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03
Feb 12

Remains of the Day: Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 is Leaked [For What It's Worth]

Remains of the Day: Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 is LeakedThe leaking of Microsoft’s Windows phone 8, The Android Marketplace now has a bouncer, and Mint has a flashy new app for Android tablets

Photo remixed from sjgh (Shutterstock).

Article source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/Py8x9jk8vq4/remains-of-the-day-microsofts-windows-8-phone-is-leaked

Life — No comments
03
Feb 12

How Actively Watching Movies Helped Me Learn Spanish [Learning]

How Actively Watching Movies Helped Me Learn SpanishFor the last year and a half I’ve been learning Spanish. I grew up around Spanish and took some in high school and although I would say I’ve had an advantage in that regard, I really only started learning it functionally a year and a half ago (and I could have worked a lot faster than I did). As far as my proficiency, I’d say by now I officially “speak Spanish” and can carry on a conversation pretty comfortably. I definitely have a lot more to learn, some of the more obscure tenses and vocabulary that will come through more use of the language, as well as making my delivery more smooth and less broken.

I used Rosetta Stone briefly and got about halfway through part 2 of the series but it quickly fell to the back burner once I started following Benny Lewis’ Language Hacking Guide on his site Speak from Day One. Not to oversimplify his approach but basically, he says to just talk. Just use the language, even if you only know a couple words and use it every chance you get. I’m lucky because I have a Mexican girlfriend and although we’re more used to speaking English with each other, she’s been an invaluable resource. Speaking really is the most important thing you can do to learn a language and should be your first priority. Think about it, why would I read about pole vaulting and just expect to be able to pole vault via book knowledge alone. Imagine if I tried that with MMA…just read a couple books and got in the ring…to learn to fight you should probably practice, not read. Why should it be different with language? You want to learn to talk, you have to talk. The books (even the Language Hacking Guide) supplement this, not replace it.

Another extremely valuable resource to supplement speaking is movies. This is not a new idea- movies in your target language can help you hear it as it is more commonly spoken. I remember when I first started, my girlfriend told me I sounded like a radio announcer or some kind of narrator (i.e. like a square). My accent was good, she said, but I sounded like I had no personality (which brings me to another point: make sure the people you practice with are patient and understanding but also that they will correct you when you’re wrong and tell you if you sound like an idiot). I knew my square-bear accent was just because I’d been imitating the perfectly clear native speakers on Rosetta Stone. I started netflixing movies in Spanish (dear Netflix, please show some more love to the streaming Spanish language films) and found a couple that I really enjoyed. This is key- you must enjoy the movie enough to watch it a million times, even if it is to make fun of the movie.

Here’s the breakdown of what I did (feel free to adjust it to your learning speed). First, watch the movie a couple times with the English subtitles. Don’t memorize the subtitles but watch it enough times so that you know the plot and can get into the movie. After a while, leave the subtitles on for comfort but start trying to follow the target language, only looking down to the subtitles every now and then. After you’re relatively comfortable with the plot of the movie, as if you could watch it with the sound off and still get a basic idea of what’s going on, switch to subtitles in your target language.

Spend a lot of time watching this movie with the subtitles in your target language. Watch it a billion times. A billion trillion times. Watch it with your language buddies with whom you should be in regular contact and practicing with anyway. Watch it until you can pretty much say the lines along with the actors, even if you have to read along with the subtitles. Watch it until you say to yourself “Man, I don’t even need subtitles!” Turn the subtitles off. You should now be able to watch the movie and understand it without subtitles and for the most part, understand exactly what they are saying. Watch it again with your language buddies (if they want to watch the movie again for the trillionth time) so they can tell you what some of the idioms really mean, and clarify any cultural context or references, etc. Watch it until you know the lines, just like you know the lines to Toy Story or Cool Runnings (both movies I know by heart).

