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May 11 2012
Why Are Plasma TV Sales Dropping Like a Rock?
Panasonic, one of the last major TV manufacturers to champion plasma TVs, is now probably regretting that decision. The company just posted a $10 billion loss for the year, and one of its biggest losers is the plasma TV category, where sales fell way short of expectations.
Plasma TV sales only hit about 59% of what the company had predicted. Revenue on Panasonic’s balance sheet from plasma sets was $3.5 billion, down from $6 billion the year before.
Once the hottest kind of TV you could get, the plasma TV has seen tough times in recent years. Many manufacturers (notably, Pioneer) have abandoned the technology, noting a lack of consumer demand. After Panasonic acquired Pioneer’s industry-leading plasma tech in 2009, it began a valiant effort to promote and market the advantages of plasma TV. Looking at the numbers today, it clearly hasn’t worked.
The question remains: Why has plasma display technology fallen so far out of favor with TV buyers? A combination of factors in the industry and the consumer market have conspired to shut plasma TVs out of showrooms — and consumer living rooms.
“Plasma is a great technology that is suffering,” says Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate, a display-analysis company. “It has some advantages over LCDs but also has some disadvantages as well.”
On the plus side, plasmas can create much darker blacks, have excellent viewing angles, more accurate color and no motion blur, Soneira says. However, LCDs are much brighter, which can be an advantage in well-lit rooms, which tends to be the case at retail. They also don’t weigh as much and consumer less power than plasma sets.
Besides those technical details, there’s the perception that LCD technology is newer, and therefore superior. It’s not — LCD screens had been around for years before the first plasma sets came out, but LCD technology hadn’t been adapted for larger displays until the last decade. Big-screen LCDs came to places like Best Buy well after plasma models, though, so to consumers it was the “hot new thing” — a mindset that LCD makers such as Samsung and Sharp were only too happy to aggressively exploit.
SEE ALSO: Panasonic’s 103-Inch 3D Plasma Could Be Yours for $100,000As the industry began to shift toward LCD, the technology has improved greatly since its debut, dulling if not altogether nullifying plasma sets’ many onscreen advantages. Meanwhile, the manufacturing of panels consolidated around just a few large-scale companies, making LCDs cheaper to produce for everyone.
There was also the dreaded “burn-in” issue, where customers believed watching the same material continuously (like a headline scroll on a news channel) would permanently “burn” the image into a plasma screen. It’s a real issue, but it actually takes much longer use than any normal person would watch a single image. In addition, new features on plasma sets all but eliminate the problem. Still, burn-in got a lot of press, and the damage was done.
Finally, there’s the simple fact that people don’t buy TVs that often. At this point, pretty much everyone who was going to buy an HDTV has done so, and novel technologies like 3D aren’t doing much to convince consumers to upgrade again. Even Panasonic’s LCD numbers fell about 30% short of expectations, and the size of the TV market has been shrinking from a peak of 35 million sets sold in 2009, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. There’s clearly a general cooling of the TV market in general.
However, the falling demand for TVs has hit plasma particularly hard.
It’s a shame, because even though LCD tech has shown a lot of improvement, plasma displays have inherent advantages, primarily because the tech doesn’t require a backlight — unlike LCDs, which twist crystals in individual pixels to affect the light passing through, plasma pixels illuminate themselves. Before Pioneer stopped making plasma TVs, it had demonstrated models with theoretically infinite contrast and razor-thin designs, showing off the benefits of a plasma display.
Why do you think plasma TV is on life support? Have your say in the comments.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, EdStock
More About: HDTV, LCD, Panasonic, plasma
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Viddy Highlights: 10 Top Clips From the Social Video App
The latest iPhone app to make headlines is Viddy, a social video editing and sharing app that has just surpassed 26 million users.
Described as the “Instagram of video,” we were curious to see what kinds of clips were being created on the Viddy platform. We got in touch with the team and asked them to curate a “highlights reel” to demonstrate the wide variety of great Viddys being produced.
“From performers, to pet lovers, creative artists, skateboarders, athletes, celebrities, parents — the app is a forum for 15-second Viddyographers to capture their moments for the world,” Brett O’Brien, CEO and co-founder of Viddy told Mashable.
“It’s amazing to see the community so excited about Viddy and sharing their content with the other users, friends, and family.”
SEE ALSO: An easy guide to get you started with ViddySo far, that community is limited to the iOS platform, but we have good news for users of other mobile OSes — other apps are “definitely” in the works, as O’Brien explains:
“We are Apple fanatics, and Apple had already built a distribution system and a set of tools that were standardized to help us get Viddy to market quickly. We spent our first year as a company focused on building a top product for iPhone users and growing our community. Now with over 26 million users and a top ranking in the Apple App Store, we will definitely look at moving onto other platforms.”
Whether you’re waiting for Viddy to hit your OS, already enjoying using it on your iPhone, or just curious to see what’s being produced on app rumored to be worth $200 million, take a look through Viddy’s varied highlights selection (complete with commentary from the team) below.
If you use Viddy, link us to some of your amazing creations in the comments below.
