Rumors are flying that the forthcoming version of Internet Explorer, the ninth incarnation, will include strong support of HTML5.

This would be a dramatic change from Internet Explorer 8, which is not known for its HTML5 compliance for a reason. Thar reason? It has nearly none. This is hardly surprising, Microsoft browsers have for time immemorial lagged behind the market on adoption of the current standards of the internet.

Even worse, given the pervasive use of Internet Explorer 6 (a browser so old it does not support tabbed browsing), Internet Explorer users are often stuck in 2001, when the browser came out. Microsoft seems to be out to finally catch up with the rest of the world’s browsers, and perhaps run past them in certain areas.

At the most recent Professional Developers Conference (PDC09, which I attended), Microsoft discussed Internet Explorer 9 touting their goals to build a modern browser that passed the Acid3 test, and of course, worked with HTML5.

According to webmonkey, Microsoft is likely to demonstrate some Internet Explorer 9 goodies at the upcoming MIX10 event. If that happens, we will finally get a good look into the future of the browser that the world users, for better or for worse.

There are other implications. By extending a hand to HTML5 Microsoft will move ahead adoption of the standard in a large way. The better HTML5 does, the worse Flash does, given their tendancy to step on each other’s toes at every turn. What does this mean? Microsoft by boosting HTML5 will be helping Apple and their proxy war with the iPad and iPhone to combat Flash across the internet.

By upgrading Internet Explorer 9 to use HTML5, Microsoft is going to help Apple sell iPads. Somehow I bet that Ballmer would not like that. In other news, contented chuckles were heard from One, Infinite Loop.

Image credit.

- Update -

Given the epic comments that this post has received, which I have taken the time to read, I thought a short add-on was in order. To the people being mean, you are taking this to far. Given that you missed the point, I’ll do it again:

Apple has a large force on the future of technology. They are blocking flash from tens of millions of devices over the next few years. HTML5 can be used to replace certain areas of Flash functionality, especially those relating to video play. Apple will not kill Flash. Microsoft is trying to join the rest of internet (years to late), in meeting internet standards. Given that the standards that Microsoft is now planning on meeting are the same that Apple is promoting against Flash (Flash performance on OS X is utter shit, we all know this), so we have two of the most important companies in the world promoting standards that impinge on areas of Flash.

Sure, my headline is a little catchy, but it has two parts and two facts: IE9 will be HTML5 compatible, and that action will help promote the web-wide acceptance of HTML5 which will in certain areas compete with Flash, hurting Flash in the market somewhat.

There you have it. Flame on, I’m sure someone cares.

There are times when you file a patent that you might never use and forget about it. Then there are times you file a patent and later have granted at the best possible time. Facebook is at just such a moment it seems with the granting of US patent number 7,669,123.

Facebook in 2006 filed for a patent covering ‘the feed,’ as it is known among the tech world. That patent was just granted. Something to note, Facebook filed this before feeds were in vogue, before some social darlings were even born. Meaning: some people seem to stepping on Facebook’s toes in a serious, legal way.

They just patented the damn news feed. It is hard to get around that. To eliminate possible confusion, this is the main claim on the patent (read the full patent here):

A method for displaying a news feed in a social network environment, the method comprising: monitoring a plurality of activities in a social network environment; storing the plurality of activities in a database; generating a plurality of news items regarding one or more of the activities, wherein one or more of the news items is for presentation to one or more viewing users and relates to an activity that was performed by another user; attaching a link associated with at least one of the activities of another user to at least one of the plurality of news items where the link enables a viewing user to participate in the same activity as the another user; limiting access to the plurality of news items to a set of viewing users; and displaying a news feed comprising two or more of the plurality of news items to at least one viewing user of the predetermined set of viewing users. [Emphasis TNW]

Yes, you read all that correctly. Yes, the patent has been granted. And yes, it seems that many people are in breach of this patent.

Now we are not legal minds here at The Next Web, so we are not going to pass judgement on what this may or may not mean, but we think that it at least seems clear. Given the strength of the main (granted) claim and its corollaries (in a minute), Facebook now appears to have a gigantic legal cudgel to hit other social companies with.

