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5 Advanced Twitter Tips for Your Small Business

2012-06-24T03:51:00.001-07:00

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

So you’re running a small business and you’ve got the basics of social networking mastered: You tweet often, you’ve created a venue on Foursquare and your Facebook Page is beautiful. How do you move to the next level of social marketing mastery?

Devin Desjarlais, social media manager at Max Borges Agency, has five can’t-miss tips for upping your Twittergame.

1. Don’t Schedule and Split

Scheduling tweets with a platform such as HootSuite or Tweetdeck can be a great way to spread out your business’ social sharing throughout the day. However, Desjarlais says that it’s important to pay attention to any responses your scheduled tweets may elicit — the follow-up conversation is just as important as the initial tweet, if not more.

“The key to attracting a following on Twitter is to engage with users,” Desjarlais says. “Hootsuite is a free platform that allows companies to schedule tweets for all accounts in one place. That means that you won’t have to spend all day planning the next 140 characters to publish. However, check back hourly to see who has tweeted back at you. Twitter users have a short attention span, so it’s important to respond as quickly as possible.”

2. Sit in the Stream

Get familiar with platforms that let you build streams around phrases or hashtags relevant to your company. That way, you’ve always got your ear to the social ground.

“Hashtags are an excellent way to track conversation about a specific topic,” Desjarlais says. “With Hootsuite, companies can create streams that track a specific hashtag, giving the account manager an easy way to find content and engage with other tweeters. For example, if your company makes custom guitars, you might want to follow a stream dedicated to the #music hashtag.”

3. Don’t Rely on Your Handle

It’s the mark of a successful social company to have plenty of customers tweeting at you or about you using your Twitter handle, but you can’t rely on all users to do that. If you’re only listening for tweets mentioning @BobsBurgerShack, for example, you’ll miss out on a tweet such as, “Man, I wish Bob’s Burger Shack had relish!”

The solution? Enhanced listening techniques.

“Topsy.com is a little-known website that lets users do real-time searches in the social web,” Desjarlais explains. “Do daily searches for your company’s name and narrow the search results to just tweets to see who is talking about your company but not @-mentioning you.” Or you can save searches for some key terms and common permutations of your company name, such as “Bobs burger” and “Bobs cheeseburger.”

4. Don’t Be a Social Egomaniac

While the majority of your tweets will probably be about your business, it’s important to develop a personality beyond tweeting out discounts or new menu options. It’s all about building a human personality.

“The last thing a company wants to do is spam their followers with tweets,” she says. “Twitter is about sharing ideas, information and occasionally inspirational quotes in order to build a community around what the business offers. Try to tweet at least five times per day and dedicate one or two of those tweets to sending users back to your company’s website. Schedule those posts between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. EST on the weekdays for the most engagement.”

5. Stay on Track

Determining the return on investment of social networking can be a real challenge, especially for smaller businesses that don’t have the time or resources to dedicate to complex analytics. Desjarlais says free tools are available to make that task just a bit easier.

“The URL shortener Bitly lets users create shortened links for any URL available online,” says Desjarlais. “Sign up for a free Bitly account and create custom Bitly links or ‘bitmarks’ that can be used whenever you send users back to your company’s website. To see how many people have clicked the link, simply paste the URL with a ‘+’ at the end into your Internet browser to see up-to-date metrics.”

Keep on Being Social

What other advanced Twitter tips have you learned for running a small business? Share them in the comments below.

6 Personal Secrets Your Facebook Profile Isn’t Keeping

2012-06-24T03:45:00.001-07:00

June 18, 2012 by BusinessNewsDaily

BusinessNewsDaily Follow @bndarticles

Even if you’re careful about your Facebook security, very few profiles are truly off-limits, especially if you’ve friended a few of your co-workers along the way.

“So what?” You think. “There’s nothing on my Facebook profile that I’m ashamed of.” But are you really sure? You might be surprised how much of what’s on your Facebook page is inappropriate for work. Here are just a few of the things you’re revealing about yourself that you might not have considered.

1. Your age
Even if you didn’t use your real age when you signed up for Facebook, it’s pretty easy to figure out. Mentions of your high school reunion, your favorite bands (Hall and Oates reunion tour, anyone?) or your third-grade class photo (look at those bell bottoms!) will surely give you away. You’d never dream of putting your age on your resume, so why give a potential employer the chance to rule you out before even meeting you?

2. Your political beliefs
Anyone with a little common sense knows that talking politics at work is a bad idea, but anyone checking out your Facebook page could probably pretty easily figure out where you stand. Maybe you innocently “liked” a politician’s Facebook page, made a donation to a political campaign or signed an online petition. Lately, it’s very hard to predict when that information is going to pop up on your Facebook page. Worse yet, do you really want your boss reading your lunatic brother-in-law’s survivalist rants or your cousin’s “legalize marijuana” posts. I think not.

3. Your personal life
What’s the point of putting on a power suit for work if everyone in your office can see photos of you in your pajamas on Christmas morning on your Facebook page? Do you really want anyone in your professional life to know that you’ve gained 30 pounds over the last five years (those wedding photos reveal a lot) or that your friends are chronically trying to fix you up with people? Too much personal information will make anyone look less than professional.

4. Your childhood
Yes, your Davy Crockett coonskin cap was adorable when you were 8. And those photos your mom keeps posting of you as a kid in the bathtub are cute, too. And, while they’re not exactly blackmail material, there’s little doubt they’ll help undermine your efforts to command much respect around the office.

5. Your religious beliefs
What you believe is no one else’s business. But, that doesn’t mean they won’t hold it against you. If you’ve “liked” your church’s Facebook page or are posting about the next B’nai B’rith bake sale, you might want to think again. It may not be right, but people will project their opinions about religion on you whether you like it or not. Be sure you’re ready to deal with it.

6. Your work alliances
Even if you think you’re good at playing office politics, odds are your Facebook page tells the real truth about who you like and who you don’t. Simply “friending” some people in the office and not others is enough to provide digital grist for the office gossip mill. Be smart and keep your personal friendships personal.

10 Facebook Tips for Power Users

2012-06-24T03:00:00.003-07:00

May 15, 2012 by Amy-Mae Elliott

View As Slideshow »

1. View Photos Full-Screen

You can browse Facebook photos in full-screen mode, making for a better gallery viewing experience.

In an album, click on the first image, then hover over the photo. A floating menu will appear along the bottom of the image.

Click on "Options" and you'll see the ability to "Enter Fullscreen." Now you can browse with a clean, black background.

To return to normal mode, simply hit the Escape key or the "X" on the top-right of your display.

2. Hide What You Read

If you like Facebook's new social reading apps, but don't want to broadcast to the world what you read on your coffee break, adjust the settings accordingly.

For apps that you're already using, head to "Account Settings" from the drop-down menu next to "Home" at the top-right of your display. Go to the "Apps" tab.

Now click "Edit" to the right of the relevant app. In the box that opens you'll see "Posts on your behalf - Who can see posts this app makes for you on your Facebook timeline?"

Use the drop-down menu to select "Only me." You can also follow this same process as you sign up to new apps.

3. Create a List Based on Your Interests

Have you taken advantage of Facebook's "Lists" functionality?

Similar to Twitter lists, you can create lists based on your interests and then tune in for a targeted catch-up on certain topics.

To create your first list, simply click "More" next to the "Interests" section on your homepage menu. Click "Add Interests," then "Create List."

Your lists can be comprised of people, subscriptions and friends. Once created, you can choose to make them private to you, or share them with the world.

4. Populate Your Map With Pics

You can retrospectively add locations to images you've already uploaded to Facebook, making for an interesting map that shows all the places you've been.

To populate your map with photos, click on the "Photos" box under your cover photos and select "Add Photos to Map."

You will then be able to scroll through all your images and add the relevant geo data.

There's more information about adding imagery to your Facebook map here.

5. Reposition Photos on Your Timeline

If you want your timeline to look as lovely as possible, you can fine tune how your images appear.

If an image is off-center or you can't see the main focus of the photo, reposition it to look better.

Click the "Edit or Remove" pencil icon on the top-right and select "Reposition Photo." Click and drag it until it's in a better position.

6. Hide From Friends In Facebook Chat

There's bound to be a few people you'd rather not chat with on Facebook. Hiding, or appearing to be offline to certain friends, is simple.

Just click on that person's name in the chat window, as if you were about to start a conversation, then hit the cog icon in the top-right.

From the menu, click "Go Offline to [Name]." You are now hidden.

A more detailed walk-through of this process can be found here.

7. Pre-Approve All Tags

Did you know you can set your Facebook account to require pre-approval before any tagged content appears on your timeline?

To set this up, select "Privacy Settings" from the drop-down menu on the top-right of your Facebook page.

Next to "Timeline and Tagging," click on "Edit Settings."

Look down for "Review posts friends tag you in before they appear on your Timeline" and "Review tags friends add to your own posts on Facebook" -- set these both to "on."

We have previously offered a more detailed look at this process. It can be found here.

8. Hide Annoying Content From Your News Feed

What appears in your Facebook news feed is subject of much discussion, but you can control it, to a certain extent.

From the homepage, click on the pencil icon that appears when you hover over "News Feed," and select "Edit settings."

Here you can hide posts coming into your stream from certain people, certain apps and certain pages.

If you really want to drill down to customize your news feed, we have previously offered some useful tips here.

9. Create a Secret Group

You can create a "secret" Facebook group that only you, and the friends you choose to share it with, can view. It's a fun way to share members-only content with a select few.

To start your secret group, click "More" next to the "Groups" area on your homepage. Select "Create Group" on the next page that loads.

Once you've named your group, choose a fun icon from the drop-down menu, add friends and then check the "secret" option.