1. Criss-Cross Low Rider by @hectorosmand
“Who needs a third for jump rope when you have your car on hydraulics?”
2. Awesome Way to Do A Backflip by @teifiond
“Need a boost? This guy shows an unusual way to do a backflip.”
3. Kick it in the Hoop by @alex100green
“Proof that any baller needs some killer kicks.”
4. Milo & Whiskey by @Daudau
“Best friends, or enemies, come in all shapes and sizes.”
5. Fake Speed Trap by @makrambammar
“Caught riding dirty… or not.”
6. Dub Step by @joshrasco
“Dub step for days…”
7. Robotic Bottling at GE Healthcare by @generalelectric
“GE shows behind-the-scenes of packaging using robotics.”
8. Flip Over the Car by @kinghenry
“Blake Griffin watch out!”
9. How to Bake a Cake in 15 Seconds by @MassiveRoy
“Roll it, pat it, and bake it with a V.”
10. Clones Can Shuffle? by @DaMrC
“We think even LMFAO would want to rock with these guys.”
BONUS: How to Get Started With Viddy
If you’ve yet to use Viddy, check out our easy-to-follow guide to getting started below.
1. Viddy
Launched in April 2011, Viddy is available on iTunes for iPhones, iPod touches and iPads. It's free to download. The app lets you capture, edit, filter and share 15-second video clips, or "viddys." One-click share your creations to popular social networking sites, and find fresh content to watch.
Click here to view this gallery.
More About: features, iphone apps, photography, Social Media, software, viddy, Video, video editing
Why Microsoft Is Being Left in the Dust
Alex Goldfayn’s new book is called Evangelist Marketing: What Apple Amazon and Netflix Understand About Their Customers (That Your Company Probably Doesn’t). He is CEO of the Evangelist Marketing Institute, a marketing consultancy with clients that include T-Mobile, TiVo, and Logitech. Follow him @alexgoldfayn.
There are now a number of companies — Apple, Google, Amazon, and others — that have Microsoft in their rear-view mirrors, disappearing quickly on the horizon in a cloud of dust.
That kick of dust in the company’s face is being emitted by Apple’s iPhone and iPad, Amazon’s Kindle, and Google’s search and cloud domination. Microsoft’s own wild lunges into various technology segments are also contributing considerably to it being left behind. Take the company’s recent acquisition of 18% of the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader for $605 million in cash and future guarantees. This was a move to compete with Amazon, but can it really compete?
If you want to know why Microsoft’s share price has been flat for 11 years while Apple, Amazon, and Google shares have soared, this is why. Microsoft is not innovating aggressively. It is not leading categories or blazing trails. No, it’s acquiring aggressively as a shortcut to innovation. That isn’t working. Its own history suggests as much.
Microsoft Has Not Capitalized on its Partnerships and Acquisitions
Last year, Microsoft announced a broad strategic partnership with Nokia, presumably to use Windows operating systems and software on Nokia’s smartphones. This was 15 months ago. But last week, a report found that Apple and Samsung generated 99 percent of the profits in the mobile phone category. Nokia, which once enjoyed more than half of all mobile phone profits, made zero.
In 2009, Microsoft acquired a 10-year license to use Yahoo’s core search technology, which later became the Bing search engine. Today, Google’s search market share is a dominant 66%, with Microsoft’s Bing a very distant second at 15%. After spending billions building and marketing Bing, Microsoft is barely visible in Google’s rear-view mirror.
Finally, what of Microsoft’s Skype acquisition a year ago? It’s too early to tell, but here’s a fact worth noting: The Wall Street Journal reports that 85% of Microsoft’s revenue comes from Windows and Office software. The rest of it? Barely a blip.
And so, Microsoft is proving, like many have before it, that acquiring companies outside your core competencies are recipes for failure. Remember when Cisco purchased the Flip video camera, at the time one of the most popular consumer electronics products on the planet? How did that work out? In 2010, HP bought Palm for $1.2 billion, but we haven’t seen any industry-altering smartphones from HP.
Conversely, consider Apple’s acquisition of Siri: a technology that immediately and profoundly complimented and enhanced its iPhone. It fit obviously and very successfully.
Microsoft Does Not Need to Compete with Amazon
Another major problem with Microsoft’s acquisition of the Nook is that there is simply no need for it to compete with Amazon. This is like Best Buy focusing all of its efforts on its ecommerce site while neglecting its one major competitive advantage: its brick-and-mortar stores. This is also like Research in Motion spending a year building its atrociously received tablet, the PlayBook, while neglecting its core competency of Blackberry smartphones.
Microsoft dominates the competition in computer operating systems and software. Computers are dying, right? And yet, in May 2012, there is no Microsoft Office for tablets and smartphones. Millions of iPads and Android tablets are being adopted in corporate environments, and most of those customers would be happy to spend $70 on Microsoft Office for each device. Except, it does not exist.
I can only guess why: because with its many categories, acquisitions and partnerships, Microsoft is physically incapable of putting its full focus behind converting its desktop products to mobile devices.