What else does the patent say? Here are some of the claimed methods for the first claim:

• The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of activities are selected according to an affinity determined for the viewing user.
• The method of claim 1, wherein at least one informational link comprises a dropdown menu.
• The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying advertising with the plurality of news items.
• The method of claim 1, further comprising: monitoring an interaction of the viewing user with the at least one of the plurality of news items; and utilizing the interaction to select advertising for display to the viewing user.
• The method of claim 1, further comprising searching the one or more news items for a predetermined character string.

And it goes on. The 16th claim of the patent is huge, stating:

A system for displaying a news feed comprising: a social network environment; a module configured to monitor a plurality of activities in a social network environment; a storage medium for storing the plurality of activities in a database; a module configured to generate a plurality of news items regarding one or more of the activities, wherein one or more of the news items is for presentation to one or more viewing users and relates to an activity that was performed by another user; a link component configured to attach a link associated with at least one of the activities of another user to at least one of the plurality of news items where the link enables a viewing user to participate in the same activity as the another user; a privacy component configured to limit access to the plurality of news items to a set of viewing users; and a media generator configured to display a news feed comprising two or more of the plurality of news items to at least one viewing user of the predetermined set of viewing users. [Emphasis TNW]

In the next few weeks we are going to find out just what Facebook thinks they can claim with this patent, what other companies feel that they can defend against, and how aggressive Facebook is going to be to police it.

Sure, Facebook was the biggest social network, but yesterday it did not have the patent to the most popular way to display content inside of a social network.

This is probably going to get ugly.

PayPal, one of the more sedentary companies on the Web, announced something rather odd today: it's opening up an Apps store for developers to showcase their products on. And, funnily enough, the idea makes one think that the online payment system is going back to its roots: it was originally conceived as a payments system for Palm Pilots.

The idea, according to Osama Bedier, VP of PayPal's Platform Business Unit and Emerging Technologies, is to make PayPal a way for paying for ordinary items, such as gas and convenience-store items, via customers' smartphones. He sees the opportunity as "gigantic. There's a lot of opportunity in breaking out of the shell of e-commerce," adding that "the wallet should live in the cloud."

Anyone who thinks that PayPal had lost its way after Elon Musk zoomed off to Tesla, may have to eat their thoughts. "We have a huge emphasis on interacting with developers. They're our customers, along with consumers and merchants," he said at the FOWA conference in Miami Beach yesterday.

"We want the simplest way to make payments available on mobile applications. We want, with a few lines of code and a few minutes, to let any developer put payments inside the app." The idea is redolent of eBay's move last year, when it transformed its Selling Manager suite of merchant tools into a storefront for externally-developed applications. So, no PayPal logos that turn into a thirst-quenching glass of beer which empties when you tip your smartphone, then.

[Via Good Gear Guide]

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teka_e_fabi/ / CC BY 2.0

Addy Dugdale01429658190154616097

As of today, Facebook Fan Page status updates will begin appearing in Google search results, according to a tweet by Google. The announcement means that we will begin seeing results from the nearly 3 million fan pages, but not from the more than 400 million users.

Google currently controls around 90% of the search engine market, according to StatCounter, with Yahoo and Bing its closest competitors. Will Bing's exclusive access to Facebook user updates change this at all?

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Google first announced the expansion of its real-time Web search last December, noting that it would include data from Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, Jaiku, Indenti.ca and Twitter. And, of course, Buzz is now included in that list. Since then, Bing and Yahoo have made deals to step up their real-time Web search as well.

Yahoo recently brokered a deal with Twitter, and Bing expanded its partnership with Facebook to become the default on-site search engine for the social network. Also included in the Bing deal was the ability to fully index public user updates, but this functionality is not yet available.

While it may be true that having access to only Facebook Fan Page updates puts Google at a disadvantage in terms of the sheer volume of content indexed, do we really want to have every piece of content shared by those 400 million users in our search results? A recent post here on ReadWriteWeb garnered a large stream of traffic from the more technologically inept portion of Facebook's user base - and the resulting comments were less than intellectual.

