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Wednesday 30 May 2012

Behold: The First Video Taken with Google Glasses



Google has unveiled the first video taken with its sci-fi eyewear concept, Project Glass. The topic: jumping and flipping on a trampoline, doing a backflip while wearing Google glasses.

Google launched its Project Glass goggles on Google+ in April, and the news sent the concept of Google’s futuristic glasses — which would project augmented reality images into wearers’ field of vision — into a worldwide frenzy on the web. Although Google co-founder Sergey Brin has been testing the device and teasing pictures to show the Internet what it can do, this is the first time we’ve seen a video taken by the device itself.

In addition to taking pictures and video, the glasses can perform many tasks performed by a smartphone. For example, while wearing the glasses, you would be able to see weather forecasts and what’s on your calendar for the day, as well as send text messages and emails to friends and family — all projected right before your eyes.

Google told Mashable in April that selling the glasses this year would be “very unlikely.”

Would you want a pair of Google Glasses? Do you think this is the way we will live our lives in the future? Let us know in the comments.

Monday 28 May 2012

check out my article which was published yesterday in the sunday independent

Friday 25 May 2012

Facebook Releases Instagram Clone

Less than two months after announcing its plans to acquire photo app company Instagram for $1 billion, Facebook has released an iOS app that looks and functions almost identically to Instagram’s.

Facebook Camera, which is now available in the App Store for free, sincerely improves upon the photo capabilities offered by Facebook’s primary app for iPhone and iPod touch devices.

Like Instagram, your friends’ latest photos are displayed in a single scrolling feed. You can also now simultaneously upload multiple photos to Facebook; Facebook’s main app only allows you to upload photos one at a time. And like Instagram, the app allows you to crop, rotate and apply filters to your photos.

Interestingly, none of the app’s 15 filters were developed by the Instagram team, Facebook product manager Dirk Stoop told The New York Times. The app, the Times suggests, has been in development for much longer.

The Camera App is the second mobile app dedicated to one of Facebook’s key features. The first, a dedicated messaging app, was released last April. These apps, we feel, are smart ideas: Facebook simply has too many features and tools to bundle into a single mobile app.

It’s likely more such apps will be released this year. In an address to 200 investors leading up to Facebook’s IPO earlier this month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that mobile is Facebook’s number-one priority.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Give to Get: How to Spice up Your Twitter

A community is only as great as the sum of its individual parts. In order to keep your community intrigued, engaged, and interactive, it would be in your best interest (and your followers interest) to reevaluate how you approach the platform. It’s easy to get into a social slump, especially when you only have 140 characters to work with, so here are 5 ways to liven up your tweets and spice it up a bit.

1. Post Media Live
You’ve probably noticed by now that Twitter changed the way images and videos are shared within the community (for the better in our opinion!). Now, users can see an embedded photo right below the tweet, rather than being directed to a third party site, like ow.ly. The only downfall is in order to create this cleaner, more powerful way of tweeting, you must do it live. There isn’t a plethora of analytic research to compare which method is stronger, but it is certainly easier for your followers to see your content right there, instead of an annoying window popping up. Additionally, start tweeting more often and with more variety. Share at least three posts a day. Maybe tweet a relevant article, trickle in your blog posts, ask a question - switch it up with a variety of content throughout the day. Check out our 3 Ways to Create a Higher Twitter Engagement for more.

2. Remove Auto Responses
When was the last time an auto response genuinely attracted your attention? A good analogy would be to describe auto-responses like mass promotional text messages - they are fluffy, impersonal, and unoriginal. It isn’t worth the three people that may be interested, to the hundreds that will be totally turned off, is it? We didn’t think so. Do your followers a solid, and be one less spammy brand on Twitter. You’ll still want to thank new followers, but doing it manually and using their name, rather than their Twitter handle, is much more powerful and effective in building an ongoing relationship.

3. Be More Generous
Take a few minutes a day to dedicate to your Twitter community. See what’s going on with your followers. Maybe mention someone who is doing something admirable and RT to share with your community. You can also check out your Twitter lists to view people you often interact with. Take the time to RT, mention, or fuel a conversation that has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with them. Karma is pretty instantaneous on this real-time platform.

4. Respond Publicly
Try to steer clear from always answering via DM’s. Rather, take the conversation public. Obviously, there are unique conversations that require privacy, but for the most part you want to answer questions about your brand publicly in order to attract and reach new followers.

