Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking  Twitter has announced that it will unveil its new advertising model today. Called Promoted Tweets, the program will work by allowing advertisers to by keywords to link to their ads, which will show up when users search for those keywords and later in users newsfeeds. Twitter promises they will be targeted for relevancy. The ads will also be monitored for resonance, which is determined by 9 factors including the number of retweets. replies, and clicks on the links. Promoted Tweets with low resonance will be dropped.
"The idea behind Promoted Tweets is that we want to enhance the communications that companies are already having with customers on Twitter," said Dick Costolo, Twitter's chief operating officer.
So far Best Buy, Starbucks, and Virgin America are among the companies that have signed up for the program. It remains to be seen how users will react to seeing ads in their newsfeeds. If you use Twitter tell us how you feel about this new program! Read [NY Times] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile  Over the weekend Sprint made the brilliant decision to update their website. As a long time customer I can tell you there was really no need, but I digress. The site went down on Saturday and as of this writing, 60 hrs later, it’s still down. Sprint is blaming database glitches and unspecified “issues impacting site functionality” according to their Twitter page, and if their Facebook page is any indication they’ve managed to enrage many of their customers. The 2+ day outage means customers can’t access their accounts to pay their bills or check usage. Even though customers can still call Sprint’s CS for those tasks, given the company’s lackluster CS history, most are reluctant to do so.
Customers attempting to access the site are greeted with a bright yellow hardhat and the words: Whoops. The site is down.
Sorry for the interruption—we’re working hard to bring it back. To add insult to injury, the Facebook and iGoogle apps the company says customers can use to pay their bills and check their usage don’t work either. The botched site update is a black eye Sprint really doesn’t need right now. Read [Sprint.com on Twitter] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, Portable Video, Computers, Mobile Computers, Netbooks, Wireless  According to a slide from a presentation in China, Archos will launch 6 new tablets this summer ranging from 3” to 10” priced from $100-$350. Archos has quietly been putting out tablets now for some time and it seems they are ready to seize any momentum generated by Apple jumping in the market with the iPad. Really though, six new offerings?
The breakdown is as follows: - 2 versions of Archos 3
- Archos 5
- 2 versions of Archos 7
- Archos 10
We’re left to our own devices (yuck,yuck) to figure out the logic behind this. It’s possible the two versions are for 3G connectivity, camera options or for upgrades from resistive (as Archos has used in the past) to capacative (ala quality touchscreens of the day). Without an official release, we’re left to guess at it. Multi-touch, OpenGL, up to 1GHz ARM Cortex processors are all listed as highlights of the bunch, thought not assigned to specific models. No word where in the world we’ll see these, which (if any) will reach US shores. Read: [ArchosFans] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile 
I wonder. I wonder how Apple’s impressive marketing team feels about Steve Jobs responding to consumer inquiries. The marketing teams obviously works awfully hard to maintain the Apple brand image, so what does Mr. Jobs terse responses add to the mix? I can’t believe the marketing team is thrilled about it. Every so often we get wind of an emailed question to Mr. Jobs returned with a reply. The latest one was a question about future support for the first generation iPhone (2G). Job’s response: “Sorry, no ” Presumably Jobs like to read consumer comments to “stay connected” to the populous. Perhaps Mr. Jobs hasn’t got the time to add the perfunctory, “thank you for your question, Apple appreciates your interest in our products…”; Job’s cuts right to chase. Why so short? Is he crunched for time? Has he not quite figured out touchscreen typing? Is he just being secretive and doesn’t want to give anything away? Or are we being punked? Is this, in fact, the Apple Marketing team at work? Surely they know how tickled pink loyal Apple-ites are to receive a note from the high holy man himself. Is there a Fake Steve Jobs inside Apple as well? If you had a mythical Unicorn running your company, you’d want to get it outdoors every now and then, right? Perhaps these terse emails are just that: letting the unicorn out to play.” What’s your take? Is this really Jobs caring about the little man? Does marketing cringe every time one of these emails pop up? Or are they in control of the whole thing? This is Apple you know, and they’ve got a thing for control. Read: [MacStories] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Imaging, Camcorders We have seen the leaks and early sales, and now the Flip SlideHD pocket camcorder is official, and available to be purchased. That is, as long as you have the $279.99. Feature wise, the Flip SlideHD comes touting the ability to record up to 4 hours of HD quality video, and can store up to 12 hours of regular videos and/or images which is done so by the 16GB of internal storage. As for that video quality, the SlideHD can shoot at up to 1280 x 720 at 30 frames per second. Other features include an HDMI output, flip out USB 2.0 port, 2x digital zoom and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The SlideHD is also touting a 3 inch display that is revealed when the camcorder is opened up. Otherwise, its a Flip and therefor it should be easy to use. Best of all is that if you want one you can grab one now. As for where you can make your purchase, well, the Flip SlideHD is available at Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart as well as direct with Flip (link below). Product [Flip Video] Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Websites While you were checking into your coffee shops or Wal-Mart, fifteen year old Parker Liautaud was trekking across the frozen tundra on a race to become the first Foursquare user to check in at the North Pole. This achievement also earned him the Last Degree Badge on Foursquare. And I thought I was an achievement-whore on my Xbox… 