Now you can watch a movie in another language! That’s pretty cool in itself. Here’s what else happened in the meantime:

  • Conversational Language: You now should not only have command of a lot of new conversational phrases and idioms, but you know the exact context in which they can be used. If you talk to yourself in your target language in your car and have a propensity for repeating movie lines like I do, you can practice these and sound extremely convincing after a while.
  • Grammar: Along the way, you’ve undoubtedly learned new grammar, or at least better understood some of the stuff that’s been confusing you. I can’t count how many times I’ve said to myself “Ohhh ok, now I know when/how you would use that.” I’ve been able to correctly and confidently use grammar that I wouldn’t have even seen for a long time if I was studying the conventional way.
  • Vocabulary: You’re listening to the same set of a few thousand words a billion times. Before this, you may have learned one word for “lunch” but it may not be the commonly used word, which they might conveniently use repeatedly throughout the movie.
  • Image Association: You now have built in situational images to associate with your newly learned phrases, words, and grammar. It’s easier to know that barretta means crowbar if you immediately remember the scene in the movie where they’re trying to get someone out of a trunk and someone says Pásame la barretta!. Also, what book or computer program has the word for crowbar anyway?

When you use all of this newly-learned ammunition in your next conversation, you will sound confident and more natural than if you’d spent all that time listening to some guy saying Me llamo Edgar, como esta usted? You’ve heard it as it would naturally be said, at a natural speed. You’ve had a chance to hear a more diverse set of voices saying the same things, and all the while it is reinforcing the basics of the language, the bread and butter phrases that are used the most. The stuff you learn by this method will probably be used more often than when you learned how to ask if there was an English-speaking hospital nearby.

The whole point of it is to be able to study a series of natural conversations at any speed you want, as many times as you need. Remember though, once you pick this stuff up, you have to go out and use it!! You’ll be so excited when you’re in your next conversation, and you nonchalantly throw in a line that you learned from the tragically hip protagonist in the movie you’ve got on repeat at home. No one has to know your clever retort was something you heard a guy in a white-on-white tux yell from his helicopter during the climax of a low-budget foreign heist film! Once you get a better grasp on the language, you can start taking these things apart and making your own sentences (::gasp::…actually speaking the language organically).

I hope this little tidbit helps you out if you are trying to learn a language. The first priority is speaking but a movie is a goldmine of resources to help you round out what you know.

Also, if you’re learning Spanish like me, I can recommend a couple titles:

  • Ladron Que Roba a Ladron
  • Matando Cabos
  • Nicotina
  • Sin Nombre

Happy Language Learning!

John Smith lives in San Diego and works the real estate market in Mexico. In his spare time he creates music, does motion picture soundtrack work and writes.

This post republished with permission from The Modern Raven. Want to see your work here? Send an email to submissions@lifehacker.com!

Article source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/FqimucKqS64/how-actively-watching-movies-helped-me-learn-spanish

Life — No comments
03
Feb 12

Best Way to Stream Live Television? [Video]

Best Way to Stream Live Television? The Super Bowl is this weekend, but not all of us have the privilege of making some snacks and sitting in front of the couch all evening to make sure we catch the game (assuming you want to see the matchup, or the commercials, even.) Thankfully there are a number of products and web services that make it easy to stream live television to a computer or mobile device when you’re away from home. This week, we’d like to hear your picks for the best services to help you watch the game, even when you’re away from your TV.

One of the best sites to help you watch sporting events in real time when you’re away from home, First Row Sports, was recently caught up in the Department of Homeland Security’s domain name seizures. If that used to be your place to turn, it’s time to find a new one. Leave us a comment below with the method you choose to watch the big game—or any live TV—when you’re away from your living room.

Hive Five nominations take place in the comments, where you post your favorite tool for the job. We get hundreds of comments, so to make your nomination clear, please include it at the top of your comment like so: VOTE: BEST LIVE TV STREAMING METHOD. Please don’t include your vote in a reply to another commenter. Instead, make your vote and reply separate comments. If you don’t follow this format, we may not count your vote. To prevent tampering with the results, votes from first-time commenters may not be counted. After you’ve made your nomination, let us know what makes it stand out from the competition.

About the Hive Five: The Hive Five feature series asks readers to answer the most frequently asked question we get: “Which tool is the best?” Once a week we’ll put out a call for contenders looking for the best solution to a certain problem, then YOU tell us your favorite tools to get the job done. Every weekend, we’ll report back with the top five recommendations and give you a chance to vote on which is best. For an example, check out last week’s five best tax preparation tools.

