Vendredi 4 Juin 2010 :: Mashable! :: RSS

As previously announced, the highly anticipated 4G smartphone, HTC EVO 4G, is now available in the U.S. Customers can purchase the device at Sprint retail stores, RadioShack, Best Buy and Walmart, as well as through Sprint.com.

The device costs $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate (taxes excluded).

You can read our hands-on review of the HTC EVO 4G here; in short, it’s a very advanced smartphone with top-of-the-line hardware and capable of 4G data transfer speeds, which is about 10 times faster than current 3G speeds.

To highlight the HTC EVO 4G launch, Sprint today started a major social media campaign, called Sprint Firsts, which encourages users to perform various activities at 4G speeds and let their friends know about it. Participants are being awarded 4G badges, and users who manage to be the “first” will get featured on the EVO homepage.

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Tags: evo, htc, HTC EVO 4G, Mobile 2.0, smartphone