As Brandee Barker, a spokeswoman for Facebook, told us the other day, "Facebook Pages are designed to provide authentic voices for public figures, celebrities, and organizations." While some are arguing these new results will just be a stream of advertisements and self-promotion, they will focus on official voices from organizations and the content they want to share.

We're not sure about you, but maybe we don't want to hear every little thing every person on the planet has to say about everything. Although the Internet is a great and democratizing force, perhaps having some filters remain in place isn't the end of the world. It can be hard enough just keeping up with the stream of updates as it is. Adding the daily chatter of 400 million may just go one step too far - although we'd still like the option.

Maybe, in the end, this will give Bing a bigger share of the search engine market, and that isn't a bad thing. Just like a multi-party political system offers more choices, maybe a more balanced search engine market would be better for us, too. When we want the official word from official organizations, we can go to Google. When we want to put our finger on the pulse of the 400 million users, we can go to Bing.

Discuss

Mike Melanson014983325755080920810746337397467582732416124079332823773647137630645979904138731284248362262005687606787076594280507468

For people who enjoy running, there’s nothing like lacing up the Nikes, heading out the door and hitting that stride. But every runner hits a wall at one point or another and day after day, run after run can soon become monotonous. Sometimes a little jolt to the routine is welcomed.

Whether you want to try out new routes, strive to be faster, have better endurance or even lose a little weight, runners (and want-to-be runners) can turn to the following 10 iPhone apps for a little more variety in their training regimens:

1. RunKeeper Pro

RunKeeper Pro is probably the most well-known of the running apps on this list. This is a feature-rich app that enables GPS tracking, distance, speed monitoring, caloric output and activity history for any number of activities you partake in including sports such as running, cycling, hiking, skiing and swimming. You can also sync all the data to RunKeeper’s website to monitor progress and share publicly. RunKeeper also offers a simplified version of the app for free.

Cost: $9.99

2. Ghost Race

Sometimes, the best motivation is competition and who better to compete with than yourself? Ghost Race enables you to track your times on various routes and compare your performance from day to day. The app’s audio function also keeps you updated on your progress against your ‘Ghost’ in real-time.

Cost: $0.99

3. Livestrong Calorie Tracker

Assuming most people who run regularly are also health conscious, the Livestrong Calorie Tracker boasts more than 625,000 foods in its database and is a great app to have to monitor caloric/fat/carbohydrate/protein intake. You can also monitor your progress based on daily caloric goals that you establish and track your weight loss goals.

Cost: $2.99

4. Get Running (Couch to 5K)

Targeted more for beginner runners, Get Running provides users with a specific training regimen over the course of nine weeks, with the end goal of being able to run for 30 minutes. Audio prompts guide users through each workout and even provide encouragement along the way.

Cost: $1.99

5. iRace

iRace is a comprehensive app for locating road races near you or in any city that you choose to search. The app also enables you to preview the race route (if available) and send “challenges” to contacts, inviting them to run the race with you.

Cost: $0.99

6. Fitnio

Fitnio is another GPS-based tracking and monitoring app for walking, running and cycling. The app records your activity and then displays distance, pace, caloric burn and also keeps an ongoing log of all workouts and also syncs with its website. Fitnio also provides an emergency contact option in the event that immediate help is needed during a workout.

Cost: $1.99

7. Run Coach

Run Coach is a good app for both seasoned and novice runners who desire a little more motivation for running success. With a variety of training plans to choose from, a 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon, etc., Run Coach provides personalized plans and enables you to track your progress along the way. Running and nutritional tips are also offered for quick reference.

Cost: $0.99

8. iMapMyRun

If you want a GPS-based route tracker and activity log, but don’t want to pay for one, iMapMyRun is a good alternative. Similar to some of the other tracking apps, this also enables you to save your data to the app’s website where you can monitor progress and share publicly, even via Twitter. For more features like iPod integration and photo geo-tagging, there’s a more comprehensive version available called iMapMyRun+ that costs $4.99.

Cost: FREE

9. Interval Run

For runners who like to mix it up with interval training, this app is a good way to integrate a little variety into your workout. With training plans including Tabata, Couch to 5K, Gateway to 8K and a One Hour Program, the recorded voice tells you what to do and when to do it.