Photo by Pittaya Sroilong.

Article source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/bznIFKHO3Y0/best-way-to-stream-live-television

Technology — No comments
03
Feb 12

AU Optronics, Idemitsu Kosan announce ‘strategic alliance’ on OLED development

Feb 02, 2012 04:26 ET
AUO and Idemitsu Form Strategic Alliance for OLED

HSINCHU, Taiwan, Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ — AU Optronics (“AUO” or the “Company”) (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO) today announced that the Company and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Idemitsu”) agreed to form a strategic alliance in the field of OLED, which is expected to be used for next generation displays. The strategic alliance includes technological collaboration to develop high-performance OLED displays and OLED-related patents.

Under this strategic alliance, Idemitsu will supply high-performance OLED materials to AUO, including device structure proposal. On the other hand, AUO will reinforce the development of OLED products using high-performance OLED materials supplied by Idemitsu. This will accelerate business growth in AUO’s small-sized OLED displays for smartphone and tablet, which have emerged as a new growth area in the display industry, and that of large-sized OLED displays for TV.

Idemitsu has long been dedicated to the research and development of OLED materials. In 2007, Idemitsu established its OLED materials manufacturing plant in Omaezaki, Shizuoka. In recent years, the company continues to reinforce the deployment of its OLED supply system. AUO is a global leader in the design, RD and manufacturing of LCD, with a research staff of more than 3,500 worldwide. AUO has long invested in the research and development of AMOLED and currently holds several hundreds of OLED-related patents. Through this strategic alliance, both companies will be able to enjoy the benefits of reciprocal synergy in the OLED business, effectively increasing competitiveness on both sides and build a foundation to demonstrate leadership in the industry.

Furthermore, both companies will study the possibility of collaboration in the fields other than OLED.

ABOUT AU OPTRONICS

AU Optronics Corp. (AUO) is a global leader of thin film transistor liquid crystal display panels (TFT-LCD). AUO is able to provide customers with a full range of panel sizes and comprehensive applications, offering TFT-LCD panels in sizes ranging from 1.2 inches to greater than 71 inches. AUO generated NT$379.7 billion in sales revenue in 2011 (US$ 12.54 billion) with global operations in Taiwan, Mainland China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the U.S., and Europe. Additionally, AUO is the first pure TFT-LCD manufacturer to be successfully listed at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). AUO extended its market to the green energy industry in late 2008. The Display and Solar businesses were established respectively as the Company’s two core businesses in October, 2010. For more information, please visit AUO.com.

* 2011 year end revenue converted at an exchange rate of NTD30.27:USD1.

ABOUT IDEMITSU

Idemitsu was established on March 20, 1940. Its main businesses include: Petroleum refining and manufacture and sale of oil products, manufacture and sale of petrochemical products and renewable energy; development and extraction of petroleum and other mineral resources; development, manufacture, and sale of functional electronic materials; the company also engages in the research and development of renewable energy sources, agricultural and other chemicals. The company is one of the largest petroleum and petrochemical companies in Japan, with a registered capital of 108,600 million yen, and a staff of 8,200. In 2010, Idemitsu’s annual revenues amounted to 3,659,301 million yen.

Safe Harbour Notice

AU Optronics Corp. (“AUO” or the “Company”) (TAIEX: 2409; NYSE: AUO), a global leader of TFT-LCD panels, today announced the above news. Except for statements in respect of historical matters, the statements contained in this Release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements were based on our management’s expectations, projections and beliefs at the time regarding matters including, among other things, future revenues and costs, financial performance, technology changes, capacity, utilization rates, yields, process and geographical diversification, future expansion plans and business strategy. Such forward looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including risks related to the flat panel display industry, the TFT-LCD market, acceptance of and demand for our products, technological and development risks, competitive factors, and other risks described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in our Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on May 3rd, 2011.

SOURCE AU Optronics Corporation

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/8F-LRUbaxwA/

Technology — No comments
03
Feb 12

Nokia Lumia 900 up for pre-order at Microsoft Store, $25 down puts you in line

Boss of the Year Entry Form

Now that we’ve thrown ‘em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they’re required.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/aGZGAxnSTfg/

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03
Feb 12

AT&T connected Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S get Android Market Google Wallet installs

Boss of the Year Entry Form

Now that we’ve thrown ‘em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they’re required.