Microsoft is Going Wide, Not Deep
Which brings me to the third and final big problem with Microsoft’s Nook play. It is keeping with the strategy of going as wide as possible. Microsoft is not, and cannot be, all things to all people. In fact, no company can.
Here’s the truth: The wider you go, the more priorities you focus on, the less chance you have to be successful. But when you go deep, you can dominate. (See Apple, and Amazon.) When you go deep, you can continue perfecting. You become the world’s expert on a certain specialty. Apple is seen as the world’s expert on smartphones and tablets. Amazon is the accepted leader in online shopping and electronic reading. It’s because these two companies relentlessly focus on their strengths, saying no to nearly everything else. No. That’s a word Microsoft should consider trying out before it gets left in the dust permanently.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, JasonDoiy
More About: apple, contributor, features, Google, microsoft
Ruck.us Breaks Up Party Politics on the Social Web
The World at Work is powered by GE. This new series highlights the people, projects and startups that are driving innovation and making the world a better place.
Name: Ruck.us
Big Idea: Users are matched with politically active people that share their “political DNA,” then form groups around issues they’re passionate about and take action.
Why It’s Working: Many Americans no longer define themselves as strictly Republican or Democrat — Ruck.us gives those independents an outlet for political expression outside the binary, two-party system.
Ruck.us was launched by Nathan Daschle and Raymond Glendening in late 2010 to help people break free of what they consider a restrictive two-party political system, which they believe is no longer relevant to 21st century Americans.
“Parties are really antiquated systems,” says Glendening, the chief strategy officer. “Politics is the last sector of American culture that has yet to be revolutionized by technology. When you look around, every sector of our lives has a plethora of options except for our outlets for political engagement: We still have these two binary options.”
Ruck.us’ 20,000 users are first empowered to figure out the essence of their “political DNA,” or core beliefs. Then, they are matched with similar users to take collective action around an issue, such as deforestation or election reform. All of that action happens outside the traditional party structures, in groups called “rucks.”
“I think this is very reflective of where American society is moving,” says Glendening. “People are increasingly saying, ‘I don’t fit into one of these binary silos,’ and lifelong membership is just not a realistic view or expectation of what the consumer wants out of his political engagement fulfillment.”
Ruck.us hopes to increase its user base with the introduction of “sponsored rucks,” funded by brands such as the National Wildlife Federation and Livestrong.
Glendening’s strategy to get more organizations using the site is two-fold. First, both he and Daschle, Ruck.us’ CEO, come from the world of political campaigning, so they’ve got plenty of useful contacts that are able to make the connection. Second, and more critically, they see Ruck.us as a more comfortable and welcoming place for political discussion and action than anywhere else on the social web. Ruck.us, Glendening believes, can supply brands with thousands of ready-to-engage supporters.
“Facebook, for example, is a clumsy vehicle for politics,” says Glendening. “We’re offering a group of people that have said, ‘Hey, I’m online, and I’m politically active.’ We’re serving up the very right kind of person that’s 90% of the way there for any organization to turn into a sustainable user.”
Glendening’s most proud of Ruck.us’ ability to match like-minded users.
“Any person that wants to go online and engage can go to Change.org, Obama 2012 or Romney 2012 if they’re looking for something to do online — but if you’re looking for a very dialed-in way to do politics, we’re the only place we think that you can do that effectively.”
Would you engage with other politically minded voters on Ruck.us? Sound off in the comments below.
Series presented by GE
The World at Work is powered by GE. GE Works focuses on the people who make the things that move, power, build and help to cure the world.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Pgiam
More About: features, mashable, Politics, Social Good, World at Work
Mother’s Day: 10 Digital Gifts for Last-Minute Shoppers
1. Customized CanvasPop Artwork
With a CanvasPop gift card, your mom can get any photo -- including images from Facebook and Instagram -- printed on a stylish canvas frame. Once you've purchased, CanvasPop will instantly email you the electronic gift card and you can either print it out or forward it to your mom.
Click here to view this gallery.
Mother’s Day is upon us once again, and you’ve left the gift to the last minute.
Don’t worry, we’re not judging you (much). We’re here to help you out. We have 10 solutions that, if you have Internet access and some kind of plastic, will totally save your bacon.
SEE ALSO: Feeling crafty? Try these tutorials on hand-made gifts for MomTake a look through our gallery above of great last-minute gift options for Mother’s Day. Just try harder next year, please.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Tracy Elaine
More About: features, Gifts, mothers day, online, shopping, trending
‘Obama Gay Marriage’ Google Searches Spike 459% [INFOGRAPHIC]
President Obama’s mid-week announcement instantly made waves on social media such as Twitter and Facebook, but it’s also taking Google search by storm, too.
Web searches for “Obama + Gay Marriage” saw a 459% spike on Wednesday evening after the president announced his changed position. According to Google, “gay marriage,” “same sex marriage” and “supports gay marriage” were the top three queries for web searches about Obama on Wednesday.