Cost: $1.99

10. UltraTimer

UltraTimer is a great app to have on hand for use as a precise timer, whether it is for circuit training, sprints or just for general use. The app comes with a couple example training plans, but any desired timing schedule can be inputted and multiple timers can be run simultaneously as well.

Cost: $1.99

More iPhone resources from Mashable:

-10 Best iPhone Apps for Dog Lovers
- Top 10 iPhone Apps as Judged by Mashable Readers
- 10 Fun iPhone Apps for Beer Lovers
- Mashable’s New iPhone App: Download Today!

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, blublaf

Reviews: Twitter, iStockphoto

Tags: exercise, iphone, iphone apps, Lists, Mobile 2.0, mobile app, running

GOOD recently asked its readers to create an infographic that shows both the devastation of the recent Haiti earthquake along with aid efforts thus far. Emily Schwartzman won the contest for her hard-hitting design, which clearly shows the poverty, destruction, and humanitarian funding offered to Haiti in the quake's aftermath. If you have a friend that doesn't understand the scope of the earthquake's wrath, this is the infographic to show them.

We're also fans of Stephane Bao's entry, which clearly shows the areas where Haiti needs the most funding. Navigating the world of charities has been one of the most difficult tasks for do-gooders trying to donate money for post-quake relief. Check out larger versions of the infographics here.

[Via GOOD]

Ariel Schwartz06504733086912846282

GOOD recently asked its readers to create an infographic that shows both the devastation of the recent Haiti earthquake along with aid efforts thus far. Emily Schwartzman won the contest for her hard-hitting design, which clearly shows the poverty, destruction, and humanitarian funding offered to Haiti in the quake's aftermath. If you have a friend that doesn't understand the scope of the earthquake's wrath, this is the infographic to show them.

We're also fans of Stephane Bao's entry, which clearly shows the areas where Haiti needs the most funding. Navigating the world of charities has been one of the most difficult tasks for do-gooders trying to donate money for post-quake relief. Check out larger versions of the infographics here.

[Via GOOD]

Ariel Schwartz11822496793097396577054695664366645149371107184639896559059106504733086912846282

The Apple App Store, the company's one-stop-shop for over 100,000 different mobile applications, is getting a new rival - the Wholesale Applications Community. Twenty four individual mobile companies are joining together to form the group, which will represent over three billion customers world-wide.

While the applications will not be for the iPhone, and therefor not direct competition to the App Store, a centralized location for mobile applications may lure potential customers away from Apple and its iPhone.

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According to the press release, the group is meant to be "an alliance to build an open platform that delivers applications to all mobile phone users." AT&T, China Mobile, China Unicom, Sprint and Verizon Wireless are among the companies joining the initiative. Three device manufacturers - LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony Ericsson - are also on board.

The alliance "aims to unite a fragmented marketplace and create an open industry platform that benefits everybody". The group will be conversing with W3C, the web standards consortium, to develop a standard for mobile application development. The group intends to make cross-platform development for a number a different mobile devices possible, with those applications available in one location, much in the same way that all Apple users rely on the app store.

The main question we have is, will this store also create the closed atmosphere that many complain about with the app store? Will there be a verification process for apps, giving the alliance the same sort of control Apple has, or will it be more of an open environment?

According to the release, the group aims to create "an ecosystem for the development and distribution of mobile and internet applications irrespective of device or technology," so on that end, things look good.

We would have to agree with Google, however, in noting that the number of different device technologies and platforms could make the dream of a unified mobile front against the dominant iPhone could just be a pipe dream.

Discuss

Mike Melanson04615421363069465163

The cheapest comes in at $72.8 million. Zoinks.

Last week, a mysterious rich man paid $104.3 million for a six-foot tall sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, making it the most expensive piece of art ever sold. Following that news, GOOD and graphic-design firm Karlssonwilker created an infographic of the ten most expensive pieces of art of all time. (Full-size here.) (The title, Not-So-Starving Artists, is deceiving because it's hard to starve if you're all dead. The real lucre goes to Christie's and Sotheby's, the two major auction houses.)