You will now see your new group under the "Groups" area in your homepage. Click on it to post to the group and view content from others.

10. Upload Images in High Quality

Finally, Facebook's default photo upload functionality is not high resolution.

If you want to ensure your images are the best quality possible, always check the "High Quality" box as you upload.

It will take a little longer, but the better images should be worth the wait.

Facebook is a platform like any other — with a little practice you can get really good at using it. To help you out, we have pulled together 10 tips that we think will be useful for “power users” of the social network.

Whether you want to make your timeline look better, fine-tune what appears in your news feed, or create a secret Facebook group, we hope there’s a tip here that will improve your Facebook experience.

SEE ALSO: How to Hide Pinterest Activity on Facebook

How to Make Your Site Mobile Ready in Just 30 Seconds

2012-06-24T02:55:00.002-07:00

How to Make Your Site Mobile Ready in Just 30 Seconds

June 10, 2012 by Samantha Murphy21

Ready to convert an existing website into a mobile-friendly platform but not sure how to get started?

New York-based startup bMobilized has released a new do-it-yourself tool that instantly converts a website into a full-featured HTML5-enabled mobile site in just a few clicks. Even better, it only costs $5 a month to keep the mobile site running.

Here’s how it works: Visit the bMobilized homepage, type in the name of your site and click “mobilize!” This automatically converts the url into a mobile website, optimized for any mobile operating system or browser.

bMobilized will then ask you to register (no credit card needed yet) before connecting you to the dashboard. Here’s where you can customize the mobile site by adjusting the design, such as editing menus, updating color schedules and running promotions. Updates can be made as often as you’d like.

To officially link the two platforms, copy and paste the “redirection script” from the dashboard to your existing site, so mobile users who type the URL will be sent to the mobile version.

SEE ALSO: Mobile Advertising: 5 DIY Tips for Small Businesses

Although the service is free to try for seven days, it costs $5 per month to keep it up and running. A fee of $9 per month comes with customer support, including setup assistance.

For a full video on how the service works, check out the clip below.

What services do you use to power your mobile site? Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, TommL

Apple Stores get their turn under NY Times' investigative spotlight

2012-06-24T02:40:00.001-07:00

A just-published Times report on pay and conditions at Apple Stores has at least one news outlet wondering if recent Apple activity around salary increases was meant as a kind of preemptive strike.

by Edward Moyer

Apple employees in 2010, preparing for the launch of the iPhone 4 at Apple's flagship store in San Francisco.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Was recent Apple activity around raises at its retail stores a preemptive strike against a just-published New York Times article?

That's what The Los Angeles Times is wondering aloud today.

The extensive New York Times piece, which hit the Internet today bearing the headline "Apple's Retail Army, Long on Loyalty but Short on Pay," looks at what workers at the stores make relative to their commission-earning dopplegangers at carriers such as Verizon. It also speaks of hectic working conditions and shifts with no breaks, and gives a peek at what some might call the lightly cultish atmosphere at employee training sessions. And it considers why the twentysomethings that clamor for jobs at Apple Stores are so enthusiastic about the retail positions (many, the NYT says, are Apple adherents to begin with, and many are won over by the sense of purpose instilled at the training sessions -- which emphasize that Apple's sales corps. isn't selling; they're helping people improve their lives).

The NYT -- which since the beginning of the year has shone a spotlight on various aspects of Apple, from its offshoring of manufacturing to conditions at supplier factories to the company'sstrategies to reduce its taxes -- says Apple started handing out substantial raises to some employees last week, several months after the paper began asking around about the situation at Apple Stores:

Even Apple, it seems, has recently decided it needs to pay its workers more. Last week, four months after The New York Times first began inquiring about the wages of its store employees, the company started to inform some staff members that they would receive substantial raises. An Apple spokesman confirmed the raises but would not discuss their size, timing or impetus, nor who would earn them.

But Cory Moll, a salesman in the San Francisco flagship store and a vocal labor activist, said that on Tuesday he was given a raise of $2.82 an hour, to $17.31, an increase of 19.5 percent and a big jump compared with the 49-cent raise he was given last year.

"My manager called me into his office and said, 'Apple wants to show that it cares about its workers, and show that it knows how much value you add to the company, by offering a bigger raise than in previous years,' " Mr. Moll recalled.

Blog 9to5 Mac also reported in late May that Apple was tweaking its raise schedule and delivering increases a few months early -- at the end of this month rather than on September 30.

Of course, none of this proves Apple's actions were influenced by knowledge of the New York Times piece. In fact, one of the things the LA Times mentions -- that Apple Store employees can now get $500 off Macs and $250 off iPads -- was something promised by Apple CEO Tim Cookback in January, which would seem to be before the NYT began gathering material for its article.

We contacted Apple for comment on both the New York and LA Times articles and were referred to the company's statement in the NYT piece -- in addition to noting an Apple representative's confirmation of recent raises, the paper wrote the following:

Internal surveys at stores have also found surprising dissatisfaction levels, particularly among technicians, or "geniuses" in Apple's parlance, who work at what is called the Genius Bar. Apple declined requests for interviews for this article. Instead, the company issued a statement:

"Thousands of incredibly talented professionals work behind the Genius Bar and deliver the best customer service in the world. The annual retention rate for Geniuses is almost 90%, which is unheard-of in the retail industry, and shows how passionate they are about their customers and their careers at Apple."

The six pages of the NYT piece are well worth a read for those interested. A few more tidbits:

Last year, the company's 327 global stores took in more money per square foot than any other United States retailer -- wireless or otherwise -- and almost double that of Tiffany, which was No. 2 on the list, according to the research firm RetailSails...

About 30,000 of the 43,000 Apple employees in this country work in Apple Stores, as members of the service economy, and many of them earn about $25,000 a year...

By the standards of retailing, Apple offers above average pay -- well above the minimum wage of $7.25 and better than the Gap, though slightly less than Lululemon, the yoga and athletic apparel chain, where sales staff earn about $12 an hour. The company also offers very good benefits for a retailer, including health care, 401(k) contributions and the chance to buy company stock, as well as Apple products, at a discount.

If there is a secret to Apple's sauce, this is it: the company ennobles employees. It understands that a lot of people will forgo money if they have a sense of higher purpose.... That empowerment is important because aspiring sales employees would clearly be better off working at one of the country's other big sellers of Apple products, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, if they were searching for a hefty paycheck.

...so many people wanted to work at the stores that [Ron] Johnson [former VP of retail at Apple] would compare applicants-to-openings ratios and boast that it was harder to land a job at an Apple Store than to get into Stanford, his alma mater.

Training commences with what is known as a "warm welcome." As new employees enter the room, Apple managers and trainers give them a standing ovation. The clapping often bewilders the trainees, at least at first, but when the applause goes on for several lengthy minutes they eventually join in.... "My hands would sting from all the clapping," says Michael Dow, who trained Apple employees for years in Providence, R.I.

Wait for Windows Phone 8 or buy a Samsung Galaxy S3?

2012-06-24T02:29:00.001-07:00

Microsoft's newest mobile OS -- Windows Phone 8 -- will add some key functionality to Microsoft's smartphones, but is it worth waiting for?

The new software offers a few more bells and whistles in terms of functionality for smartphone subscribers. But the bigger deal is that it will offer the necessary hooks for developers and device makers to build more advanced hardware. Finally, this could mean that Microsoft's live tile interface may finally be installed on some heavily spec'ed devices.

In this edition of Ask Maggie I help one reader figure out if he should wait for this flashy new hardware for the new Windows Phone 8 devices, or if he should go ahead and buy one of the latest and greatest Google Android phones of the summer: the Samsung Galaxy S3 or the HTC One series.

I also offer some advice about finding a normal-size smartphone in a world that seems to be going oversize.

To wait for new Windows Phone 8 devices or not

It's hard to say how the new Windows Phone 8 smartphones will stack up against current Android devices. That said, the Windows Phone 8 software is all about providing a foundation for Microsoft to offer new cutting-edge hardware. For instance, the new OS will support multicore processors. It will have an embedded NFC chip for mobile payments and other apps that may require short range wireless technology. It will allow multitasking. And it will be LTE capable.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

The Verge reported Thursday a supposed roadmap for HTC's Windows Phone 8 devices. HTC expects to launch three classes of Windows Phone 8 smartphones later this year. The Zenith will be the high-end line, with an expected 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 display, quad-core processor, NFC support, 8-megapixel camera that can grab 1,080p, and 42Mbps HSPA+. (My guess is that the top of the line phone will also have LTE support for the U.S. market.) The midrange is being referred to as Accord and it's expected to have a slightly smaller, 4.3-inch screen and dual-core processors. The budget Windows Phone 8 will be the Rio line, which is expected to offer a 4-inch WVGA display; 14.4 Mbps HSPA connectivity; 5 megapixel, 720p capture; and a Snapdragon S4 processor.

Many of these new hardware enhancements are already available on Google Android devices today. In many ways, Windows Phone 8 is really just about keeping up with what Google Android has already been doing from a hardware and technology perspective.

Greg Sullivan, senior product manager at Microsoft for Windows Phone, said the Windows Phone 8 software paves the way for Microsoft to keep up with its competitors

"Windows Phone 8 is about investing in the future of the platform," he said. "It gives us the necessary headroom to continue to grow the device capabilities. It's important for consumers, but it's also really important for developers and hardware manufacturers as we move forward."

So should you wait for the Windows Phone 8 smartphones, or should you just buy a new Android phone now?

As you know, there are a couple of high-profile Google Android devices hitting the market this summer. And they already come equipped with the most powerful hardware out there. The Samsung Galaxy S3 goes on sale soon at all four major wireless carriers. And HTC has also introduced its latest One family of devices on all four major carriers.

