We learned earlier today that Google is launching a social status update feature in Gmail. While details are sparse, The Wall Street Journal reports that it is a new Gmail module that could integrate status updates as well as content from YouTube, Picasa and potentially other social sources. WSJ is unclear as to when it will launch, though.We think that Google’s new social status feature will be announced tomorrow. We have just received an invite to attend an event at Google’s headquarters where it will be “unveiling some product innovations in two of [its] most popular products.”The description fits very well with the WSJ report. Gmail is one of Google’s most popular products, and this new social status update feature would be a “product innovation” within Gmail.As for what the other product getting new features may be, we can’t say for certain. Picasa, YouTube, Google Friend Connect and Google Accounts all seem like potential candidates.The event begins at 10:00 a.m. PT tomorrow. We will be there covering the entire thing.Reviews: Gmail, Google, Picasa, YouTube, google friend connectTags: gmail, Google, social search, WSJ
Publ.Date : Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:12:01 +0000
Last year Dunkin’ Donuts’ “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” contest was a huge success, generating more than 130,000 donut submissions and 174,000 votes. In celebration of its 60th birthday, Dunkin’ Donuts is doing it all over again.Through March 8, 2010, anyone can create their own custom virtual donut — with imagination and available ingredients being the only limitations.Donut submissions will be judged based on use of ingredients, donut name and the story behind the creation.The ContestJust like last year, contest hopefuls can build their donut using Dunkin’ Donuts’ donut-building website, creating the breakfast foods from scratch by selecting its shape, dough, filling, frosting and toppings. This year, however, you can actually save your creations and find them in the My Donuts section, download versions for your desktop or favorite social sites, and share your creations more easily with friends via social media sites.After the submission deadline, donuts will be judged internally, with the company selecting the top 12 finalists, whose donuts will be put up for vote online beginning in April. Each of the 12 finalists will also get a $1,200 cash prize, a year’s worth of donuts, a Flip HD camcorder and a trip to Dunkin’ Donuts University to bake their donuts and meet with chefs. The grand prize winner takes home $12,000 and will have the honor of seeing their donut sold in stores for a limited time.What’s in it for Dunkin’ Donuts?While the company wouldn’t share exact costs around the campaign, we did learn that the costs associated with such a massive undertaking — especially in building and maintaining a site to handle the hundreds of thousands of submissions — is quite significant.David Tryder, manager of interactive and relationship marketing, told us that there is a “substantial commitment and investment involved with the building of site, marketing, and media,” but that last year’s contest, “met expectations on the business side,” and the company, “saw a healthy response in donut sales during the promotion period.”The bottom line is that online initiative translated to offline sales. Obviously Dunkin’ Donuts is banking on a bigger and better response to this year’s contest. We definitely expect that to be the case, especially given that Facebook is now 400 million members strong and the company reported 25,000 donuts posted to the social networking site alone last year.Speaking of last year, let’s take a look at more stats from last year:- 130,000 “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” donut submissions- 218,000 total donuts created- 25,000 donuts posted to Facebook- 174,000 votes- 269,000 more donuts created after the promotion was overThat last stat is especially interesting and proves that even without the promise of a big prize, the company has hit on something that its customers absolutely love to do.More ScreenshotsReviews: FacebookTags: dunkin donuts, Food, MARKETING, social media
Publ.Date : Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:50:10 +0000