Obviously, the graph is a schematic, but here's the actual works, if you're curious to learn more:

Walking Man I by Alberto Giacommeti--$104.3 millionBoy with a Pipe by Pablo Picasso--$104.1 millionDora Maar with Cat by Pablo Picasso--$95.2 millionAdele Bloch Bauer II by Gustav Klimt--$88 million Triptych, 1976 by Francis Bacon--$86.3 millionPortrait du Dr Gachet by Vincent van Gogh--$82.5 millionWater Lily Pond by Claude Monet--$80.4 millionLe Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir--$78.1 million Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens--$75.9 millionWhite Center (Yellow, Pink, and Lavender on Rose) by Mark Rothko--$72.8 million

A couple notes about the list--If you adjusted for inflation, Portrait du Dr Gachet by Van Gogh would be the most expensive, at over $134 million in today's dollars. Meanwhile, the most meteoric appreciate would have to go to Francis Bacon, who died in 1992 and whose Triptych was painted in 1976--at the peak of his career. Meanwhile, what's always boggled our minds is that these prices don't even reflect what might be the most valuable piece of art in existence--Part of the reason these pieces command so much money is that there's very few important works by major artists that aren't owned by museums. If New York's Museum of Modern Art or Paris Louvre sold even one of their most prized paintings---such as Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh or Leonardo's Mona Lisa--who knows what price they'd command.

[Via GOOD]

Cliff Kuang

Have you been to Times Square lately? You may have seen this Best Buy billboard. At first glance, it looks like just another billboard made out of funky bric-a-brac, but look a bit closer and you'll notice that it's made out of old electronics, including VHS players, bulky computer monitors, and all sorts of other outdated products.

The ultra-clever billboard advertises Best Buy's recycling program, which accepts broken, obsolete, and old electronics from from any store or manufacturer. It's not always easy to figure out where to recycle e-waste, so we have to commend Best Buy for advertising its program in such a public venue. Hopefully it will help prevent a sizeable portion of old cell phones, TVs, and DVD players from ending up in landfills.

[Via Gizmodo]

Ariel Schwartz16959016151407188684148431942571623359091759343679949145142313956241972508044711

Opera has just announced its intentions to deliver Opera Mini for the iPhone, and will unveil the browser at Mobile World Congress on February 15th in Barcelona.

Promising to be “fast, easy to use, and packed with favorite Opera features”, the browser will reportedly come with tabs and Speed Dial.

Jon von Tetzchner, Opera’s Co-founder said, “We have not submitted it yet to the Apple App Store. However, we hope that Apple will not deny their users a choice in Web browsing experience,” said Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera.

For a long time, Apple denied browser competitors the opportunity to run on its celebrated iPhone claiming it duplicated standard iPhone functionality. For one reason or another, Apple reversed their decision and most recently, the company approved a new iPhone browser called Mercury, described as “the best replacement for Safari”.

With Apple’s change in policy, it shouldn’t be long before we see the likes of Firefox and Chrome on the iPhone, although no plans have been announced.

Google just launched Google Buzz, the company's new social networking service which will be tightly integrated with Gmail. There can be little doubt that Google Buzz looks a lot like FriendFeed, the social aggregation service that was acquired by Facebook in August 2009. Today, FriendFeed's developers are Facebook employees and aren't likely to continue to improve the service in any meaningful way, while the active user community on FriendFeed continues to shrink rapidly. Given the similarities between the two services, we can't help but wonder if Google Buzz will be able to succeed where FriendFeed couldn't.

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ReadWriteWeb's full coverage and analysis of Google Buzz:

As Louis Gray points out, Google Buzz validates FriendFeed's ideas, but it also marginalizes the service even more. While some will look at Buzz as a Facebook/Twitter competitor, it also represents the final nail in FriendFeed's coffin. We will surely see a lot of FriendFeed's features appear on Facebook in the future, but FriendFeed as a stand-alone service has now lost its relevancy before it ever got a chance to go mainstream.