I think that Windows Phone 8 will help manufacturers bring that same level of high-end hardware specifications to Windows Phones in the future. This could mean that the new Windows Phone 8 devices will be on par with any of the new Android devices as well as anything that Apple introduces this fall. But will they be more advanced? That's tough to say.The good thing about these new Android phones is that they both sport the latest Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich software. They also have advanced cameras. And they come fully loaded with all kinds of high-end specifications.

Since the hardware will be similar in terms of specifications, I think the question you really need to ask yourself is which user experience and interface you prefer. The live-tiles make using Windows Phone devices very easy and intuitive. It still lacks some key apps, but Microsoft says it's catching up fast. In fact, Microsoft has surpassed the 100,000 mark in terms of the number of apps in its app store. Microsoft is also changing the home screen in the new Windows Phone 8 to make it even more customizable. (Windows Phone users on older hardware will also get this benefit in the Windows Phone 7.8 update that's expected to come later this summer.)

I'd recommend checking out a Nokia Lumia 900 or an HTC Titan at an AT&T shop to see if you like the software. These phones will soon get the Windows Phone 7.8 software upgrade that will give them the new home screen, which will be used on Windows Phone 8 devices.

But keep in mind that you may have to wait a long time for the new Windows Phone 8 devices. Microsoft has said that devices will be ready by the "end of the year." My guess is that the high-end phones won't come to market until the late fall, just before the holidays.

Will Verizon be one of the carriers offering these devices? That's a good question. As you are probably aware, Verizon hasn't been a big supporter of Windows Phone to date. In fact, it offers only one Windows Phone device on its network: the HTC Trophy. Even though Microsoft has updated its software and helped Nokia and HTC launch several other newer Windows Phone devices into the market, Verizon has still remained on the sidelines with respect to the platform.

But that may soon change. In April, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said during the company's earnings call that Verizon is "fully supportive" of Microsoft's Windows Phone platform. He also indicated that Verizon would have new Windows Phone 8 devices in time for the holidays. A Verizon representative reiterated these plans earlier this week after Microsoft's launch of Windows Phone 8. She said the carrier would offer devices using the OS by the end of the year.

Still, Verizon hasn't said a lot about how much it will support Windows Phone. Will it introduce just one Windows Phone 8 smartphone, or will it offer a full portfolio of devices with an Android-like marketing campaign?

It's a little too early to say for sure. But Microsoft's Sullivan said the carrier seems enthusiastic about the new Windows Phone 8 platform. Sullivan couldn't tell me specifics about the discussions, but he acknowledged that Microsoft has been in talks with Verizon for a long time. Still, he indicated that with Windows Phone 8, Verizon may finally be willing to put a little more weight behind its support for Microsoft's smartphones.

"They're very excited and enthusiastic about what Windows Phone 8 can bring," he said. "And it's very important for us to have strong support from Verizon."

If Verizon plans to put a lot of marketing muscle behind Windows Phone 8, then I'd definitely expect some cool new phones running the OS to appear on the carrier's network in the late fall and into the spring.

But it's the end of June now, and you are up for a new phone in August. Can you really wait that long? If not, the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One devices are terrific phones. I doubt you'd regret buying either one of them. But if you are really intrigued by Windows Phone 8, you may just want to wait to see what's offered later in the year.

Good luck with your decision.

A glimpse at Windows Phone 7.8 and 8 (pictures)

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Bigger isn't always better.

Dear Maggie,

Although the newest smartphones such as the HTC One and the Samsung S3 look great when I see them on a Web site, in person they are entirely too large. It's like a tablet for a phone. It looks ridiculous holding that up to my head. While I may not use the phone in the traditional way much anymore, it's still a phone. And I still get calls on it from time to time.

There's also the matter of carrying around something that bulky. I've been waiting for the new iPhone to come out because it will likely be smaller than most of the smartphones being released at the moment. But I'm getting sick of waiting with no definitive date of release. Are there any other Androids on the horizon that have less than 4.3 inch screens but will still have all advanced features of the larger smartphones? The ones with the best features coming out now all seem to have 4.5 inch screens or larger.

Thanks,
Jazmin

Dear Jazmin,

I hear you. I also think that many of the new smartphones have gotten too big. While it's nice to have a slightly bigger screen if you're watching video or looking at pictures and so on, you still want a device that easily fits in your pocket or purse. And you certainly want to be able to hold it up to your head to take a phone call. (Though you may want to be careful about holding it to your head too often or for too long.)

Verizon Wireless's Droid Incredible 4G LTE from HTC.

(Credit: HTC)

As you mentioned, most phones seem to be following this trend. Even the new iPhone 5 is expected to get a bigger screen. Instead of a 3.5-inch screen, which is the current iPhone form factor, the new iPhone is expected to sport at least a 4-inch screen.

Of course we don't know for certain when a new iPhone is coming out. But many experts believe it will be sometime this fall, likely September or October. If you're tired of waiting for the iPhone. there are at least a couple of choices for smaller smartphones.

While that may sound like a big screen, Brad Duea, senior vice president of product management at T-Mobile USA, says it shouldn't scare you off if you are looking for a smaller phone. He said HTC has designed the One S so the screen goes right to the edge of the device, so it's not too bulky.The HTC One S on T-Mobile USA, otherwise known as the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE on Verizon Wireless, has a 4.3 inch screen. (The One S and Droid Incredible 4G LTE are the same phone, but with a few different features.)

"They were able to shave off some bulk from the exterior of the device," he said. "It's slim and has a great feel in your hand."

Samsung has also introduced the Galaxy S Blaze, a midtier device that has a 4-inch screen. It's also available on T-Mobile.

by Marguerite Reardon

Again, Apple gets all the attention

2012-06-24T02:21:00.002-07:00

Apple has trumped the PC guys again. This time in a laptop category that HP or Dell should own.

15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. A product that HP or Dell could have (should have) done?

(Credit: Apple)

So, why does the world obsess about the newest MacBook Pro and not competing laptops from Hewlett-Packard or Dell?

Let's just say that Apple has an innate sense about good design.

But let's focus on the Retina MacBook Pro for now. That's a design that any PC maker could have feasibly done.And you can bet Microsoft has uttered this sentiment behind closed doors more than a few times -- thus, the Microsoft-designed Surface tablet announcement this week.

Big 15-inch class laptops fall right into the wheel house of the PC guys. Dell did the XPS 15z. HP has the Envy 15. But neither of those are comparable to the 0.7-inch thick, quad-core Retina Pro.

Vizio seems to be thinking like Apple: they came out with an ultrathin 15-inch laptop around the same time that Apple introduced the Retina MBP. And Vizio's lineup is limited, like Apple's.

(Credit: Vizio)

One of the few to get close is Vizio with its 4-pound 15.6-inch CT15, which offers resolutions up to 1,920 by 1,080.

And maybe that's the point. Vizio is not a traditional PC maker. It's best known for HDTVs. And it seems to be focused on a different kind of aesthetic than Dell or HP.

We'll see if Vizio can stick it out. Dell, to its credit, has had designs like the Adamo and Latitude z600 (see photo below), but never persevered.

Apple does, sticking with innovative designs like the MacBook Air (introduced way back in 2008) until it finds the design formula and market timing that works.

And it gets all the attention. The company certainly has my attention. The standard 15-inch MacBook Pro never appealed to me. Neither did PCs.

But now Apple has reinvented the 15-inch laptop, which builds on the Air but adds a display to kill for. (Yeah, Retina is a marketing thing but it's also very real. I willfully cave to Apple's hype in this case.)

So, are we going to see something comparable from the PC guys? Sony could do a 15-inch Vaio Z or Lenovo a ThinkPad X1 Carbon. But I'm not holding my breath that they'll set the world on fire.

Look, Mom, no optical drive. Dell did that way back in 2009. And could have persevered with the 0.55-inch thick 16-inch Latitude z600, perfecting the design -- but didn't.

(Credit: Dell)

On Lumia, Windows Phone Update Is More Than Skin Deep

2012-06-24T01:56:00.000-07:00

Microsoft’s Windows Phone keynote Wednesday brought with it the official announcement of Windows Phone 8. The updated version of the operating system is headed to phones this fall, however it won’t be headed to any existing Windows Phone devices simply because those device’s hardware won’t be able to handle the features set coming in the update.

That news was particularly upsetting for Nokia Lumia 900owners. The flagship Windows Phone launched just a few months ago, and news that it wasn’t going to be updated to the next full version of Windows Phone left many customers unhappy.

Although the phone won’t be getting Windows Phone 8, Nokia doesn’t plan to abandon Lumia owners when Windows 8 hits the streets.

“Nokia and Microsoft are going to continue to support our current Lumia portfolio with some really cool stuff,” a Nokia representative told Mashable. “The most visible is the upcoming Windows Phone 7.8 update – which will bring a number of Windows 8 features, most notably the new, more flexible start screen, to the current portfolio of Windows Phone 7.5 devices.”

SEE ALSO: First Look: Windows Phone 7.8 On a Lumia 900

Besides the updates start screen, some other updates to the Lumia line outlined during Wednesday’s Windows Phone keynote include:

Camera Share
Nokia’s new camera app will add enhancements to your smartphone’s camera, most notably a new Smart Group Shot mode that lets you take a series of photos of a group of people and then select the best facial expression for each person from the group of photos, combining them all into the ultimate picture.

The camera app also adds features such as a panorama mode, self-timer, and an action shot mode for capturing fast-moving shots.

Contact Share
The new Contact Share feature allows you to share contact information with others via SMS or email.

Counters
Worried about how much data you’re using? The Counters app allows you to monitor your phone usage and set limits on things like cell time or data usage to prevent yourself from going over limits and accruing overage charges.