Article source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadgetmobile/~3/2mTJWC5TBbY/

News — No comments
03
Feb 12

The Revolution May Or May Not Be Branded

brand

The Occupy movement, or rallying cry, or whatever you want to call it, is by its nature decentralized. By refusing to come together under one banner other than the word “Occupy,” they’ve both diluted their message and allowed it to spread more quickly. You don’t need an Occupy license to occupy a bank’s lobby in Kansas City, but at the same time there’s a natural question of whether one occupation is related to another.

Political considerations aside, the point is that Occupy might benefit from a recognizable face. On this front, some faction of the movement has decided to do a little branding, but in keeping with the democratic, bottom-up nature of the organization (or rather disorganization), they’ve opted to run a contest and let the “official” logo be selected by popular vote. It’s a great application of web technology to an interesting problem, and will probably prove to be a memorable case study in an increasingly common phenomenon: the necessity of branding an emergent movement or pattern on the internet.

It’s something that has already been faced by, for example, Anonymous. Like Occupy, Anonymous is necessarily decentralized and in a way leaderless — but there are obviously leaders and centers, like @anonops and a few other “official” sources. But then there’s the Guy Fawkes mask and the empty suit, both certainly symbols of Anonymous by common consent, though whether they emerged naturally or were simply in the right place at the right time (and whether there’s any difference between those two) isn’t clear.

Or think about the SOPA/PIPA protests. While everyone seemed to figure out a good way to express the concept of censorship on their site or avatar, the lack of a single unifying phrase, graphic, or general “brand” (loosely speaking) was conspicuous, considering the extraordinary cross-cultural and cross-community agreement on the issue.

Which brings us to Occupy. The logos being submitted are the usual mix of free fonts, corporate-looking nonsense, and the occasional good idea. For the record, I like the one at top left, and these:

But I’m suspicious of the whole concept. The problem to me is not Occupy-specific. It’s simply that emergent phenomena don’t respond well to efforts to define them. The reason no single visual metaphor appeared for SOPA was because there was no naturally propagating icon around which people could gather. There was no burning monk, no Kent State photograph, no graphic or sketch or person that naturally expressed and associated itself with the movement. The closest thing was the censor bar or redacted text, which was sort of good enough but didn’t adequately encompass the ideas behind the opposition.

With Occupy as well, I think that efforts to create an identity for it will fail, because identity only emerges from collective action. It happens naturally or it doesn’t happen at all. I think this will be demonstrated more frequently over the next few years as activism, social change, and more everyday things as well become memetic and emergent. A logo will be picked for @occupy and for use on “official” communiques, whatever that might mean to them. But what Occupy and Anonymous and STOP SOPA and all the rest need isn’t a logo, it’s a symbol. Those aren’t quite as easy to come by.

[hat tip to GigaOm for setting me thinking]

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/kVHtn0iIapQ/

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03
Feb 12

Facebook Tests Photo Viewer That Encourages Comments, Google+ Comparisons

Facebook Photo Viewer Edited done

Facebook is testing a new photo viewer layout that mounts engagement buttons and comments to the right rather than beneath images. See, Facebook doesn’t want you to just view comments, it wants you to start a conversation. Apparently the company doesn’t care about being accused of copying Google+, since the viewer’s layout is very similar to that of its competitor.

The fact is that this is good design, though, so it makes sense for Facebook to integrate whether or not it has appeared elsewhere. Currently when Facebook users view photos, they see a big blank space on the right but can’t see the comments below with scrolling past the fold and away from the image. That makes users more likely to leave the photo viewer before engaging. The blank space is better filled with comments that lend context to a photo, as a small percentage of Facebook users are now seeing.

Facebook hasn’t been shy about taking inspiration from other products. In the months since Google+ launched, Facebook has added features found in Google+, including an asymmetrical Subscribe option, video chat, enhanced friend lists, and near-infinite post length. Facebook’s goal is the best user experience, and Google got a lot of that right. Google+ certainly wasn’t shy about using Facebook’s design as a starting point.