Instead of enjoying his break off from school, young Liautaud spent his spring break skiing towards the North Pole. Though Liautaud had to finish the expedition on a helicopter instead of on skis as he had originally desired as stated through various Twitter updates. I admit, I’m not too rehearsed on how Foursquare knows where you are. But I assume it uses GPS, which than would mean this probably won’t work, but I would be ecstatic to see someone check in at the Moon. What interesting places have you seen, or would like to see someone check into at? Read [Mashable] Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Web, Web Apps, Google On Monday Google held it’s first event dedicated to cloud computing, Atmosphere. The event was meant for CIOs and IT professionals, though the announcements were certainly not limited to them. Google took the time to announce new features to Google Docs which greatly improve the service. The biggest improvement comes with the addition of a Drawing app. Drawing has been available in documents, but is now available as a stand alone app that allows you to create charts, diagrams of other images for presentations or just stand alone graphics. You don’t have to be alone in creating those drawings, though, as Google has added support for up to 50 collaborators across all of Google Docs. Not only that, but like Google Wave, all updates people make to any document are shown to you in real time, allowing for much easier collaboration on documents. Documents is also improved with improved image placement within text, tab positions and a margin ruler. Meanwhile, spreadsheets gain a formula bar, auto-complete in cells and drag-and-drop columns. The improvements come with improved speed, presumably thanks to HTML5. The improvements aren’t available to everyone just yet, though they will be rolling out to “all individual users over the next few days.” Users will have select the option to choose the new versions over the current versions (though Drawing is available to everyone right now). This is presumably because the new versions only work on “newer browsers” and do not support offline mode via Gears. Offline mode will be coming soon with HTML5, however, which is something to look forward to. Read [Google Docs Blog] via [Google Blog] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking Twitter has been doing some expanding lately. First, a couple of days ago, it bought the Tweetie app with the intentions of making it free and re-branding it as the Official Twitter Application. While this came as a shocking blow to the Twitter app developers, it also shown a little light as to how Twitter plans to expand its service. To add to that sudden acquisition, Twitter has successfully bought the Trinidad and Tobago based domain name Twee.tt. Twitter has always been scrutinized for its lack of direction as far as branding and no seeming way of monetizing its service. But with these two pieces of news, a blurry line points to where Twitter is headed, mainly with monetizing its brand. The new domain name will most likely be implemented as a URL shortener and will replace the current default bit.ly. This will increase brand awareness around the web, introducing new users to the service. The app acquisition, however, is a more interesting move by Twitter. Twitter has grown to its level not because of its web interface, but because of 3rd party applications made by developers. By buying out Tweetie, Twitter has essentially shut down those application developers and will re-brand it as the Official Twitter App. Now when new users of Twitter join the service, what application will they use? Well of course the branded one over all of the other applications. By furthering its brand name, more monetization methods arise such as, advertising, premium services, and various other ways of charging people. Considering Twitter has been notoriously known for raising tons of cash with no results, I personally believe that this is a very good move. Read [TechCrunch] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking Ironically, Microsoft’s own line of phones do no sport Windows Mobile 7. Instead, the Kin One and Two have their own social media centered OS. In this article, we will take a look at this unique UI and how they attempt to turn the Kin’s into a social media device. The Kin Loop The Kin Loop is basically your home screen. What you see after getting past the lock screen. Going with the social media feel here, this is where you see all your friends facebook updates, myspace updates, and latest tweets. It isn’t unlike an RSS feed reader in many aspects. You can view updates from your favorite sites, xbox live, and MSN. Directly quoting the video, the loop allows you to stay on top of your world. The Kin Spot
One very interesting aspect of the Loop is that green dot you see at the bottom of the screen. It is called the Kin Spot and is like a click-and-drag share button. If you find something cool that you think your friends should know, you just drag it down to the green dot. Than, you just slide over to your friends list and drag the names of those you want to receive the cool facts onto the dot as well. Once you’ve done that, you touch the dot and choose either to send the information as a text message on in an email. Anything can be shared with your contacts: webpages through the browser, photos you’ve taken, status updates your friends have made, or even locations you’ve thrown into Bing Maps. The Kin Spot might be the determining feature to calling this phone a social media device. But the Spot is also not only for sharing media with your friends. It is also an easy and simple way to send text messages to one or more people. Just drag your friends you want to text or email into the spot, and then write your message. No more accidentally adding people, or having to retype the text if you want to send it to multiple friends. Read [Kin] Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking While Microsoft fans are sitting patiently, waiting for Windows Mobile 7 to finally show up in stores, Microsoft announces its own line of phones that don’t even use it. Strange, I know. Though, they do use vaguely similar ideas for the styling with the big, blocky interface. But instead, the two phones, the Kin One and Kin Two, are strongly focused on social media in a way that reminds me of the Motorola Backflip. The biggest disappointment with this series, in my opinion, is the lack of support for third party apps. One interesting and unique thing I think I’m noticing on these phones is the smiley button. Seriously? We can’t just have two buttons to make a smiley-face? 
The Kin One is a small, slider phone. The full QWERTY keyboard is designed to make one-handed texting a very simple and easy process. It has a five-megapixel camera with flash and 4gb’s of internal storage. The screen has multitouch capabilities to allow for that famous pinch-to-zoom. To me, the Kin One is a very ugly looking phone. Give me your opinions in the comments about this circular-square device…
On the other hand, the Kin Two has a much more traditional look to it that just sits more comfortably with me. It is also a more technologically advanced phone with more impressive specs than the One. An eight-megapixel camera allows it to shoot HD video and 8gb of internal storage allows you to keep about 2,000 songs on hand. On the topic of music, both phones sport a music player powered by Zune so you can listen to your music on your phone. A big aspect of these phones is the implementation of the “cloud”. For those who don’t know, the cloud is basically a term representing the ability to store files on the internet and access them from any computer or in some cases, mobile phones, that has access to the internet. That is exactly what Microsoft is doing with these phones. They are taking your entire media collection and uploading it to their website (kin.com) where you can access it from anywhere. Read [Kin] Full Story » | Written by Greg Billetdeaux for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
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