PlayTo
PlayTo lets you share content such as music, video, or pictures on your smartphone with any other DLNA-enabled device on your network such as TV or Blu-ray player.

Zynga Games
Words With Friends and Draw Something are also headed to Nokia’s Lumia line later this year. The popular Zynga games will be exclusive to Lumia phones for several months when they launch before becoming available on other Windows Phone handsets.

The camera app is expected to be in Marketplace for the US and China by June 22, and then roll out to other countries in July. Contact Share and Counters will be available in China by June 22, and then will be available in other countries by July.

Are any of you currently Lumia 900 owners? How do you feel about getting Windows Phone 7.8 rather than Windows Phone 8? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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Similar to Windows Phone 8

The Windows Phone 7.8 home screen will look just like the Start screen on a Windows Phone 8 device.

Different Sizes

Tiles on the screen can be one of three sizes: small, medium, and large.

Moveable

Each individual tile can also be moved around and placed as you see fit. You could also arrange the screen so that all your business apps are at the top of the page, and all of your personal apps are at the bottom.

Resizable on Screen

holding your finger down on a tile will produce two small icons. The small circle at the top of the tile can be tapped to remove it from your Start screen. The small icon at the bottom with an arrow can be used resize the tile.

Unique

The different size and color options make it easy to customize your Windows Phone Start screen look exactly the way you want it to.

Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Page

2012-06-24T01:25:00.004-07:00

mobiapp10 news

larry page..

Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Page, who is avoiding speaking in public, told employees “there is nothing seriously wrong with me” in an e-mail, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Page made the comment to employees June 21, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said the same day at a meeting with shareholders that Page had lost his voice and wouldn’t speak at the gathering or two more public events, including the call with analysts next month to review second- quarter results.

Page “can’t do any public speaking for the time being,” but will continue to run the company, Schmidt said at the meeting.

The announcement may raise some questions among investors, given the time that he won’t be speaking, Douglas Anmuth, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., wrote in a research note yesterday. While Google (GOOG) (GOOG) hasn’t announced the day for the next call with analysts, the company held the conference call last year on July 14 for its second-quarter results.

The e-mail from Page was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

“We have no specific reason to think there is anything more to Larry’s condition, but we find it odd that the company would already rule him out of the 2Q call which is likely still a few weeks away,” Anmuth wrote in the note.

Niki Fenwick, a spokeswoman for Google, declined to comment.

Shares Rise

The Mountain View, California-based company’s shares rose 1.1 percent yesterday to close at $571.48. The stock is down 12 percent for the year.

In addition to the shareholders’ meeting and the call with analysts, Page won’t be able to speak at next week’s annual developers conference in San Francisco, Schmidt said.

“I think that health issues for the CEO are always a delicate balance between privacy issues for Page versus providing information to shareholders,” said David Larcker, professor of accounting at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “At some point, the shareholders need to be satisfied that the board of directors has a good grasp on this issue and are taking the necessary steps to make sure Google is being adequately managed.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Womack in San Francisco at bwomack1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

Brick-Size Snooze Button Connects to Your iPhone [VIDEO]

2012-06-24T01:19:00.000-07:00

Anyone who uses their iPhone as an alarm clock doesn’t “hit the snooze” button — rather, they tap or slide to get a few more minutes of sleep.

But if you miss the big ol’ snooze button of traditional alarm clocks and still want the reliability of your iPhone alarm clock, a company on Kickstarter wants to give you the best of both worlds with its snooze button that attaches to your iPhone.

For $50 ($40 if you get in on the early bird special) you can purchase the Snooze and support the Kickstarter project — or “keep the dream alive” as the company says (pun intended).

The boxy alarm clock allows you to charge your iPhone while it’s plugged in, but, instead of lunging for your phone when it goes off in the morning, you can just slam the brick-sized bar on the clock.

The Snooze is a project of Distil Union in Charleston, S.C. The product design company has developed a number of sleek devices that work with the iPhone, for example this SocketDock that provides a stand for your iPhone on the wall outlet while it charges.

We’ve seen tech utilized to create cooler and more demanding alarm clocks that are sure to get you out of bed. Mashable recently wrote about an alarm clock that won’t stop beeping until you get out of bed and enter a disarming code from a keypad in the next room. Another motivates you to wake up by threatening to shred your money. And an alarm clock app for that we profiled requires you to shake it vigorously to prove you’re awake.

What do you think of the Snooze? Would you buy one? Tell us in the comments.

Mashable, Inc.

Is This the Smartest Google Doodle Yet?

2012-06-24T01:11:00.002-07:00

Another day, another awesome interactive Google doodle. This one — which hits Saturday in the U.S., but you can see it already in the Australian and New Zealand versions of Google — celebrates Alan Turing, famed British computer scientist, artificial intelligence pioneer and all-round math whiz.

Turing, who died a heartbreaking and utterly avoidable death at the age of 41, would have been 100 on Saturday. So the Google team is honoring his memory with a virtual version of the Turing Machine — a concept that helps explain how a CPU thinks in binary, ie. 1s and 0s.

The doodle is incredibly hard to figure out if you’re not a comp sci geek, so we hope it isn’t giving too much away to tell you the aim of the game is to spell out “Google” in binary.

And if you’re still struggling, watch the walkthrough video below. Amaze your co-workers with how fast you can solve it! Impress your boss and ask for a raise! And let us know whether it worked in the comments.

Trial Regarding E-Book Pricing Collusion Case Against Apple Set For 2013

2012-06-24T01:05:00.002-07:00

A 2013 trial date for a lawsuit recently filed by the U.S. government against Apple has been set, according to a report by Reuters. The trial for the case, which accuses the tech giant and several book publishers of collusion, will begin on June 3, 2013.

The case stems from the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrustallegations that Apple conspired with five publishers to raise the prices of e-books in early 2010. If you’ll recall, that’s around the time Apple launched iBooks in conjunction with the original iPad.

Out of the five publishers, three have since reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department. They are Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, and Simon & Schuster.

The remaining two publishers, MacMillan and Penguin Group, are facing the lawsuit alongside Apple.

In its defense, Apple denies the charges of conspiracy, even as its late CEO Steve Jobs had been quoted as saying:

We told the publishers, “We’ll go to the agency model, where you set the price, and we get our 30%, and yes, the customer pays a little more, but that’s what you want anyway.”

Apple maintains that it has not colluded with publishers toward e-book pricing for the purpose of overcoming Amazon’s hold on the market. In addition, the company argues that its entry has actually led to “tremendous growth in e-book titles, range and variety of offerings, sales, and improved quality of the e-book reading experience.”

Apple’s impact on e-reading and the e-book market cannot be denied. But as an avid reader of books, I’m hoping that this case would eventually result in prices of e-books in Apple’s iBookstore and elsewhere being much lower than the prices of their print counterparts.

Snooki’s Cellphone Hacked, Nude Pictures Hit the Web [REPORT]

2012-06-24T00:40:00.002-07:00

The cellphone of Jersey Shore cast member Snooki has been reportedly hacked, with a series of nude pictures of the reality TV star hitting the Internet.

According to E! News, the images are partially censored with a black bar covering certain parts of the body.

Although fake nude pictures of Snooki — who is currently pregnant with her first child — have popped up on the Internet in the past, her spokesperson confirmed to E! News that the pictures are real.

SEE ALSO:The 30 Most Popular Passwords Stolen From LinkedIn [INFOGRAPHIC]

“Clearly these are old and personal photos that were not meant for the public. It’s a shame someone decided to leak them for obvious personal gain,” the spokesperson said.

Snooki joins the ranks of actresses Scarlett Johansson and Blake Lively, who have had nude pictures exposed due to cell phone hacks.

It’s been quite the week for hackers. Sites such as LinkedIn, eHarmony and Internet radio platform Last.fm were also compromised, with millions of member passwords posted to a Russian hacker forum.

It’s unknown at this time how the pictures of Snooki were leaked.

BONUS: Celebrities on Twitter: 30 Famous First Tweets

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Neil Patrick Harris

The actor formerly known as "Doogie Howser" -- who's experienced a comeback of sorts on How I Met Your Mother -- joined Twitter with a comedic message that pokes fun at the 140-character limit.

Ashton Kutcher

Kutcher, whose acting career has taken a backseat to Nikon peddling and his interactive agency, Katalyst Media, is one of the early Twitter celebrities. Two years ago, Kutcher was in a race with CNN to be the first person to reach one million followers, which he did on April 16, 2009. This moment was an indication that Twitter had gone mainstream, and Kutcher went on Oprah that week to help Winfrey post her first tweet.

But Kutcher had humble beginnings -- his first tweet merely expressed that he was sharing his first tweet.

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah came on board on April 17, 2009, with the help of Ashton Kutcher and Twitter co-founder Evan Williams. Days later, it was announced that Winfrey's segment generated a 43% spike in traffic on the microblogging site.

Tom Hanks

Veteran actor Tom Hanks made a charming entry with his first tweet on January 11, 2010 -- the classic mic joke.

Britney Spears

Like much of her career, Britney Spears' first tweet on October 10, 2008, seems to have been handled by her management team. It's a straightforward welcome to Britney's Twitter world.

Barack Obama

Obama joined Twitter two months after he announced his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election. Appropriately, his first tweet was optimistic and self-promotional, including a plug for hiswebsite.

Roger Ebert

Film critic Roger Ebert is one of the more insightful, poignant tweeters on the social platform, and he's been that way since he joined the network. His first tweet on October 4, 2009, was a touching comment on aging.

Conan O'Brien

Funnyman Conan O'Brien first tweeted on February 24, 2010. It was in the aftermath of the NBC shakeup that booted the redhead from The Tonight Show and launched his fan-powered social media presence.