Facebook employees have repeatedly assured me that product teams aren’t thinking about ad revenue when they design products. Still, convenient repercussion of the tested photo viewer design may be an increase in ad clicks. Rather than displaying ads beneath photos, the tested design shows them more prominently in the comments sidebar. Finding these types of synergies between business and user experience will be key to Facebook honoring the interests of its future investors.

So why does this small change matter? First, encouraging conversation aligns with Facebook’s goal of driving connections between people, such as friends of a photo’s owner who might interact in its comment reel for the first time. Second, these comments drive notifications for all other commenters, which inspire more return visits and time on site. I bet the test will show increased engagement, and Facebook will implement some version of side-mounted comments.

[Thanks to our anonymous tipster for the screenshots]


  • FACEBOOK

Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 500 million users.

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in 2 weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network. Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks.

The original idea for the term…

Learn more

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/WVmm3eTVuLQ/

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03
Feb 12

The Seven Most Interesting Startups At 500 Startups Demo Day

screen-shot-2011-08-17-at-3-45-01-pm

Halfway to living up to its moniker with over 250 startups, 500 Startups held a series of demo days this week and last, where a group of 33 scrappy startups presented their wares to investors in both New York and San Francisco. As we are wont to do with these things, we visited the 500 Startups offices in Mountain View and interviewed the seven that we thought were the most interesting, from both an investor and consumer standpoint.

The startups chosen spanned all sorts of market territory, from a novel take on media-based eCommerce to an SaaS for farmers, but what they all had in common was a unique approach to the problem they were trying to solve as well as inkling of that other indeterminate thing that makes a startup great.

Also, I’m pretty sure Switchcam, a startup that allows for a combining of different camera angles on video, should be on here.

Most amazing moment: When ‘Love With Food’ founder admits to following me into the bathroom to tell me about her food related startup, of all things!

72Lux

Ever wish that you buy whatever product/outfit/gadget/whatever as you were reading about it online. Well you’re one step closer with startup 72 Lux, which provides publishers with a widget that allows readers to shop directly from whatever web page they’re reading, without taking them off the page. Nifty.

Tiny Review

“Instagram for reviews” Tiny Review allows people to express what they feel or think via mobile in three lines or less.  After a little over three weeks in the iOS app store, the modest startup has about 25k users, and that’s with almost no coverage from press. Hmm … wonder what will happen when they do finally get some coverage.

HighScore House

Definitely one of the buzziest startups at Demo Day, HighScore House gamifies the process of doing chores, giving kids parent-set rewards like “ice cream for breakfast” whenever they complete assigned tasks. This just smells like the future. 

SafeShepard

SafeShepard logs who is tracking your data (like browser cookies) across the web and then acts like an intermediary, asking them to remove it from their database — Saving you hassle at the least. Hence the name.

Fitocracy

Fitocracy cofounders Brian Wang and Richard Talens used to be total chubs. Now they’re both buff and ready to bring a bunch of out of shape nerds with them on their quantified fitness platform Fitocracy (which has so much reach online it was the subject of a XKCD cartoon). Props to Wang for taking his shirt off after the demo.

Farmeron
Farm management startup Farmeron helps farmers track their livestock and livelihood, charging by the animal. “Main Cowboy in the Saddle” Matija Kopić came from a family of farmers in Croatia, but ended up going up against his parents wishes and became a coder. Enough said.

LoveWithFood

At first glance LoveWithFood seems like a Foodzie clone.  Luckily founder Aihui Ong chased me into the bathroom to explain to me how exactly they differ; For every box of bite-sized gourmet food samples you receive, LoveWithFood donates a meal to a homeless shelter. And yes, I wish the name was FoodWithLove, but you’ll take what you can get, especially if it’s for a good cause.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/pd9jFzQQNok/

Marketing — No comments
02
Feb 12

Groundhog Phil Says ‘WTF’ to Groundhog Day [INTERVIEW]


In a hard-hitting interview (sarcasm), I dug up some exclusive responses from Groundhog Day‘s world famous critter, Punxsutawney Phil.