The real question, though, is whether Google Buzz will be able to succeed where FriendFeed couldn't. FriendFeed never made it out of the early-adopter phase and slowly became a self-referential community that was never quite accessible enough for a larger audience.

Looks Familiar?

If you are not familiar with FriendFeed, just have a look at these two screenshots:

Google's Advantage: Lifting FriendFeed's Best Ideas and a Huge Built-In User Base

Google Buzz has a number of advantages over FriendFeed. While FriendFeed tried to attract early adopters and mostly catered to their tastes, Buzz has a built-in audience already. While FriendFeed had to work hard on building a thriving community and never managed to attract a large mainstream audience, Gmail is one of the world's most popular email services and thanks to this, Buzz has millions of potential users from day one.

Also, while FriendFeed tried to allow users to connect to as many social services as possible, Google Buzz is just starting out with a few core Google and third-party services for now (Flickr, Picasa, Google Reader and Twitter). This will make it far more accessible than FriendFeed ever was.

Google is also putting a lot of emphasis on location-based and mobile services here, which is something FriendFeed never did. FriendFeed, for example, never offered a mobile app, while mobile apps and sites are one of the areas where Google is focusing on with Buzz.

The Buzz team has also been able to lift some of the best ideas from FriendFeed. You can "like" items, comment on them, you can see who liked a post (which looks identical to FriendFeed's implementation of this feature) and Buzz will recommend items that it thinks will be interesting to you because your friends also liked them or commented on them.

What do you Think?

Do you think Buzz's built-in mainstream user base help it to succeed where FriendFeed failed?

Discuss

Frederic Lardinois014983325755080920811450853531464968052914439408737887602271050628756670896145830014431596836473946410324131028023264885

While successful technology entrepreneurs like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs founded their respective companies after dropping out of college, research universities have still succeeded in fostering their own innovative technologies. Currently, however, when a professor or student develops a particularly extraordinary idea or product, the process of spinning-off the intellectual property into its own company is usually a slow and expensive process. David B. Lerner, an entrepreneur, angel investor and director of Columbia University's Venture Lab/Spin-Off program, recently proposed that universities work to reverse this trend and better facilitate startup spin-offs.

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Some schools, like the ones we recently profiled in our list of the best entrepreneurial college programs, are doing a great job of facilitating entrepreneurship on the educational level. But as Lerner points out in his blog post Why and How Universities Should Embrace Startup Culture, most schools could benefit from revamping their spin-off practices.

"If universities wish to continue to be in the business of spinning-out game-changing companies such as Google, Netscape, Genentech, Lycos, Sun Microsystems and Cisco, they must be willing to steadily embrace the startup culture through these dedicated programs," writes Lerner on his blog.

This "startup culture" Lerner references contrasts the "transactional/legal culture" which most universities are currently stuck in, making the spin-off process painful and unattractive. Lerner points to a post by fellow entrepreneur and investor Chris Dixon who writes that the Silicon Valley startup scene has become increasingly based on trust and community as opposed to the legalities and formalities universities are mired in.

Changing the culture of university tech innovation is just one of the suggestions Lerner proposes. He adds that schools should follow in the footsteps of Columbia University and create a venture lab headed by an experienced entrepreneur and investor. Along with simplifying and streamlining the spin-off process, Lerner suggests universities place a vested interest in the success of the IP that it creates.

"As an equity partner in various startups, the University must treat its portfolio as partners, not simply as licensees," writes Lerner. "This implies working with its partners to facilitate success and to back-end its compensation and up-side as much as possible."

Essentially, colleges across the nation could become their very own startup incubators. These schools should be doing everything in their power to help researchers in scientific labs uncovering new technologies or entrepreneurial go-getters in business schools to get their ideas off the ground. If their spin-off processes remain too arduous, the talented and brilliant innovators will continue to find resources outside of the university for seed funding and assistance.

As author Thomas Friedman recently wrote, the national economy would benefit from a ground surge of innovation and entrepreneurship, and universities could certainly benefit from helping lead that charge.

Photo by Flickr user Pink Sherbet Photography.

Discuss

Chris Cameron1308418654607657514503636121362898245045

Venezuelans have been taking to Twitter to protest threats to journalism and freedom of expression, leading the hashtag #freevenezuela to become one of the largest trending Twitter topics this week.