SEE ALSO: Obama Supports Gay Marriage, ABC Breaks News OnlineObama’s announcement followed Vice President Joe Biden’s weekend endorsement of gay marriage, which caught the administration by surprise, and North Carolina’s passing of Amendment 1, which put a constitutional ban on gay marriage in the state.
Reports indicate that President Obama intended to announce his changed position, which he has previously described as “evolving” ahead of the Democratic National Convention in early September. Obama pointed out that his reversal is a personal opinion, and he believes that states reserve the right to set their own course on gay marriage.
Gay marriage is now poised to become a wedge issue in the 2012 race to the White House. Obama’s likely Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, believes that marriage should take place between a man and a woman. National polls have indicated that the American people are approximately split on the issue, with about half supporting and half opposing gay marriage — although there is some leeway in civil unions and other legal benefits, such as hospital visitation rights.
Thumbnail image courtesy of The White House
More About: 2012 presidential campaign, barack obama, gay marriage, Google, human rights, Politics, US
Nokia Reading Comes to Europe This Week
Nokia‘s e-book reading application, Nokia Reading, is coming to France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the UK.
Backed by major publishers including Penguin, Hachette and Pearson, the app lets you choose from a “large selection” of English titles, including The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, One Day and The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes. Nokia also claims that the app offers a wide range of local titles for each market.
The app works on all of Nokia’s Lumia handsets and includes features such as resizable type and night reading mode.
Nokia also promises a lot of improvements in the near future, including audio books and News Stream — a virtual news magazine that lets users to subscribe to local and international RSS feeds. These improvements will appear as free updates through Nokia’s Marketplace.
The rollout starts this week and will appear in the Nokia Collection in Marketplace on a country-by-country basis. Other markets will follow “over the rest of the year.”
More About: europe, Nokia Reading
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In New Video, Trayvon Martin’s Mother Calls for End to ‘Shoot First’ Laws
Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, released a YouTube video on Friday that encourages opposition to “stand your ground” laws.
Seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in February by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Zimmerman was not immediately arrested due to an expansive self-defense law in Florida, and the shooting set off a nationwide debate over gun control laws and racial profiling.
Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder more than six weeks later.
“Just like me, 30,000 mothers lost their children this year to senseless gun violence,” Fulton says in the video. “Nobody can bring our children back, but it would bring us comfort if we can help spare other mothers the pain that we will feel on Mother’s day and every day. I’m asking you to join Florida in calling upon the governor of your state to reexamine similar ‘stand your ground’ laws throughout the nation.”
The video was posted by safe gun law advocacy organization Second Chance on Shoot First and The Justice for Trayvon Martin Foundation, which Fulton founded.
More About: trayvon martin
VW’s ‘Hover Car’ Concept in China Is Fake, But Still Cool [VIDEO]
Is Luke Skywalker’s Land Speeder from Star Wars finally a reality? No, but if that idea ever came to pass, this is sort of how it would look.
The video above shows a VW flying two-seater zipping through Beijing. The car, powered by minerals underground, was the brainchild of a girl in China who responded to the carmaker’s call for car innovation concepts. The idea is that thrusters on the back of the car would propel it forward. Getting the “car” to work for real would require electromagnetic strips embedded into the roads below it, creating the hovering effect via electromagnetic suspension. As a prize, the girl’s parents got to “test drive” the car in a simulated video. According to Creativity Online, VW received 119,000 ideas and got 33 million hits on its website.
Other concepts that made the finals and the Beijing Motor Show included a “Music Car” that changes colors based on the driver’s musical preferences and a “Smart Key” — a phone that can also start the car.
What do you think? Are you ready for your Hover Car? Let us know in the comments.
More About: cars, Magnet Systems, trending, volkswagen
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How Live Tweeted Brain Surgery Reached 14.5 Million People
A live tweeted brain surgery this week reached an online audience of more than 14 million people, according to the hospital that used social media to broadcast the operation.
Dr. Kim Dong of Houston’s Memorial Hermann hospital system performed a brain tumor resection surgery on a 21-year-old patient Wednesday morning. But the routine operation came with a catch — outside the surgery room, his every move was relayed on Twitter by hospital staff, and graphic photos and video were posted to Pinterest, YouTube and other platforms. A brain tumor specialist on hand helped answer questions.
“We wanted to spread the educational experience as far as possible,” Natalie Camarata, Memorial Hermann’s digital marketing manager, told Mashable on Thursday.
Mission accomplished, if the early numbers are any indication. The audience of 14.5 million people came through the hospital’s website, broadcast partners ABC.com and The Houston Chronicle, Storify, other social media platforms and viral word-of-tweet chatter. Camarata says 230,000 viewers on CoveritLive followed the action for an average of 29 minutes each.
During the operation, Dr. Kim and his team opened an approximately two-inch by two-inch “window” in the patient’s skull. The window gave Dr. Kim access to her brain, which was exposed for more than an hour. Guided by a fiber optic camera, he then located the woman’s tumor beneath the surface of her brain and cut it out.
SEE ALSO: Brain Surgery Tweeted Live [PICS]
One major part of making the operation’s social media broadcast a success was fine tuning SEO by translating doctor jargon into more familiar language.