Charlie Sheen

Sheen launched a #winning social media campaign by joining Twitter on March 1, 2011. He went on to garner a Guinness World Record for "Fastest Time to Reach One Million Followers" in just over 25 hours.

Queen Rania

The beauty of Twitter is that it enables us to communicate with celebrities, politicians and even royalty. Queen Rania joined Twitter on May 7, 2009. Since then, she has explored Twitter as a diplomatic tool, even posting a Twitvid to promote tourism in Jordan.

NASA

NASA launched a Twitter account to share news of space exploration, historical tidbits and shuttle updates. Its first tweet, on December 20, 2007, reminisced about the launch of Apollo 17.

Clarence House

Clarence House's first tweet came on November 15, 2010 -- just one day before the announcement that Prince William and Kate Middleton were engaged. It's almost like they knew word of the Royal Wedding would spread quickly on Twitter...

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga loves her "little monsters," but her first tweet came before she knew of "The Fame" that would come her way. Gaga tweeted about rehearsing for a music video and performing at a party -- appropriate for the "What's happening?" prompt.

Hugo Chavez

Twitter, of course, isn't just a tool for English speakers. Last year, a study found that just 50% of tweets are in English. Thus, it's no surprise that just as President Obama tweets, so too does Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. His first tweet, on April 28, 2010, reads: "Hey how's it going? I appeared like I said I would: at midnight. I'm off to Brazil. And very happy to work for Venezuela. We will be victorious!!"

Snooki

The Jersey Shore's most famous guidette made a splash with her honest and oh-so-typical first tweet on April 3, 2009.

Zappos

Zappos' CEO Tony Hsieh has himself become a brand, and though he peddles shoes, Zappos has become synonymous with impeccable customer service and "delivering happiness." Zappos first tweeted on March 8, 2008, during SXSW, although Hsieh's first tweet indicates confusion about how to follow.

David Pogue

New York Times tech reporter David Pogue first tweeted on October 19, 2007, dropping a line about heading to a tech expo in the morning.

Steve Martin

Steve Martin's first tweet on September 11, 2010 proves that Twitter is a great platform for pithy punchlines.

Kesha

Kesha of "Tik Tok" fame took her 'tude to Twitter on March 23, where her handle is @keshasuxx. Keeping her habits of odd characters and intentional misspellings of words, her first tweet makes little sense.

Bill Gates

Tech honcho Bill Gates jumped on the bandwagon relatively early. On February 9, 2007, he suggested that Microsoft get in on the Twitter game, perhaps foreseeing the platform's rise to prominence.

Jack Dorsey

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sent the very first tweet on March 21, 2006 - the first of many billions to come.

Dalai Lama

Though the Dalai Lama is known for peace, serenity and holiness, that didn't stop him from joining Twitter. His first tweet, on February 22, 2010, served as a modern day press release -- he announced an appearance and provided a link.

Martha Stewart

The domestic goddess Martha Stewart could barely contain her excitement about "using Twitter for the first time!" on February 20, 2009. It's reminiscent of the tone she used in Twitter's fifth birthday video.

Bill Cosby

Jello-peddling, sweater-sporting Bill Cosby changed "sweet" to "tweet" in his first 140-character update on July 7, 2009.

Richard Branson

Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson is known for being an outdoorsy thrillseeker, but his first tweet shows a softer side. On October 22, 2008, Branson tweeted about his children, Holly and Sam, and how they're "coping" as they sought to break the trans-Atlantic sailing record.

White House

President Obama has his own Twitter account, and so too does his home. On May 1, 2009, the White House established that @whitehouse is the official feed of the presidential residence.

Twitter

It seems pretty meta, but Twitter tweets, too. On July 11, 2007 -- more than a year into Twitter's existence -- the company tweeted about working on mobile apps Hahlo and Pocket Tweets.

Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg joined the Twitterverse on February 12, 2009, but it seems like he's chosen his own social network over Twitter -- he hasn't tweeted since January 18, 2012.

Justin Bieber

Before Bieber Fever infected the Twitterverse, the teen idol used Twitter to direct fans to his MySpace page. His first tweet, on May 12, 2009, was a promotion for his then-new single, "One Time."

Sarah Silverman

Sarah Silverman jumped right into the jokes when she joined Twitter on April 13, 2009.

Hands On: Can an Ultrabook Be the Center of Your Digital Life?

2012-06-24T00:38:00.000-07:00

In case you haven’t heard, laptops are getting thinner. And lighter. And sexier. The shrinking phenomenon is often attributed to the MacBook Air, and Apple deserves a great deal of credit for pushing the industry toward the compact-yet-versatile laptop.

After working with Apple to help craft some of the technology in the initial MacBook Air design, Intel took the ball and ran with it, launching the Ultrabook concept. Ultrabooks are the Air’s ethos adapted to Windows PCs — thin and light laptops that sacrifice a few rarely used features (like optical drives) to create a nimble machine that can actually perform.

The performance aspect is key, since substandard tech was the main criticism of netbooks, which tried to give people the sexy form factor without the guts to back it up. The combo proved initally popular until owners realized they couldn’t do much with a netbook. Sure, you could send email — but speed was lacking, screens were small and you could forget about any “power user” functions like video editing.

The Ultrabook Promise

Ultrabooks remedy that by packing better processing power. Instead of using the “just getting by” Atom processors that Intel puts in netbooks, Ultrabooks command their own subcategory among the company’s top-tier Core processors. They use the same chip architecture as high-end laptops and desktops, just tailored to lower voltages so they don’t suck Ultrabooks’ smaller batteries dry.

There are a bunch of specifications that a laptop must meet to qualify as an Ultrabook, but suffice it to say the laptop must be thin and light, it has to both boot up and wake from sleep mode quickly, and it needs to be packing Intel Core chips (the term “Ultrabook” is an Intel trademark, after all). Apple’s MacBook Air technically doesn’t count, since it doesn’t run some of the Intel-based tech involved, even though it has the chips.

I’ve been using an Ultrabook, the Dell XPS 13, off and on for the past few months, using it for both personal tasks and many demanding work situations, like this week’s Apple event liveblog for Mashable. It’s also filled in as a substitute laptop for a few colleagues in emergencies.

Now that ultrabooks have recently gotten a boost from the introduction of Intel’s latest processing tech, Ivy Bridge, it bears looking at how effective the concept is as a whole. Can you really get lots of work done? What are the downsides? And ultimately: Is the Ultrabook ready to be your primary computer?

‘Ultra’ Computing

The Dell XPS 13 is a gorgeous machine. With its slim silver casing, it’s easy to mistake for a MacBook Air. The chiclet-style keyboard feels great to the touch, and it even sports a backlight. The 13.3-inch screen has 1,366 x 768-pixel resolution, which is pretty standard for a machine this size, and it’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.

Dell launched the XPS 13 in March, so it packs a second-generation Intel Core processor (Sandy Bridge, not the latest Ivy Bridge). But since its launch, Dell has released a couple of updates, the most impactful being the introduction of multi-finger gestures, like using two fingers to scroll through a document. It’s a welcome addition, though it’s not as smooth out of the gate as on, say, a MacBook.

That might be in part due to the rubbery material Dell uses for the pad itself. I found the texture to be a little too “sticky,” making some movements (such as selecting text) a little unwieldy, and it was prone to clumping up dust.

Overall, though, the XPS 13 is physically a dream — a textbook Ultrabook. I was very comfortable just tossing it in a carry-on or using it in a cramped airplane seat. Short falls (under 3 feet) had no effect on it. The durability is partly due to the XPS 13 packing a solid-state drive (SSD), with fewer moving parts, instead of a hard disk.

The Accessory Trap

However, that SSD is just a mere 128GB for the entry-level version, which starts at $999. That was a decent amount of storage a few years back, but today it’s probably not enough for all your needs. That means you’ll need to choose between configuring your Ultrabook with more storage or buying external drives, but either way you’re spending money.

That’s just one example of how one of the promises of Ultrabooks is counterfeit: that it would bestow sleek, well-performing machines at a fair price (i.e. in the $1,000 range). While technically true, accessories almost become a necessity with an Ultrabook.

SEE ALSO: Retina MacBook Pro: The Laptop From the Future [REVIEW]

On more than one occasion, I found the XPS 13′s lack of an Ethernet port a serious problem. Ethernet-to-USB adapters are available, of course — for a small fee. And the one or two times I needed to fire up a CD or DVD would lead me to buying an external optical drive.

That said, it’s much more preferable to have the thin-and-light form factor in a machine that satisfies 95% of my laptop needs on its own, than a more expensive, bulkier full-featured laptop. Just know before you click “Complete My Purchase” that buying an Ultrabook is really buying an Ultrabook + friends.

Can It Perform?

While Ultrabooks pack Intel Core chips, they’re actually lower-voltage designs than what you get in bigger laptops. They’re also strictly dual-core, whereas the higher-voltage processors can be either dual- or quad-core.

However, if there was any sacrifice in performance, I didn’t see it. The XPS 13 is nimble creature — apps install and launch fast, files copy quickly, and web browsing was only limited by connectivity. And that’s on a machine with a Sandy Bridge processor and USB 2.0 — last year’s tech. I can’t wait to taste the boost in speed in the new Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks (and MacBook Airs) that feature USB 3.0.

The XPS 13 also boots up fully in just 28 seconds — faster than even the Samsung Galaxy S III, and that’s a phone! It wakes up from sleep in far less time (a few seconds), ready to resume all your apps right where you left off. That’s the power of solid-state drives combined with proprietary Intel Rapid Start tech.