Twitter account @GroundhogPhil, which has 4,400 followers, reveals how he really feels about the Feb. 2 holiday and even trash talks fellow Twitter animals, including Bronx Zoo Cobra and NYT Sexy Chicken.

Don’t believe me? Shame on you. Just read the transcript of our interview below. It’s gold.

QA With @GroundhogPhil

Mashable: How do you actually feel when you see your shadow?

Groundhog Phil: “Do you know what it’s like to be woken up from hibernation with fireworks, dancing junior high girls, and middle-aged men dressed in top hats lip syncing to The B-52′s “Love Shack” on a live web stream broadcast? That actually happened this morning. WTF. It’s all downhill from there. Because: SHADOWS. ARE. TERRIFYING.”

Mashable: How are your relationships with other animals on Twitter?

Groundhog Phil: “Escaped zoo cobras cannot predict weather. Sexy NYC chickens cannot predict weather. Squirrels, cats and raccoons cannot predict weather. Why waste my time slumming with those losers? Groundhogs are clearly an evolved species.”

SEE ALSO: Interview With A Sexy Chicken | 10 Best Spoof Accounts

Mashable: What secrets lie beneath the ground?

Groundhog Phil: “There are these secrets about hibernation we try not to talk about. Like where all the turds go. Let’s just say you shouldn’t do any deep digging around your yard until early spring..”

Mashable: What do you hope to accomplish with your new Twitter account?

Groundhog Phil: “I’ve learned humans are extremely emotional about this prognostication thing. A quick Twitter search for “groundhog + kill OR murder” turns up an alarming number of unbalanced individuals who place an extraordinary amount of weight on the predictions of a giant rodent.”

Mashable: Anything you would like to add, stinker?

Groundhog Phil: “I’d just like to thank all the Punxsutawney Phil fans who have shunned science, put their faith and energy into a weather-forecasting groundhog, and most importantly, destroyed any credibility actual meteorologists maintain by making them report my predictions as actual news each year. Who’s the evolved species now, chumps?”

NOTE: Greg Swan, a PR social marketing strategist at Weber Shandwick, manages the 4-year-old @GroundhogPhil account. “I was so surprised how easy it was to brandjack Punxsutawney Phil,” Swan told Mashable. “As a digital strategist for big brands in my day-job, I know how important it is for companies, brands and individuals to proactively stake out their online reputation. The account has been retweeted by Good Morning America, Huffington Post and pretty much every social-savvy meteorologist in the country. Every year I offer up the account to the Groundhog Club folks, but they aren’t interested in taking it over. So until then, long live @groundhogphil!”

Bonus: More Animal Madness

The web really, really likes animals, sometimes even more so than media outlets.


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Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/QwmDj2jQa-I/

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02
Feb 12

Social Media Has Turned Super Bowl XLVI Teams’ Marketing Upside Down

The explosive growth of social media over the past four years has drastically changed how the Giants and Patriots market themselves and connect with fans compared to the two teams’ most recent Super Bowl trips.

“It’s a whole new world compared to last time,” Nilay Shah, the Giants’ director of digital media, said in an interview.

When the Giants and Patriots reached the Super Bowl in 2008, Twitter barely existed, Facebook had less than 100 million users, and Google+ wasn’t even a gleam in Larry Page’s eye.

Today, Facebook has grown to more than 845 million users, Twitter has become an integral communication tool of the sports and media worlds, and Google+ now claims around 100 million members. Other sharing sites such as YouTube have swelled in popularity too.

“Last time we were here, the social world was still sort of new for us, and our main communication method was email,” Shah said. “We didn’t focus on it a lot back then, but coming back now we knew we had to place a lot of emphasis on it, find a way to incorporate our fans as much as possible and make them a part of the experience.”

The Giants are among professional sports’ most social media-savvy teams. But Fred Kirsch, the Patriots’ vice president of content, said that growing social networks have played a real role in fan outreach and marketing during New England’s Super Bowl run as well.

When the team won the AFC Championship, it decided to run a contest giving away free trips to the Super Bowl for fans who worked in healthcare, law enforcement, the military, firefighting or education. Kirsch said that the team was able to promote the contest effectively in a short time thanks to Facebook and Twitter, gathering about a thousand nominations.