“What we find is that the way physicians and medical professionals speak is very different than the way regular people speak and use the Internet,” says Kelly McCormick, the hospital’s online advertising and SEO specialist. “The more common words are also the more searched.”
When Dr. Kim removed the window into his patient’s skull, for example, he and his team referred to it as a “bone flap.” But, McCormick says, most viewers were referring to it as a “piece of the skull,” so that was the language the hospital used for much of its content. The rule applied to more common topics, too, such as using “doctor” instead of “physician.” The most catchy term among casual viewers? “Drilling into the brain,” McCormick says.
But the live tweeted brain surgery wasn’t McCormick, Camarata and company’s first rodeo. In February, the hospital performed the world’s first ever live tweeted open heart surgery, documentation of which reached more than 125 million people over the course of about a month, Camarata told Mashable. McCormick says that helped her prepare for optimizing search terms this go-round.
Image courtesy Memorial Hermann Healthcare System
More About: pinterest, Twitter, YouTube
Magic Wands and Smartphones Mix in Real-Life Fantasy Game
Harry Potter is always turning to magic to solve problems. Whether it’s banishing Dementors or dueling fellow wizards, his wand was ready to shoot furious, powerful spells. Harry Potter and so many other magical, fictional worlds have captured the imaginations of children and adults alike, making them wish they could perform magic themselves.
A startup called MoveableCode hopes to make magical worlds real by creating wands that sync to players’ smartphones, allowing them to cast spells with the wave of a hand. MoveableCode has launched a Kickstarter funding initiative for the game Incantor, in hopes that it can bring this technology to the masses.
“If you’ve ever been into fantasy, we think this will appeal to you,” said Nicholas Napp, founder and CEO of MoveableCode. “We asked, ‘How can we use technology to make people suspend disbelief and feel immersed?’”
We’re curious, too.
How It Works
Incantor is based on a magical world that Napp and chief creative officer Kevin Mowrer have been constructing for the last 18 months. Mowrer previously worked at Hasbro, helping in the research and development of several franchises, including Wizards of the Coast, best known for its Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons properties. He specialized in creating “meta-story,” or gigantic game worlds, and he has planned something similar for Incantor.
The game world supposes that Earth is a magical realm with dimensional doors to five other worlds. Magic is being “leaked” into our world by beings called “Incantors,” who want to deputize players to become their assistants. These players will then be given wands to help them harness magic, which includes casting spells with and against other players, and fighting foes that appear in the world.
The wand a player purchases, which MovableCode says will cost as much as a console game, links to his or her smartphone via Bluetooth. Players can then use either an iPhone or Android phone as an alternate reality heads-up display. It’s useful for finding nearby players, but also scrolls with new spells and other hidden secrets that will help players become more powerful.
Flipping the phone into portrait mode allows players to manage their spells and counterspells, and view their health meters. Napp said this interface will be familiar to players of MMOs, as players will have to manage their resources when casting spells.
The Wand
The wand, of course, is the most important peripheral of the game, and what separates Incantor from any other experience like it. There will be 10 different wands, each representing a class, and each with distinct appearances.
Mastering the wand’s capabilities will take more than just waving madly. Napp said higher-level spells require a series of gestures to cast, almost like a “language.”
“If you want to cast a lightning bolt, that might be just like throwing, but if you wanted to cast a fireball, you’ll need to conjure it with your wand, then throw it,” said Napp.
If you’re skeptical that people are willing to mime-throw fireballs in the street, rest assured that Mowrer has done his homework. He points to the 600 or so clubs around the country dedicated to playing Quidditch, the broomstick sport from Harry Potter. “People are out there running around with broomsticks between their legs,” said Mowrer. “It gives people license to descend into fantasy.”
“We’ve seen no resistance from those same type of people,” added Napp. “Those who would be our core were so excited.”
But Napp said they’re still considering collapsible wands that can fit in a pocket — for those “adults with real day jobs.”
Making It Social
From the beginning, Napp and Mowrer have focused on how to best create and foster player relationships and the community.
“I spent a lot of time looking at big MMOs, and it’s crazy how hard they make it for their community to talk,” said Napp.
The team already has several social plans in the works, such as local and national player meetups, guilds of up to 12 players, and a Facebook presence to answer players’ questions.
Napp said the jumping off point for the community will be Incantor’s Kickstarter page. “I want everyone to know how much I’ll treasure each Kickstarter backer, and they’ll always be the first in line as new developments happen.”
MoveableCode is asking backers for $100,000, which Napp says will get them to a real product and help gain attention from real investors. Anything beyond that will go back into Incantor’s development.
“We wanted to use Kickstarter because the product is a tough sell for investors, and we didn’t want to dumb down the product just to make an investor happy,” said Napp. “By then, it probably wouldn’t appeal to the fans.”
According to their Kickstarter page, the wands will be shipped to backers this December, or earlier if backers pledge more to be beta testers.
What do you think of Incantor’s gameplay style? Let us know in the comments below.
Incantor's Wand
An alpha prototype of the wands that will be available for Incantor. Image courtesy MoveableCode.