Battery life was outstanding. After a five-hour flight of near-continuous use (with wireless turned off and brightness turned down), the XPS 13 still had more than 50% of a charge left.

Ultra-Thin: Not Just a Fad

Coming back to the key question: Can an Ultrabook now serve as the center of your digital life — the gateway through which all your “serious” computing flows? The answer is yes … as long as you’re willing to pay. Putting that kind of weight on an ultra-thin design guarantees the need for accessories to fill in those gaps (like burning a DVD), unless you really are just using your PC for web browsing and email.

But in today’s world — where even “average” users are being pulled toward former power-user-only fare like cloud services, external backups and even secondary displays — that’s not asking too much. The XPS 13 convinced me that Ultrabooks aren’t some fad or special-case computer. They’re ready for duty as a go-to machine for the majority of users.

Maybe if enough of those users actually get one, we can just start calling them what they should be called: laptops.

View As Slideshow »

Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook

The Dell XPS 13 is your typical Ultrabook -- light and thin, with the power of full-size laptop.

Angle View

The 13.3-inch screen on the XPS 13 is 1,366 x 768 and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.

Left Side

Right Side

Folded Flat

Compared With MacBook Pro, 15-inch

The 15-inch MacBook Pro on the right is the computer I use for work. I rarely found myself reaching for it when I used the Ultrabook, but I often missed the Ethernet port and SD card slot.

XPS 13 and MacBook Pro

Left Side Connectors, Dell XPS 13 & MacBook Pro

Front View, Dell XPS 13 & MacBook Pro

Footprint, Dell XPS 13 & MacBook Pro

Megaupload Founder Kim Dotcom Returns to Twitter, Promotes ‘Megabox’

2012-06-24T00:30:00.002-07:00

Kim Dotcom, the quixotic millionaire founder of file-sharing service Megaupload who’s wanted for extradition to the U.S., returned to Twitter this week to prove to the world he’s still creating new platforms despite his entanglements with law enforcement.

Dotcom also used the new account to announce that “Megabox,” a new music discovery and sharing service, is still on its way despite his still being under arrest. He’s previously said that Megabox, which would compete with similar platforms such as Spotify, would let artists keep almost 90% of the profits made from their music.

Dotcom, arrested in New Zealand after file-sharing service Megaupload was brought down on charges of computer piracy in January, has also been using the reactivated Twitter account (@kimdotcom) mostly to post photos and thank supporters during his ongoing extradition hearing. In true Dotcom style, he’s also been poking fun at his situation, tweeting jokes about the FBI and police.

He’s also met with Apple founder Steve Wozniak, who visited him in New Zealand.

Dotcom’s assets have been frozen and he remains under house arrest in New Zealand while a court weighs the American extradition request. U.S. law enforcement officials have accused Dotcom and his staff of being a part of the “Mega Conspiracy, a worldwide criminal organization whose members engaged in criminal copyright infringement and money laundering on a massive scale.”

The fate of the data still stored on Megaupload’s servers is still unknown. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing the Federal Bureau of Investigation over the files, which the EFF argues that the site’s users have a right to access.

What should happen to the Megaupload data? Share your opinion in the comments.

BONUS: The Strange and Epic Lifestyle of Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom

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1. MegaRacer Domination Ends

Until recently, Kim Dotcom was the top Modern Warfare 3 player in the world. He even apparently posted a video to prove it. We imagine it's tough to maintain such a coveted position while being held in jail for multiple copyright violations.

2. Fireworks for All of Aukland

The Megaupload kingpin claims to have paid $500,000 for the City of Auckland to put on a 2011 New Year's firework display. In case any Kiwi were to forget who was funding the awesomeness, he produced a video replete with on-screen identification of his whereabouts during the show. "Yeah, that's me in my personal helicopter!"

3. Mega Man

Dotcom stands 6 feet 7 inches tall, and tips the scales at 300 pounds, according to CNET. No one really knows his exact measurements though. All reports we've seen have him measured differently so whatever his exact height and weight are, it's easy to see that his physical size matches his personality and ego.

4. Surname Switch

He legally changed his surname from Schmitz to Dotcom in homage to the beloved World Wide Web that made him famous.

5. Financial Bravado and a 9/11 Bounty

He once fancied himself an anti-terrorism fighter by offering a bounty of $10 million for Osama bin Laden after 9/11. He started a group called Young Intelligent Hackers Against Terrorism. He was so kind as to offer the authorities on the hunt a little of his own advice:

"Try Looking in Kandahar in Afghanistan. He visits his wife and daughter there at least once a month."

Image courtesy of iStock, Vesnaandjic

6. Speed Racer

According to Vanity Fair, Dotcom is a "skilled and very fast driver" who raced in and won the Gumball 3000 in 2005. He bet that he would beat two of the female drivers. If they finished before him, he'd give them each $500,000. If he won, they had to join him in a threesome. No report on what came of that.

According to the Wall Street Journal, we do know that when he was arrested, police confiscated 21 luxury cars.

7. Not So Saferoom

Even when the game seemed to be up, Mr. Dotcom orchestrated a flamboyant exit. Police had to cut their way through electronic locks to a saferoom, where they found him clutching a gun.

Image courtesy of iStock, zentilia

8. Living Large

Dotcom generated a spectacle wherever he went, often surrounded by cars and women, and wearing his trademark black outfit. He was even known to jump into hot tubs fully clothed. He made movies about himself racing cars, flirting with women, and riding in helicopters and private jets.

9. Dubious Wealth Creation

According to The New York Times, in 2001 he reportedly made more than $1 million when he allegedly bought shares in a struggling website, then falsely announced he would make a major investment, only to then sell his shares once the price went up after his announcement. He then defended himself by appearing on a popular late-night show, claiming people hated him because they didn't like his lifestyle. He then fled to Thailand before ultimately being apprehended.

10. Big Time Friends

He commissioned this well-produced music video starring many celebrities supporting the site, ostensibly in part to rub Megaupload in the face of copyright holders. Much controversy ensued.

6 Easy Ways to Boost Site Traffic With Facebook

2012-06-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

In a recent study, Facebook was hailed as the most-used social networking site around the world, specifically as the most-frequented site in 126 of the 137 countries studied. With this in mind, marketers should consider how they can utilize their own market’s Facebook usage to support company’s goals.

For B2B companies who are naturally focused on lead generation, this data suggests that an increased emphasis on Facebook as a traffic source is important. But how might B2B marketers take advantage of this opportunity, specifically when considering Facebook’s migration to the timeline layout? Here are a few tips.

1. Focus on Visual Content

The new Timeline design is all about being visual, which might require a slight change in your content strategy. Is your marketing team producing enough visual content to post to Facebook on a regular basis? If not, consider spending less time on long-form blog articles to free yourself up to create an infographic. Also, if you’re not adding images to each of your blog posts, now’s the time!

2. Stay Natural to Facebook

This may seem obvious, but a lot of businesses are starting to “use Facebook like Twitter” by either auto-publishing what they say on Twitter to Facebook or only posting in short, 140-character messages. This is a lost opportunity to use some of Facebook’s beneficial features such as images and videos. Use Facebook to show off your business’ personality by posting photos of employees, asking discussion questions, and encouraging comments. Don’t let efficiency negatively affect your strategy.

3. Include Links to Your Website in all Posts

This is key, B2B people! If lead generation is your goal, make sure you’re driving traffic directly to your website. Bonus points if the link leads a person to a landing page relevant to the Facebook post. Make it easy for your leads to raise their hand to do business with you if they’re ready.

4. Use the Facebook Views & Apps Feature

Remember the days of “tabs?” Well, now we have “Views & Apps” to play with! Apps are those little square icons to the right of your business page’s name. They are much more prominent and visual than tabs, and you can even use the icon feature to create a miniature call-to-action image. That call-to-action can lead someone to a custom Facebook page, event signup, or whatever you like. Create and upload an image that business page visitors can’t help but click.

5. Play With Memes

Businesses can be hip, too. The next time you’re using Facebook for fun at work (we all do it), keep your eyes peeled for any memes that might be receiving an exceptional amount of comments or shares. Then, consider taking a spin at creating your own version of that meme for your industry; just be sure it’s still relevant and on-brand. Sometimes giving yourself a little leeway to experiment can pay off in increased traffic and engagement.

6. Remember Conversion

Measuring Facebook page engagement is important to analyze whether people are paying attention to your content or not, but don’t forget to measure traffic and leads, too. Also, what is the conversion rate of the traffic coming to your website from Facebook? If it’s low, perhaps you’re not attracting the highest quality people.

What other tips would you offer for taking advantage of Facbook as a B2B traffic generator?

Facebook Now Lets You Edit Comments

2012-06-23T23:26:00.001-07:00

We’ve all done it. Your friend uploads a picture of their new puppy to Facebook, and you somehow manage to leave a comment congratulating them instead on their “new pappy.”

So what do you do? Until now, the only thing Facebook would let you do to correct the error was delete the comment and start again.

But starting Thursday the site is also now offering the ability to edit your comment — and change that pappy back to the puppy you intended in the first place. The edit option appears in the form of a small pencil icon on the right side of your comment. Clicking on the pencil will bring up a drop-down menu with the option to edit your comment as well as the option to delete it entirely.

Facebook told Mashable the site will also be “showing the editing history for a comment so that subsequent commenters or likers have the full context of the conversation.” That way if someone responds to a comment that gets edited commenters in the future can see the history of the conversation and not get lost.

The editing ability went live on Thursday evening, and will be gradually rolling out to all users over the next few days.

Has the comment editing system kicked in for you yet? Let us know in the comments.