“It made it tough to choose the winners but it was well worth it,” Kirsch told Mashable in an email.

The Giants, meanwhile, have run a number of promotions built entirely around social media. They installed a button on the team website to allow fans to follow more than a dozen players on Twitter before Super Bowl XLVI with one click. They have a player shooting behind-the-scenes footage — but 10,000 new fans have to “Like” the team’s Facebook page to unlock each day’s content. They are even hosting a “Social Media Night” on Thursday, in which a number of players will participate in a live webcast from the team hotel, answering fan questions sent via Twitter and Facebook. Four more players are hosting exclusive Google+ Hangouts, each with five chosen fans who joined their Google+ Circles.

Tyson Goodridge was one of the fans selected for a Hangout with linebacker Mark Herzlich. Goodridge, who works as a social media director for a marketing agency, told Mashable his two young sons wanted to ask what players eat before games, while he wanted to ask what goes through the players’ minds in the moments before the ball is snapped.

“It creates a level of intimacy that is so cool,” Goodridge said. “Anyone can know all his stats, but in this case it’s a private session where he’s not in the locker room. It’s more relaxed, more informal, a chance to know the guy behind the uniform.”

That, said Shah, epitomizes the wealth of new engagement possibilities opened up by social media’s maturation since 2008.

“We’ve always tried to provide the best content possible, but before that might have meant just putting up exclusive-access videos and that was it,” he said. “Now we’re able to give the fans more and make them feel like they have a voice.”

BONUS GALLERY: Who to Follow on Twitter for the Super Bowl XLVI Scoop



Comment


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_HostCommittee.jpg

The official account of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee is a must-follow for fans going to the game. It will function as one of several channels directing fans to entertainment venues and addressing logistical concerns from the committee’s social meda command center.


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The New York Giants are the “road” team in Indianapolis, and this is the franchise’s official Twitter account.


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The New England Patriots will be the “home” team on Super Bowl Sunday in Indy. Follow this official team account for the stream out of Foxborough.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_ShaliseManzaYoung.jpg

Shalise Manza Young is the Patriots beat writer for the Boston Globe. Follow her for the day-to-day on what Bill Belichick is doing to try for a fourth Super Bowl ring with the Patriots.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_Rapoport.jpg

Ian Rapoport also reports on the Patriots and NFL, but for the Boston Herald. Following both him and Young will give you a taste of what it’s like to be a local Boston sports fan right now.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_Vacchiano.jpg

Ralph Vacchiano covers the Giants for the New York Daily News. Follow him for the latest on how Eli Manning and company are prepping for the Pats.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_Garafolo.jpg

Garafolo is the Giants beat writer for New Jersey’s Star-Ledger. Between him and Vacchiano, you should have every Giants angle covered.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_Branch.jpg

Patriots receiver Branch was the Super Bowl MVP the last time the Patriots won it all, in 2005. He’s also very active on Twitter, which is a bonus for fans seeking to add a human element to the game.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_Battista.jpg

Battista covers the NFL for The New York Times. She’s sure to churn out a couple nice features between now and Feb. 5, her deadline game-recaps are second to none, and she’s also a good follow for real-time Twitter updates.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_Schefter.jpg

Schefter is ESPN’s NFL Insider and his 1.2 million followers dwarf nearly everyone else in sports media and serve as a testament to his continuous steam of breaking news, opinions and scuttlebutt. He’s sure to provide plenty of interesting nuggets from around the league leading up to Super Bowl Sunday.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_Welker.jpg

Patriots receiver Welker puts up numbers; he’s scored 10 touchdowns so far this year and has nearly 300,000 Twitter followers. His funny, off-the cuff tweets make him worth keeping up with.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_Rosenthal.jpg

Rosenthal writes about the NFL for NBCSports.com and, like Schefter, will provide a wealth of information from around the league as the NFL heads into its biggest weekend.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_Tuck.jpg

Tuck is a star defensive end for the Giants and will be key to harassing Tom Brady into mistakes and miscues on Super Bowl Sunday. On Twitter, he posts frequently and interacts well with fans.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_Barnwell.jpg

Barnwell covers the NFL for Grantland.com, and he’ll surely bring some good and detailed analysis to get fans — with or without a specific rooting interest — primed for Super Bowl XLVI.


http://www.bentonpena.org/wp-content/plugins/rss-poster/cache/e725f_King.jpg

Sports Illustrated‘s senior NFL writer is particularly good about responding to fan questions and comments on Twitter. See if he’ll answer your Super Bowl queries!