Click here to view this gallery.
All images courtesy MoveableCode.
More About: Entertainment, features, Gaming, kickstarter, Mobile, trending
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How Your Summer Movie Plans Reveal Your Shopping Habits [STUDY]
Excited to see The Amazing Spider-Man this summer? You’re a prime target for Clorox and Prius ads. Actually more pumped for Star Trek 2? Microbreweries and Whole Foods would be wise to go after you.
That’s according to research from Mindset, a psychographic ad targeting technology acquired last year by Meebo. Mindset uses a proprietary test similar to the famous Myers-Briggs personality test, then combines that with secret sauce algorithms to correlate between people’s personal traits and their shopping habits.
Mindset surveyed 1,300 people, finding that those with different personalities are more likely to be jazzed about different upcoming summer blockbusters. The the company extrapolated those results to match people’s movie preferences to their probable buying habits.
Below is some of what Mindset found. Decide which summer movie you’re most excited for, then see if the research checks out.
The Amazing Spider-Man, G.I. Joe: Retaliation
If these are your jam, you’re probably very optimistic, according to Mindset. That means you’re 70% more likely than average to value environmental sustainability when you buy, 52% more likely to enjoy romantic comedies and 31% more likely to place extreme value on a clean home. Who should advertise to you? Prius, Tide, Bounty and upcoming rom-coms, among others.
Rock of Ages
If you can’t wait to see this movie you’re probably an extrovert, Mindset says. As a consumer, that means you’re 69% more likely to list socializing with friends as a preferred activity, 56% more likely to enjoy shopping, 42% more likely to value premo hair products and 27% more likely to use teeth-whitening kits. Paul Mitchell, Crest and Bloomingdale’s are among the brands that might find success targeting you with ads.
Snow White & the Huntsman
Mindset says this movie is most popular among “highly creative” people. That means you’re likely to buy organic foods, shell out for premium products, love music and have a bold fashion sense. You’re also 27% more likely than average to upgrade your cell phone when a newer version comes out, and less likely than average to watch ESPN or drive a truck. Mac cosmetics, Burt’s Bees and Apple are companies that should target you.
The Dark Knight Rises, The Expendables 2
If you’re stoked for the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy or the second Expendables flick, Mindset says you’re likely a risk seeker. What does that say about your buying habits? You’re 38% more likely to use a prepaid debit card, 25% more likely to say you probably don’t save as much money as you should and 27% to value owning the latest tech products. Gadget companies would be wise to seek your dollar.
Star Trek 2
Excited for this? Then chances are you’re an “open-minded experientialist,” according to Mindset. This means you’re more than twice as likely than the average person to enjoy cultural events such as museums and concerts, 65% more likely to love music, and you probably place a premium on organic foods and custom beers. Whole Foods, microbreweries and music venues may find you an easy sell.
Do you think Minset’s findings are pretty accurate, or bogus? How do they match up with your movie preferences? Let us know in the comments.
Image courtesy Wifarer and iStock, poba.
More About: Advertising, Marketing, Movies
Apple to Drop Google Maps, Add 3D in iOS 6 [REPORT]
Apple will drop Google Maps in iOS6 for an in-house app that’s “cleaner, faster and more reliable,” according to a report.
Citing “trusted sources,” 9to5Mac reports that Apple is using its purchases of Placebase, C3 Technologies, and Poly9 to create a “complete mapping database.” In addition to better performance, the new feature will also sport a 3D mode. 3D won’t be standard, but users can click on a button to enable it. “This 3D mode is said to essentially be technology straight from C3 Technologies: beautiful, realisitic graphics based on de-classified missile target algorithms,” according to the report.
The move comes after Apple ditched Google Maps in its latest version of iPhoto for iPad in early March.
Apple could not be reached for comment.
A foe of Google on many fronts, Apple has been working on improving its mapping software since it bought Placeware in 2009. The next year, Apple acquired Poly9, a provider of 3D mapping solutions. In 2011, Apple bought C3, which also provides 3D mapping technology and absorbed the principals of the company. The video below shows C3′s technology in action.
The activity represents a focus for Apple on another improvement to its mobile experience. Similarly, when Apple wanted to add voice-recognition functionality to iOS, it bought Siri in 2010 and later incorporated it into iOS 5.
The company is expected to introduce iOS 6 in mid-June at its World Wide Developers Conference.
More About: apple, Google Maps, ios6, trending
Persistent Toddler Gets Shot Down by Crush Again and Again [VIDEO]
Sometimes — no matter what you do — you just can’t get a girl to like you in the same way you like her. The kid in this video, for better or worse, is finding that out at an early age.
The little boy, our protagonist here, spends a solid two minutes leaning in for a kiss or cuddle time with his would-be toddler girlfriend. But the young lady is not having it. She pushes him away. She turns her back on him. She shoves him to the ground multiple times. Even his put-both-hands-on-the-ground-and-scoot-around move won’t work. That move always works!
The cute video has gone viral with more than 200,000 views since it was posted to YouTube on Monday. Its origins are unclear, but the video’s information is all written in Portuguese.