Samsung Galaxy S III vs. iPhone 4S: Which One Breaks First? [VIDEO]

2012-06-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

The Samung Galaxy S III has a lot of cool features, including a couple of “first evers” among smartphones, like its voice-activated wake-up feature. But is it just as revolutionary in its durability?

To find out, SquareTrade, an independent warranty provider, subjected Samsung’s hot new Android phone to a drop test. For comparison, it also dropped another hot phone with which you may be familiar: the iPhone 4S.

It’s actually a three-part test. First, SquareTrade dropped the phone from ear level — certainly a fair test since a drop while making a call is probably the worst case scenario because of the phone’s height above the ground. Next, they gave both phones to two small (and super-cute) kids, simulating what a toddler might do to a parent’s phone. (SquareTrade says one in four parents have had their kids damage their phone in some way.)

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy S III: 6 ‘Human’ FeaturesFinally it was time for the car test, letting both phones slip off the back trunk of a moving vehicle as it pulls away. One in 15 people have damaged their phones “in and around” their cars, according to the company.

So who wins? It’s actually a close one, with both phones sustaining damage in all three tests. However, the iPhone 4S came out with less wear and tear after two of the three tests. Samsung’s latest and greatest withstood the Attack of the Kids better than the iPhone, though — possibly due to its plastic back (the iPhone’s is glass).

How much punishment should a smartphone be able to withstand? And does any phone on the market impress you with its durability? Let us know in the comments.

BONUS: 6 Ways to Kill Your iPad

With a Laser (and Flashlight)

So you think your new iPad is getting warm? Try handling it when a laser makes it burst into flames.

With an Assault Rifle

Nothing quite says "die, new iPad" like shooting it.

Drop It

Here's the more prosaic way to destroy your tablet -- drop it onto concrete. And throw in an iPad 2 for good measure.

With a Baseball Bat

When the first iPad came out, one kid tried replicating the famous printer-killing scene from Office Space -- with rather less satisfaction.

With an Axe

Remember, kids, don't try this at home -- unless it's your Dad wielding the axe, of course.

With a Blender

Finally, a YouTube classic: the BlendTec CEO has to smash his original iPad to get it into the blender as part of his ongoing series.

Google Announces Sharp Price Cuts for Google Maps [VIDEO]

2012-06-23T22:59:00.001-07:00

Lots of sites and apps use Google Maps — paying dearly for those privileges — but there have been some high-profile defections lately, including Apple and Foursquare. In a reaction to that, Saturday Google announced lower prices for websites and apps that use more than 25,000 downloads of its maps per day over a 90-day period.

How low? The new rates are $.50 per 1,000 maps downloaded, according to The New York Times. That’s a far cry from the previous tariff, which was eight times higher at $4. That means a site with 1 million pageviews per day would no longer have to pay $3,900 per day for the use of Google Maps — now that price will be reduced to a mere $487.50.

There’s been some tough timing for Google and its ubiquitous Maps lately. The company announced updates to its Google Maps earlier this month (June, 2012), including offline mapping for Android phones, Street View for nature trails and 3D Google Earth maps, all rolling out in the next few weeks. We saw a tour of that 3D feature, and found its flyover effect to be downright mesmerizing.

Meanwhile, Apple has abandoned Google Maps for its own in-house mapping it plans to use in its upcoming iOS 6 this fall, and Foursquare jumped ship in favor of collaboratively developed OpenStreeetMaps. Perhaps these new bargain prices will keep Google Maps out of the red ink

Google Will Update Chrome For Apple’s New Retina Displays, Already Available In Canary Build

2012-06-22T10:04:00.003-07:00

Google Will Update Chrome For Apple’s New Retina Displays, Already Available In Canary Build

Apple’s new MacBook Pro with Retina display definitely pushes the idea of what a modern screen should look like forward, but it also means developers will have to adapt their apps to these high resolutions to make sure their apps don’t look bad. During its announcement earlier this week, Apple said that both Adobe and Autodesk were already working Retina-optimized versions of their products (though both now say that it will still be a whilebefore their software will be ready). It looks like Google will be a bit faster. The company today announced that its first attempt at making Chrome ready for these high-resolution displays is already available in its highly experimental Canary channel. Google says it is “committed to polishing Chrome until it shines on that machine.”

Canary builds are Google’s most experimental and bleeding edge versions of Chrome (even more so than the dev channel). These builds are not tested before they are released and there is even a good chance that they won’t even run. If you are one of the few lucky ones who already got their hands on a new MacBook Pro with Retina display, though, you can now see what Chrome should look like on these machines (Apple’s own Safari, of course, already renders text in high-res on these new screens).

Google says that this current build already shows “the early results” of its work on bringing high-resolution support to Chrome. There is still more work to be done, but the developers are “off to the races to make Chrome as beautiful as it can be.”

Report: Google’s Chromebooks Account For Less Than .02% Of All Desktop Traffic

2012-06-22T10:02:00.002-07:00

Report: Google’s Chromebooks Account For Less Than .02% Of All Desktop Traffic

Google has been putting quite a bit of its weight behind its Chromebook initiative, but it’s been rather quiet about how well these browser-centric laptops have been selling. Judging from the latest data from online advertising firm Chitika, Chromebooks remain a novelty. Across Chitika’s network, just 0.019% of all traffic comes from ChromeOS. To put this into perspective, Sony’s PlayStation, which isn’t exactly a web-browsing powerhouse, easily beats ChromeOS with a usage share of 0.042%.

This data, Chitika told us, includes all ChromeOS traffic from all ChromeOS versions currently in use (given that ChromeOS updates itself, we can safely assume that most users are currently using the most recent version, though). As usual, it’s worth remembering that this data only includes sites that use Chitika’s advertising service. The data was compiled between June 7 and June 13 and aggregates data from “hundreds of million impressions.”

As I noted in my Samsung Series 5 Chromebook review last week, the actual devices have greatly improved since the first generation. They do remain niche products, though, and don’t appeal to a mainstream audience (yet).

Earlier this week, Chitika’s also took a look at the tablet space. Here, unsurprisingly, the iPad dominates and is responsible for 91% of all web traffic to sites in Chitika’s network. What was somewhat surprising about this data, though, was that the Barnes & Noble Nook overtook the Kindle Fire in these stats, though the difference here is between two tablets that account for 0.85% and 0.71% of all traffic.

Google Launches Coordinate: A New Service For Managing Mobile Workforces

2012-06-22T09:58:00.003-07:00

Google Launches Coordinate: A New Service For Managing Mobile Workforces

Location-based apps and services like Foursquare have made significant inroads among consumers in the last few years, but most of the recent developments around location-based apps have bypassed the business market. While there are some systems out there that let businesses track their mobile workforce, they tend to be proprietary and expensive. Now, Google is trying to enter this market with Google Maps Coordinate, a service that mashes up Google’s mapping and geolocation services and APIs with a dispatch system for mobile workforces that’s available both on the Web and on Android phones and tablets. This, says Google, will allow organizations to assign jobs and deploy their staff more efficiently.

At its core, Coordinate allows businesses to dispatch and track their mobile employees, be they truck or taxi drivers, plumbers or pizza delivery guys. Google itself has been testing the service internally with its on-campus transportation services.

The idea behind the service, as Dan Chu, Google’s product manager for Coordinate told me from his office in Sydney last week, came from Google’s enterprise customers who already used the company’s mapping services but were looking for an easier and off-the-shelf way to organize their mobile teams. While developing the service, the team focused on making it as flexible as possible. Large companies will be able to hook Coordinate into their existing systems with the help of a full read/write API, but small businesses will also be able to use it without having to make any major investments.

Customers will also be able to enter large datasets as custom locations into the service. A utility company, for example, could use this to enter the location of all of its electricity poles.

As Chu noted when I talked to him last week, Google has invested quite a bit in its maps and geolocation services, but this is the first time it is really putting all of this to work for a business-focused application.

On the dispatch side, administrators will be able to see where their workers are and send them to their next locations. Employees who are out in the field will appear as blue dots on the map. Setting up new accounts and users just takes a few clicks. Creating new jobs is just as easy and administrators can also set up new locations with just a few clicks.

Employees in the field, on the other hand, will use their mobile phones to accept new jobs and also send reports back to the dispatchers. There is also a check-in option that allows users to affirm that they have arrived at their location, allowing employers to distinguish travel time from the actual time it took to do a job, for example). The system also allows admins to specify certain data that employees have to collect while they are out in the field (client contact data, for example). All of these features, said Chu, will allow administrators to set up complete workflows for their mobile employees.

Given the privacy implications of a service like this, Google build in an option for users to go “invisible,” as well as a time-based system that can automatically log users out at the end of their shifts. Users will also have to give very explicit consent to being tracked when they first use the mobile app.

Google is launching the service with an introductory price of $15/user/month until September 1, 2012. The price may go up after that, but Google hasn’t released any information about this yet. The service is now available worldwide and, in a departure from Google’s usual process, is not considered to be in beta.

Does Auto Layout In iOS 6 Mean A Larger iPhone Screen Is Coming?

2012-06-22T09:56:00.003-07:00

Does Auto Layout In iOS 6 Mean A Larger iPhone Screen Is Coming?

The WWDC keynote came and went with nary a mention of a new iPhone, but that didn’t stop people from ruminating about Apple’s newest mobile juggernaut. Apple’s brass spent much of their time on-stage pulling back the curtains on the latest version of iOS, and now some are claiming that a fairly innocuous (albeit useful) new feature for developers means that an iPhone with a larger screen is barreling down the pipeline.

That feature — Auto Layout — appeared briefly in a iOS SDK slide during the keynote, but most of us got too caught up with Siri updates and the swanky new Maps app to pay it much attention. Is it the sort of dead giveaway that iPhone fanatics have been breathlessly waiting for?