5. Occasionally Stray Off the Beaten Path
Social media in its core is about relationships. Sometimes saying something completely unrelated to your brand generates a huge response. It’s like any form of viral content on the internet, there is no precise formula for what works and what doesn’t. Quotes, trending topics, pop culture and music are all popular go-to topics. Start slowly to see if this non-traditional strategy works for your brand.

Monday 21 May 2012

Google Further Integrates Google+ Profiles Into Gmail

Your Google email account is changing — it’s getting even more social.

A new Google update will make “people front and center in Gmail” — or rather the people you know who signed up for Google+.

These updates will further integrate Google+ — the search engine’s social network — into Gmail. Now when users search for an email address, contact information from Google+ profiles will show automatically. This means Google+ profiles are pushed to the forefront including profile pictures, emails, chat prompts and phone numbers. This could be a solution for Google+’s lackluster user engagement.

A company product manager Itamar Gilad described the new personalized changes in an official blog post.

“These updates are helping us to provide a more consistent, beautiful experience across all of our products,” he wrote. “Quick access to contact details will be rolling out to everyone today. To take advantage of circles and more in Gmail, you’ll need to join Google+.”

Google+ circles are also finding their way into your email. You’ll be able to filter messages by circles of friends. To see how, watch the video above.

Updates like these are a part of Google’s master plan to incorporate Google+ into all facets of the company’s products. Google unveiled Google Search Plus Your World in January.

Do you think Google+ is an effective directory? Tell us which social network you turn to for contact information — for friends or strangers.

Friday 18 May 2012

Twitter Hashtag Campaigns - What to Consider


Ever wondered about tweets containing words with the “#” symbol in front of them? This hashtag symbol causes Twitter to organically categorize the tweet, along with any other tweet containing the exact same hashtag. In some ways, use of the hashtag is similar to adding a tag to a blog post.

When someone searches for a word you have used as a tag, they may be directed to your blog post. The same is true when someone searches for a word you have placed a hashtag in front of. In this case, they will be directed to a list of all the tweets using that same hashtag. This is the power of the hashtag.

By adding a hashtag in front of a pertinent word in your tweet you become a part of the conversation and your tweet may be found by someone searching for that word. I’ve also found the use of the hashtag to narrow your audience to only those people who are actually interested in what it is you are tweeting about. Seems this would also lead to your tweet having a greater likelihood of being re-tweeted when it is being read by an audience that is truly interested in the topic you are tweeting about. Food for thought when planning a targeted marketing effort.

There are many stories of companies using the hashtag for marketing purposes. Dominos Pizza reduced the price of a pizza each time someone tweeted “#letsdolunch” for a specified period of time. The result was 85,000 tweets and a large number of happy customers who enjoyed their pizza at a discounted price. Even the Obama administration has been known to use the hashtag in tweets, like during the payroll tax debate when they asked people to tweet about what “#40dollars” meant to them. Many other examples exist, including McDonald’s disastrous use of the hashtag in a tweet several months ago.

It’s easy to start a hashtag campaign, but let me give you some things to think about before your do. What is the ultimate goal of your hashtag campaign? Do you intend to provide something of value to your followers? Do you intend to profit from your campaign? Do you want to provide your followers with valuable information? Are you trying to obtain name recognition? Do you want to start a conversation? Have you checked to make sure your hashtag has not already been used?

A well thought out hashtag campaign can have tremendous results. Have you tried your own hashtag campaign? What do you think about some of the hashtag campaigns you’ve seen?

Thursday 17 May 2012

Microsoft + Facebook Taking the Search Engine to a Whole New Level

Search algorithms have used machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict which of the billions of pages on the Internet might be most relevant to your search.

Google has spent so much time, money and effort trying to make their search engine the most accurate when searching on it, but what do people really care about when they look for information?

What really makes a search result the most accurate or best of all online?



Microsoft Bing is revamping its search engine to include a sidebar to enable you to obtain recommendations from users of Facebook when making a search on Bing. It is not just Facebook but they are planning to include many other networks.

Bing will be able to deliver results based on what your trusted sources of information (your friends and acquaintances) think.

They have made this move following the fact that "90% of people consult with a friend or expert before making a decision"

The sidebar appears on the right-hand side of all searches, so when you do a search Bing will suggest "Friends Who Might Know" about the topic based on the information in their Facebook, Likes, profile information, photos, etc.

This move takes searching online to a whole new level, you don't just rely on the information found about it because it seems to be the most popular or the most visited, but you are able to see who in your network may have a recommendation, a suggestion or the expertise to guide you on your search, based on their own experience and knowledge.