Sometimes, kid, you just gotta count your losses and move on. But thanks for the laughs.
More About: trending, Video, viral, YouTube
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Today’s Top Stories: Web Browsing on Xbox 360, Bing’s Social Search
Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. Today, we’re looking at three particularly interesting stories.
Bing Gets a Big Social Overhaul
Microsoft has launched a major overhaul of its search engine Bing, putting a big emphasis on social search and discovery. Important changes include a new social sidebar with Facebook (and, eventually, Twitter, Google+ Quora and LinkedIn) integration and the option to directly ask your social buddies questions on specific topics.
Yahoo CEO Claims he Never Provided a Resume to Yahoo
Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson claims he never provided a resume or incorrect information to Yahoo, Reuters reports citing sources familiar with the matter.
Thompson found himself at the center of a scandal when it was found that he does not have a computer science degree, despite what was stated in his official company biography. A recent report said Thompson would resign from the Yahoo following the incident, though this has not been officially confirmed.
Xbox 360 to Get Full Internet Explorer Browsing
Microsoft is testing a modified version of IE9 for use on the Xbox 360 console, The Verge reports citing unnamed sources. Xbox 360 users can already perform some limited internet searches, but the new IE browser for Xbox will let them surf the web as they would on a PC.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mattjeacock
More About: bing, features, first to know series, mashable, microsoft, Yahoo
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Location-Based App Lets You Stand in an Artists’ Shoes [VIDEO]
Visiting a major landmark, one often suspects numerous artists over the years have created paintings from where you stand. Using your smartphone, you may soon be able to find that out more easily than ever before. A new startup app called Geocoded Art aims to connect people with artworks depicting the places they visit to see those images as the artists viewed them.
The project is being pitched to the crowdfunding community on Kickstarter. Currently, Geocoded Art is integrated into Google Earth, but the crew at the startup wants to make it available to travelers on their smartphones. The Geocoded Art website lets you peruse art by region, artist name or the name of the artwork, in case you want to pre-plan a trip based on scenes in paintings.
You can be a supporter of the project for a minimum of $1. So far, they have raised around $600 of their $7,500 funding goal with 18 days to go before the campaign closes.
A video on the Kickstarter page walks you through what it would be like to view the world with this app in your hand.
Google recently launched Photo Tours to take users closer to the destinations they search.
What do you think of Geocoded Art? Would you use this while traveling? Sound off in the comments.
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New ‘Facebook Terms and Policies Hub’ Answers Your Policy Questions
Facebook, infamous for its changing policies and confusion among users about what they’re getting themselves into when they use the world’s largest social network, has finally aggregated all its terms and policies under the same roof.
That roof — Facebook.com/policies — contains, in the words of Facebook, “Everything you need to know, all in one place.” The Facebook Terms and Policies Hub, as it’s called, is clear and easy to navigate, with headlined links and sub-headlines. However, all of these links actually lead to a lot of information.
Clicking on the three big links — Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, Data Use Policy and Community Standards — leads you to details about privacy, account security and how your information is shared. It also links to information about Facebook’s position on just about everything controversial on the Internet, and by extension, on Facebook. Violence, bullying, hate speech, nudity and intellectual property are just a few of the issues on which Facebook has a firm stance.
The policies portal also has links regarding ads and sponsored stories, credits, pages, platform payment terms, promotions and branding resources.
A spokesperson for Facebook released the following statement regarding the new hub:
“This week, we began rolling out the Facebook Terms and Policies Hub, a central resource for all of our policies. Our hope is that this new resource will make our policies more transparent and accessible for the people who use Facebook by offering easy access to answers to specific policy questions ranging from platform to ads to content.”
With the range of policy questions aggregated under the Facebook policies hub, it’s a reminder of just how expansive the world’s largest social network is — and how important it is for users to keep up with Facebook as it continues to expand. Facebook privacy has always been a contentious issue among users, but the inclusion of topics like sponsored stories and page information under the same “policies” roof emphasizes something important: There are many different sides of Facebook. It’s not just a social network — it’s a business.
Are you satisfied with Facebook’s new terms and policies hub? Sound off in the comments.
Bantr App Unites Soccer Fans at Home and at the Match
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Quick Pitch: A social network for soccer fans around the world that lets them pose questions and vote on coaching decisions, referees’ calls and player performance.
Genius Idea: Real time polling and a focus on just one sport — which happens to be the world’s most popular.
Liverpool fan Peter McCormack endured Roy Hodgson’s brief but underwhelming stint as manager of the famed British soccer club. As he lamented the team’s poor performance, McCormack often found himself in debates with friends in England about Hodgson’s tactics and which players “were fit to wear the shirt,” as he puts it.
But McCormack and his friends also wondered — what did other fans think? How could they see reliable information on how a large sampling of Liverpool fans feel? The newly released iPhone app Bantr was born out of that question.
Bantr lets users meet other soccer fans, check into matches and — most interestingly — pose questions and participate in polls on game action and team strategy. Launched as a website about a year ago, Bantr hit the iTunes App Store earlier this month. McCormack, a web developer for 15 years and lifelong soccer fan, says the transition was fueled by user feedback.