Gmail is set to become Google’s next major push into social media. According to The Wall Street Journal, the popular webmail service will soon launch a new feature for sharing content and status updates with friends. [Update: We think Google might announce these features on Tuesday]As WSJ points out, Gmail users can already update their statuses — sort of — through Gmail’s chat feature. Currently, this feature is more akin to the traditional IM “away message.” However, with this new social push, Gmail will offer a timeline-view of your friends’ status updates, just like on Facebook and Twitter.Those updates might come from both Gmail and third-party services. According to WSJ, Google-owned YouTube and Picasa will be integrated into the stream. The huge question then is whether or not the new feature will include updates from Twitter and Facebook.If so, the new features could be thought of more like a TweetDeck or Seesmic, looking to provide an aggregate view of your friends’ social media activities along with the ability to push status updates to the services you use from inside of Gmail. If not, it could be thought of as a major competitor to Twitter and Facebook as Gmail looks to covert its millions of e-mail users into adherents to a whole new breed of social media service.An issue with the latter, however, is that Gmail has historically added people to your contacts based on e-mail interactions. Hence, this contact list often varies significantly from your friends on social sites where relationships need to be made explicitly.In other words, your Gmail contacts aren’t necessarily the same people you want to share status updates, photos and videos with. This is an issue that shouldn’t be overlooked in evaluating the new features Google is soon to unveil.Reviews: Facebook, Gmail, Google, Picasa, Seesmic, TweetDeck, Twitter, YouTubeTags: facebook, gmail, Google, trending, twitter
Publ.Date : Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:35:38 +0000
While the Nook — Barnes & Noble’s $259 e-reader and Kindle rival — has been available for purchase online since November, it has yet to be sold in the company’s brick-and-mortar stores. Come Wednesday, however, that will all change.The New York Times is reporting, “Barnes & Noble, the country’s largest bookselling chain, said that its Nook electronic reading device would be available for purchase in its stores starting Wednesday.”Barnes & Noble originally made a big splash with its Nook announcement in late October, but its digital book reader has since been met with mixed reviews and suffered from stock shortage problems around the holidays.The push to finally get the Nook in Barnes & Noble stores is likely the result of the hoopla involving Apple’s iPad. As Google is learning via lackluster Nexus One sales, consumers haven’t exactly embraced the online-only purchase model when it comes to electronics. With its physical debut coming several months prior to the iPad’s, Barnes & Noble might have an opportunity to land key sales before consumers can hold the iPad for themselves.Tags: barnes & noble, ereader, nook
Publ.Date : Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:38:19 +0000
In this week’s Free Music Monday we offer you 10 free downloadable MP3s (or the occasional full album) for your eclectic listening pleasure. If you haven’t checked out Free Music Monday before, we’re giving away free and legal tracks in honor of the #musicmonday tradition on Twitter.We also gladly accept your submissions for Free Music Monday — please find information about how to submit your tracks or music from artists you represent at the end of this post. Now without further ado, let’s roll some tracks!1. [DOWNTEMPO] Cosmo D’s Sauce: “Metroid (Brynstar)” — Jazzy horns and downtempo beats from one of several acts from the Brooklyn-based Smoothe Moose label and artist collective. Right-click to download this track, and grab lots more from Smoothe Moose’s mixtapes at Soundcloud. The We Love Video Game Music sampler featuring this track is also embedded below for streaming and download. Smoothe Moose Mixtape #3 – We Love Video Game Music by smoothemoose2. [OPERA] The Knife: “Colouring of Pigeons” — It’s The Knife like they’ve been heard before. Right-click to snag a track from the electro-opera the brother and sister duo were commissioned to compose, Tomorrow, In a Year, based on the infamous Charles Darwin text The Origin of Species. The digital release on the 92-minute opera is out now, with the two-CD physical album to arrive March 1.3. [STONER ROCK] Ancestors: “The Ambrose Law” — If you like Sabbath-influenced progressive rock, right-click to check out this track from L.A.’s Ancestors. [via Stoner Rock]4. [ELECTRONICA] Four Tet: “Essential Mix” — Almost two hours’ worth of mixes and remixes are included in this set from UK’s Kieran Hebden, better known as Four Tet. Download the entire set from Soundcloud or from the streaming player below. Essential mix (January 2010) by Four Tet5. [ROCK] Martha and the Muffins: “Don’t Say Anything” — To get your free download from the recently released new album Delicate (their first studio release in 18 years), head