This will push companies to increase the quality of their customer experience, customer retention, the influence they have on social networks to gain more recommendations and to put even more effort to grow their brand awareness.

This is only one more step forward to what the future seems to look like when bringing social networks to search engine rankings and optimization.

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Twitter Confirms 10 Million Active Users in the UK

Twitter revealed there are 10 million active users tweeting regularly in the United Kingdom. This makes it the fourth largest tweeting nation — with about one in six Brits signed on to the social network.

About 80% of U.K. tweeters view Twitter on their mobile devices, more than in any other country. The global average of mobile Twitter users is about 55%.

The official @TwitterUK sent this tweet out on Tuesday:

Twitter UK
@TwitterUK
Snapshot of Twitter in the UK: 10m active users, 80% of which are also active on mobile. And an office that's been open almost a year!

The official Twitter count worldwide is 140 million users, who churn out 340 million tweets per day. The year-to-year growth of the microblogging social network, created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, is staggering. The top countries on Twitter are the United States, Japan and Brazil.


Twitter opened its first European office in May 2011.

The 1-year-old London office is reportedly still seeking talent. Twitter is also set to open offices in Dublin, according to The Guardian, as part of its global expansion of offices.

Do you think Twitter will continue to see its global audiences grow? Sound off in the comments.

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Break Your iPhone in This Case And You’ll Get a New Phone for Free

Break your iPhone in this case, and you’ll get a new one for free. Sounds like a pretty good deal, right?

Meet Cellhelmet, a new protective iPhone case from a company called Cellpig. Originally started as a Kickstarter project, the cases recently went into production and are now available for retail sale.

Originally, we wanted to create the most ‘indestructible’ case on the market, Mike Kane, CEO of Cellhelmet told Mashable. €œBut, as we developed our designs, we realized that we were basically recreating something that can already be found on every shelf – a big and bulky case, which wouldn’t fit comfortably in a pocket. That idea went out the door real quick. At this point, a light went on and we thought, ‘Why don’t we design a case that is slim and sleek, with moderate protection, but get a company to back the product, saying that if the iPhone breaks inside, it will be repaired or replaced?’ Bingo – we went with it.€

Cellhelmet turned out to be exactly that, a super-protective case that doesn’t add a ton of bulk to your phone. The case is backed by by Global Warranty Group, and is the only case on the market that offers damage coverage on not only the case itself but also your phone inside.

If your phone breaks in the case (excluding water damage), then the company promises to replace it for a year for a $50 handling fee, with no monthly fee for the coverage. Phones are repaired or replaced within three days of receipt and are overnighted back to your address.

The case is made of dense polyurethane rubber, and has angled edges for drop-shock displacement around the device. It be purchased and used on any iPhone 4 or 4S, even jailbroken iPhones and ones you’ve been using for a few years now.

Apple offers AppleCare+ for new iPhones for $99, and will replace your broken phone twice due to mishandling under the program for $49 — making it still probably a better bet for new phone owners. The win with Cellhelmet is going to be for people who are still using a phone where Apple Care has run out, people who didn’t sign up for coverage when they bought their Phones (most require you sign up immediately or within 30 days), and those who have jailbroken their iPhones which makes them ineligible for Apple protection.

Monday 14 May 2012

Google Drive Goes for a Spin

After weeks of rumors, Google has finally launched its cloud-storage service, Drive.

Like Microsoft SkyDrive, Dropbox and Amazon Cloud Drive, the service syncs users’ offline files with an online storage space that can be accessed from anywhere.

Unlike these other services, however, it has Google Docs built right into it.

Just like before, users can collaborate and comment on docs. But now those files will also automatically be backed up offline, and content added to the offline Google Drive folder will automatically show up in the online Google Drive tab among their Google Docs (up to 5GB of free storage). All files can also be accessed through a Google Drive Android app.

Google also brought some bells and whistles to the game, such as technology that makes PDFs and scanned books searchable. Stuff on your Drive is easy to access from Google+; the company says it will soon make it just as easy to attach that content to Gmail messages.

Meanwhile, the company is working with third-party companies such as fax machine replacement HelloFax and video editor WeVideo that will incorporate Drive into their products.

Bottom line? Google Drive is Dropbox with double the free space (Dropbox offers 2.5GB) and added Google Docs functionality.

Its 5GB of storage space isn’t the largest the industry has to offer — for that, you’ll have to turn to Microsoft’s SkyDrive. But it will probably end up being the most widely integrated, and thus most useful, cloud service out there.