“Everyone was really supportive, but they all said, ‘I don’t always have my laptop open, but I have a phone whether I’m at a stadium or at the pub,” he told Mashable in an interview.
Bantr currently supports Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, Champions League, Europa League and all of England’s divisions including the Premier League. Major League Soccer is on the way soon, and the European championships and World Cup will be supported as well. McCormack says the Bantr team is currently focused on just soccer, with its globally regulated rules and statistics for a reason — they can add a new league in a day and a new language in a week.
The company secured nearly $400,000 in seed funding and is in the process of raising a Series A round. McCormack says the solid investment numbers are significant because they mean Bantr can focus on its user experience and quality without having to muddy the game with advertisements for quick revenue. Bantr’s web app has about 11,000 users, McCormack says, and the iPhone version reached 1,000 downloads in its first day with no advertising beyond Facebook and Twitter blasts.
Focusing on just one sport to start — the company would like to expand somewhere down the line — is a wise move. It allows Bantr’s developers to concentrate on making the soccer experience as excellent as possible, and there are no shortage of soccer fans around the world. (McCormack says nearly 20% of Bantr users are from the United States, and a significant portion comes from India and Asia as well.)
Real time voting for fans is another cool feature that could help Bantr stand out from a crowding field of social sports apps. Time will tell, however, if those advantages are enough to make Bantr a long term success.
Have you tried Bantr? What did you think? Let us know in the comments.
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
Image courtesy toksuede, Flickr.
More About: apps, sports, Startups
Is This the Weirdest iPad Speaker Stand Ever? [HANDS ON]
Ever wished your iPad had a kickstand so you could stand it up on a counter and use it as a small TV?
Bang & Olufsen hears you. Its new BeoPlay A3 iPad speaker dock is ideal for doing just that.
The A3 — released under the company’s new consumer brand, B&O Play — is more than just a regular kickstand. The wedge-shaped speaker dock grips your iPad by the edge, and you can stand it up in either portrait or landscape orientations.
You can even rest the tablet facing upward, and the dock will give it a slight slant — ideal if it’s in your lap and you want to type directly on the touchscreen.
It also boasts a feature called Adaptive Stereo Orientation, which adjust the sound based on how you hold it. The A3 is equipped with three tweeters, and whichever two are working at any given moment is determined by the built-in accelerometer.
We played around with the A3 for a bit, flipping it this way and that. We were pleased to find there is absolutely no delay in the audio when it re-orients itself.
The product itself has a very unusual shape, all edges and triangular surfaces. That’s to give us as many ways to use it as possible — but it also gives the BeoPlay A3 a funky design, almost sci-fi retro. It’s a little on the heavy side, but any decent speaker would need to be.
SEE ALSO: 5 Classy Speaker Docks to Boost Your iPad’s AudioTo our ears, sound from the A3 was miles ahead of the iPad’s built-in speaker. Still, as a battery-operated device, it has limits to how loud it can play.
You’ll be able to hear it across your kitchen, but this isn’t room-filling sound. Bang & Olufsen rates it at five hours of playback (presumably at “typical” volumes), and it’ll charge your iPad if you plug it in.
Before you mount your iPad in the dock, you’ll need to wrap the edge in a provided bumper. Two are provided — one for the first iPad, and another that fits both the iPad 2 and the new iPad. It’ll be available at the end of May for $549.
Besides the BeoPlay A3, Bang & Olufsen also debuted the BeoPlay V1 TV. Available in 32-inch ($3,249) and 42-inch ($3,999) sizes, the TV is equipped with wireless capabilities for displaying content from your phone or tablet. It also has an alcove in back that can hold an Apple TV box for easy storage.
With B&O Play, Bang & Olufsen hopes to reach a younger, more connected kind of customer. It launched the brand’s first product at CES, an iPhone/iPad speaker called the BeoLit 12.
Although the company wouldn’t say how many of those speakers it’s sold, it did say that 70% of the customers were new to Bang & Olufsen.
What do you think of B&O Play’s latest offering? Let us know in the comments.
Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A3
The BeoPlay A3 iPad speaker ($549) has a wedge shape so you can stand it up vertically, horizontally, or facing upwards with a slight tilt.
Click here to view this gallery.
More About: Bang & Olufsen, ipad, speakers
Photobomber Trolls Tourists at Leaning Tower of Pisa [VIDEO]
Here’s a perfect example of the good kind of troll — the one who leaves no high five left behind. Everyone wants a special snapshot when they visit a historical monument like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Darius Groza wants to make sure visitors get that perfect image.
SEE ALSO: Can an Internet Troll Pick Up a Girl IRL?The prankster, who writes for Romanian blog JEG, runs into pictures and gives a big high five to tourists posing ironically like they’re holding up the building.
What’s not ironic is the fact that a Radiohead cover of “Creep” is playing in the background. Who wants to see more good-hearted pranks like this on the Internet? Sound off in the comments.
More About: trolls, viral, viral videos, YouTube
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