on over to MatM’s site to sign up for the mailing list and get a copy of “Don’t Say Anything” from these Toronto-based rockers.6. [INDIE] Thunderhawk: “King Basement” — Get your right-click on to snag a track from the forthcoming VI release from Indianapolis’ Thunderhawk, slated to drop in March. Check out more about the band on their MySpace page and at Standard Recording.7. [EXPERIMENTAL] Primary Colors of Sound: “bAg” — Chill, downtempo beats characterize this experimental electronic outfit, who offer a free download of the track “bAg” along with several others on their iLike artist page.8. [GUITAR ROCK] Gary Reynolds and the Brides of Obscurity: “Three Angels” — Songwriter, guitarist and Electrokitty Studios owner Gary Reynolds has embarked on an ambitious plan to release a new track per week and a full-length album every month in 2010. New tracks go up every Monday, and you can always download the latest on Gary and the band’s website. This week’s track is “Three Angels,” described as “religion and spacemen done to a Zeppelin style groove and a nice backwards guitar solo.”9. [DUBSTEP] Derivate: “L2 (Beto Narme’s Dense Subspace Remix)” — Netlabel Sublime Porte from Istanbul offers this remix (right-click to download) of Derivate’s recent EP, Lagrange Points I. You can also download the release in its entirety at Sublime Porte, plus follow the label for future releases on Twitter.10. [SINGER/SONGWRITER] GarageSpin: “Spinning Daydream” — This track about “embracing all experiences in life, good and bad” from singer/songwriter and music blogger Mike B, recording and blogging as GarageSpin, is available for the low cost of your right-click. Snag another free track and free stream from the GarageSpin Music page.As always, thank you for tuning in to Free Music Monday! If you like this feature, please help us out by sharing it with your music-loving friends. You can always find the latest edition of this feature by hitting up the Free Music Monday tag page, so please check back. We’ve appended the list of past Free Music Mondays at the end of this post in case you missed any of the back catalog.Big thanks to everyone for the great submissions we’re getting. If you sent us tracks and we haven’t featured them yet, stay tuned for a future Free Music Monday. If you’d like to submit tracks for yourself or an artist you represent, give us a shout at barb AT mashable DOT com. Be sure to send us an MP3 or two we can use (no more than 25MB file size total please) or send us a link to listen to tracks you’re willing to provide as a free download. Thanks everyone!P.S. Bonus tip: They’re not “free” but they are low cost — be sure to check out Amazon’s 100 albums for $5 through February.Free Music Monday Back Catalog- Alternative Rock Edition- Covers, Remixes, and Mashups Edition- Electronica Edition- Free Downloads for Your Ears (Feb. 1, 2010)- Fresh and Free Downloads (Jan. 25, 2010)- Hip-hop Edition- Labor Day Edition- Live Edition- Rock and Pop Edition- Singer-Songwriter Edition- Video Edition- Your Submissions Edition- Your Submissions, All Downloads EditionReviews: OperaTags: downloads, free music monday, mp3s, music
Publ.Date : Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:07:46 +0000
Forget doppelgangers and Urban Dictionary definitions, the newest Facebook meme is, undoubtedly, “Can this [Insert random thing] Get More Fans Than [Insert Famous Person]?” The latest victim? Pop singer Justin Bieber, who is apparently much beloved with the young folks (and their mothers). The victor? An onion ring.The fried food thoroughly trounced the Canadian pop star on February 6, according to the fan page, which was created by Facebook user Toby Brittan.Bieber Fan Count: 1,648,758 fansOnion Ring Fan Count: 2,152,536 fansBrittan founded the page on February 1, and according to The Independent, the 16-year-old — who is the son of British businesswoman Sharon Brittan — has even been approached by advertisers wanting to strike up some business on the page.Similar pages and spin-offs are already in abundance. In fact, the onion ring soon went on to beat out Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.Despite these political aspirations, the meme mostly targets pop culture figures such as Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers, as well as the Twilight films. The challengers? Everything from purple monsters to sausage rolls. My personal favorite? “Can This Pickle Get More Fans Than Nickleback [sic]?” The answer? Dear God, I hope so.Reviews: Facebook, twilightTags: facebook, humor, justin bieber, memes, pop culture
Publ.Date : Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:42:23 +0000
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