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The official account of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee is a must-follow for fans going to the game. It will function as one of several channels directing fans to entertainment venues and addressing logistical concerns from the committee’s social meda command center.

The New York Giants are the “road” team in Indianapolis, and this is the franchise’s official Twitter account.

The New England Patriots will be the “home” team on Super Bowl Sunday in Indy. Follow this official team account for the stream out of Foxborough.

Shalise Manza Young is the Patriots beat writer for the Boston Globe. Follow her for the day-to-day on what Bill Belichick is doing to try for a fourth Super Bowl ring with the Patriots.

Ian Rapoport also reports on the Patriots and NFL, but for the Boston Herald. Following both him and Young will give you a taste of what it’s like to be a local Boston sports fan right now.

Ralph Vacchiano covers the Giants for the New York Daily News. Follow him for the latest on how Eli Manning and company are prepping for the Pats.

Garafolo is the Giants beat writer for New Jersey’s Star-Ledger. Between him and Vacchiano, you should have every Giants angle covered.

Patriots receiver Branch was the Super Bowl MVP the last time the Patriots won it all, in 2005. He’s also very active on Twitter, which is a bonus for fans seeking to add a human element to the game.

Battista covers the NFL for The New York Times. She’s sure to churn out a couple nice features between now and Feb. 5, her deadline game-recaps are second to none, and she’s also a good follow for real-time Twitter updates.

Schefter is ESPN’s NFL Insider and his 1.2 million followers dwarf nearly everyone else in sports media and serve as a testament to his continuous steam of breaking news, opinions and scuttlebutt. He’s sure to provide plenty of interesting nuggets from around the league leading up to Super Bowl Sunday.

Patriots receiver Welker puts up numbers; he’s scored 10 touchdowns so far this year and has nearly 300,000 Twitter followers. His funny, off-the cuff tweets make him worth keeping up with.

Rosenthal writes about the NFL for NBCSports.com and, like Schefter, will provide a wealth of information from around the league as the NFL heads into its biggest weekend.

Tuck is a star defensive end for the Giants and will be key to harassing Tom Brady into mistakes and miscues on Super Bowl Sunday. On Twitter, he posts frequently and interacts well with fans.

Barnwell covers the NFL for Grantland.com, and he’ll surely bring some good and detailed analysis to get fans — with or without a specific rooting interest — primed for Super Bowl XLVI.

Sports Illustrated‘s senior NFL writer is particularly good about responding to fan questions and comments on Twitter. See if he’ll answer your Super Bowl queries!

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/KrwpnYHn9I4/

Marketing — No comments
02
Feb 12

ADzero Smartphone Is Carved Out of a Solid Block of Bamboo [VIDEO]

Kieron-Scott Woodhouse was fed up with cellphones all looking alike, so he took the matter into his own hands, building his own brand of smartphone out of a solid block of organic bamboo.

The 23-year-old design student at Middlesex University in the UK created a design concept for the ADzero Android phone, posted it on a website, and soon it was spotted by investors who helped him bring the project to reality.

As you can see in the video, not only is the ADzero phone a beautiful work of finely crafted art, but it’s made of sustainable materials. The fast-growing bamboo takes just four years to grow. Woodhouse says it’s durable as well. According to Woodhouse, that bamboo is “just as strong as any kind of plastic.”

The handset has additional niceties on board as well, including a ring flash. Which, if it’s anything like professional ring flashes we’ve encountered, gives your photos smooth, even illumination, especially for close-ups.

The smartphone will be released first in China and the UK. Take a look at the video above, and hear Woodhouse talking about the phone and its unique capabilities for yourself.

[via JustAdZero]

Article source: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/yEBIsnQV-b0/

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