First though, a bit of background. Auto Layout allows developers to create a set of constraints that define how UI elements are displayed on-screen. Instead of using the standard “springs and struts” positioning method, Auto Layout allows those elements to shift and move depending on a prioritized list of rules — think “the left side of one button should always be 30 away from the right side of another button.”

It’s also worth noting that Auto Layout isn’t exactly new to the Apple development workflow — it was introduced into OS X with the release of Lion, and became the default positioning method for new Cocoa projects in Xcode earlier this year.

That’s great and all, but what does it mean for the new iPhone?

Developers will be able to streamline their UI design process, but Auto Layout’s uses may extend far beyond that. One developer I spoke with went on to say that in order for Apple to release mobile devices with multiple resolutions, Auto Layout is “certainly something [they] need to have in place before that’s feasible.”

Nelson Gauthier, lead iOS developer for LocalMind, seems to be of a similar mind — he told GigaOmin the weeks leading up to WWDC that the Auto Layout system as seen in OS X could work for iOS developers to more easily “transition between form factors.”

If they’re to be believed, Auto Layout could be a tremendous tool for helping developers prepare their apps for the coming of an iPhone with a different screen resolution. It would seem that with the right constraints in place, updating an app that used Auto Layout to display properly on a larger screen wouldn’t take too much additional time and effort. What’s more, the inclusion of the feature also means that developers who have taken shortcuts and made certain assumptions about the device’s screen size when crafting their apps’ UIs will more easily be able to get their products up to par ahead of an impending iPhone launch.

Still, we’re left without a smoking gun. The benefits of using Auto Layout are plentiful, especially for developers looking to localize their apps for other markets. Apple pointed to China as a prime target during the WWDC keynote, and I’m told that many of the sessions at WWDC the company positioned Auto Layout as a way to simplify app localization. With Auto Layout for instance, developers can more easily tweak the UI for alternate-language versions of their apps by tying those elements to constraints that allow for larger characters and smaller navigation icons as needed.

That’s not all — Auto Layout can also help developers with handling how their apps transition from portrait to landscape mode, or how even they handle having a call indicator bar sitting at the top of the screen. Though it aims to simplify certain parts of UI design, using Auto Layout is also far from an automagic process; to quote one of the developers I spoke to, “I wouldn’t expect to take an iPhone app, add auto layout to its xib file and get it to look fantastically custom on iPad.”

The jury, it seems, is still out on whether or not Auto Layout is a clear indicator of an iPhone with a larger display being prepared for launch. That said, its inclusion into the mix definitely doesn’t hurt — as one last developer put it, Auto Layout “is neither a sufficient or necessary condition for a different device… but if Apple is bringing out a 4-inch iPhone they would be crazy not to provide [it].”

Flipboard Officially Launches On Android, Adds Google+, YouTube And More Localized Versions

2012-06-22T09:53:00.002-07:00

Flipboard Officially Launches On Android, Adds Google+, YouTube And More Localized Versions

It’s been a big week for Flipboard’s Google-related announcements. On Tuesday, the company revealed Google+ integration was coming to its social magazine, and today, the app is officially launching on all Android devices, including the Kindle Fire and the Nook. The Google+ integration, as well as newly added YouTube integration, is arriving today as well.

The app will be available in Google Play, the Amazon Appstore for Android, the Nook Store, and in Samsung Apps.

The Android public launch comes barely a month after Flipboard debuted its official Android betaand limited Android rollout as a preloaded app on the just-released Samsung Galaxy S III. However, it’s been just a little longer sinceFlipboard’s unofficial launch, thanks to the hacked version of the Android APK file from that same device.

Demand for the Android version of the app has been “astonishing,” says Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, who tells us that they saw over half a million downloads during its beta. “We’ve had really good coverage across a wide range of phones. We feel really good about how it’s coming together,” he says. “But people have been asking, why is this in beta? Why can’t you just release it now?”

The answer, of course, is because it’s an Android app, and that means there’s a bit more work involved. “With iOS, you can target a very specific screen size, a very specific processor and so on – it’s quite a bit easier,” McCue explains. “On Android, to really build a high-quality application that works across a range of devices, you have to spend a lot of time optimizing…that’s why we did the beta.” The new Android version works on all the major Android smartphones as well as the Nook and Kindle Fire, and supports from small screens up to a 7-inch display. It has also had some other performance and layout optimizations since the beta release.

YouTube Launch & More Localized Versions

Another new feature arriving on both iOS and Android today is YouTube integration. You can watch, favorite, bookmark and comment on videos within Flipboard, and those changes sync with the YouTube website itself. You can also follow users and the channels you subscribe to.

And Flipboard is also once again expanding to more countries. It was previously available in localized versions in China, Japan and France, but it’s now arriving in Korea, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Germany. “When we deploy to each country, we not only localize the app for each of these different languages, but more importantly, we focus our energy on the curation point-of-view in each country to pick the best content. We’ve now gotten more efficient at doing that,” says McCue. Next up on the list for localization are parts of Latin America, as well as other countries in Asia and Europe.

Checking In On Flipboard’s Business

While the company is still declining to reveal hard numbers related to total downloads or revenue, McCue says that the move to smartphones has seen users engaging with the app throughout the day, instead of just at morning and night (8-11 PM, primarily) as on iPad. The Cover Stories feature, which launched first on smartphones and is now available via Android widget, is now the number one feed on Flipboard. He also says that Flipboard sees “very, very, very strong return-to-app metrics.”

“A lot of people are choosing us every single day, multiple times per day. This is very encouraging for us especially since we don’t do a lot with sending emails out to users, and we don’t do lots of noisy notifications,” says McCue. However, integrating push notifications is something the team is thinking about for the future, but they want to do it right when the time comes.

He also reports good progress on the advertising side of the business, which now has half a dozen publishers running ads on the platform, out of a total of 2,000 publications which have been integrated to date. Some recent advertisements have been for Converse, Nieman Marcus (the same ads as in Vogue, says McCue), and the movie “Snow White and the Huntsman.” That last one did particularly well, with a 3.5% CTR. It directed users not to a website, but a rather to an in-app page featuring the “Snow White and the Huntsman” Twitter feed in Flipboard’s signature magazine style, which users could then subscribe to in the app. However, all Flipboard’s CTRs are “much higher than anything you’d see on the web,” says McCue.

As for what’s next, beyond its continued international expansion, one glaring omission for a magazine so focused on attractive, visual layout of content is Pinterest integration. Pinterest rival The Fancy’s integration was complete six months ago but has yet to ship, so the holdup is clearly on Pinterest’s side of things. But Flipboard is hardly the only third party in desperate need of a Pinterest API. (Where is that thing already?) No official word on what networks may be added next, but Pinterest will surely make a big splash when and if it ever arrives.

The new Android and iOS versions of Flipboard are available for download here.

Don’t Delete Your Stupidity. Fix it. Facebook Rolls Out Comment Editing and Edit History

2012-06-22T09:45:00.001-07:00

Don’t Delete Your Stupidity. Fix it. Facebook Rolls Out Comment Editing and Edit History

No more “Arggh! Copy, delete, paste, edit, post.” Facebook is now rolling out the ability to edit comments, but users will be able to see the full edit history of a thread. This is just one more feature that I really liked about Google+, since I could essentially live blog with it and fix my mistakes, but that Facebook has now too.

Facebook tells me comment editing is rolling out now and will become available to everyone in the next few days on the web. There’s no comment editing yet in Facebook’s embeddable comment widget for websites or from mobile yet where that damn auto-correct lurks. Also, you still can’t edit original posts, all of which would be much more helpful than this. But I guess if you have to say or spell something wrong, do it from your desktop on someone else’s news feed post.

Facebook made a step in the right direction a year ago when it let you edit comments within a few seconds of posting them so you could fix immediately recognized typos as seen below.

Mobiapp10

5 Advanced Twitter Tips for Your Small Business

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2. Sit in the Stream

3. Don’t Rely on Your Handle

4. Don’t Be a Social Egomaniac

5. Stay on Track

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How to Make Your Site Mobile Ready in Just 30 Seconds

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6 Easy Ways to Boost Site Traffic With Facebook

1. Focus on Visual Content

2. Stay Natural to Facebook

3. Include Links to Your Website in all Posts

4. Use the Facebook Views & Apps Feature

5. Play With Memes

6. Remember Conversion

Facebook Now Lets You Edit Comments

Samsung Galaxy S III vs. iPhone 4S: Which One Breaks First? [VIDEO]

BONUS: 6 Ways to Kill Your iPad

Google Announces Sharp Price Cuts for Google Maps [VIDEO]

Google Will Update Chrome For Apple’s New Retina Displays, Already Available In Canary Build

Google Will Update Chrome For Apple’s New Retina Displays, Already Available In Canary Build

Report: Google’s Chromebooks Account For Less Than .02% Of All Desktop Traffic

Report: Google’s Chromebooks Account For Less Than .02% Of All Desktop Traffic

Google Launches Coordinate: A New Service For Managing Mobile Workforces

Google Launches Coordinate: A New Service For Managing Mobile Workforces

Does Auto Layout In iOS 6 Mean A Larger iPhone Screen Is Coming?

Does Auto Layout In iOS 6 Mean A Larger iPhone Screen Is Coming?

Flipboard Officially Launches On Android, Adds Google+, YouTube And More Localized Versions

Flipboard Officially Launches On Android, Adds Google+, YouTube And More Localized Versions

YouTube Launch & More Localized Versions

Checking In On Flipboard’s Business

Don’t Delete Your Stupidity. Fix it. Facebook Rolls Out Comment Editing and Edit History

Don’t Delete Your Stupidity. Fix it. Facebook Rolls Out Comment Editing and Edit History