President Hugo Chávez has responded to the outpouring of messages — many of which call for his resignation along with expanded freedom of the press — by asking the National Assembly to start preparing legislation that would regulate the Internet.

Similar to what we saw happening in Mexico this week, government officials in Venezuela are perceiving social networks such as Twitter to be a threat to the state. Chávez has apparently even gone as far as indicating that Twitter could be considered a “tool of terror,” and National Assembly deputies were quick to leap to the charge of “eliminating terrorist threats posed by social networks.”

We suspect this won’t be the last case we hear about governments feeling threatened by Twitter and other popular social networks. What do you think: Will Venezuela succeed in regulating networks like Twitter?

[awesome img credit: Semana.com]

[via Boing Boing]

Reviews: Twitter

Tags: government, Hugo Chavez, protests, regulation, social media, terrorism, trending, twitter, Venezuela

The era of location-as-platform for software development is just beginning. No longer of interest only to uber-geeks, everyday people are now reporting their physical locations online, often through their phones. Geolocation services are hot and ever more prominent ones (like Facebook) are believed to be right around the corner.

This is a very exciting development for lovers of innovation. Today we asked some of our favorite web-heads why they are excited about geolocation and below you'll find their answers. We hope you'll share with us what you too, dear readers, think of this hot new trend online.

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We'll start with three short responses from software developers, in order to put things in some technical context. Then we'll move on to what it all means, with thoughts from writer and renaissance man Dean McCall, Warner Bros. music geek Ethan Kaplan, groundbreaking Georgia school teacher Vicki Davis and Baratunde Thurston, comic, pundit and web editor at The Onion.

For Software Developers

John Musser, ProgrammableWeb
Nearly everything in our lives has a geo component - so it's a universally useful service. Geolocation + mobile devices + open APIs give developers the tools to create entirely new classes of apps, and at the same time can make existing apps smarter and richer.

Raven Zachary, Small Society
Relevancy. The advances in mobile technology and wireless networks have finally allowed us to make use of location services in a way that fits into our existing lifestyle. We've been talking about the possibilities of location services for decades, and we have the infrastructure now to make these exciting services a reality.

Kevin Marshall, Hive Mind
If I know 5 people that love coffee - I would love to see what's the place they all frequent the most. This sort of data just isn't available right now...but hopefully it's on its way.

Alex Iskold, GetGlue
The previous generation of application pushed its context onto the user. Today, we are moving in the opposite direction where apps appear in context. This innovation started on the web, with the rise of contextual apps based on user's context and now is rapidly moving into Geolocation.

For Poets

Dean McCall, Idea Finishing School
For me its about pre-deterministic behavior: the idea that a location has a story about itself appeals to me. It allows me to make more informed decisions, to connect to new people and tell a better story about the world I am in.

It's still to be determined how our conversations about locations will evolve as well as our conversations with one another...more transparency is my hope.

For Music

Ethan Kaplan, Warner Brothers Records
Geolocation is super important to us because the best experiences with music are predicated on being proximal to it in its raw form [live performances].

Being sensitive and reactive to user location is the easiest way to bring the band closer -- physically, metaphorically and figuratively -- to the fan.

For Education

Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher
Well, here is the thing with Geolocation - it is outdoors. So, it brings in the nature learner by taking them outside - also the bodily kinesthetic learner. There is a book called Last Child in the Woods whose thesis is that we've pulled kids out of nature and actually calls it "nature deficit disorder." As a "farm girl" I'm a big believer in taking kids outside to learn if possible. So, using geolocation opens that up as well as the possibility of using things like Scvngr to do campus tours.

The only thing to remember is that we also have to begin making objects intelligent so that when they cannot get GPS coordinates (like inside) that they can gain information about objects (like on a field trip).

We need to make our world mashable. This whole concept of hardlinking extends to GPS and Geolocation. So, this is the next major growth of the Internet as the Internet becomes a hardlinked network which incorporates the objects and locations in our daily life. And we have to empower students with handhelds that have these capabilities and are incorporating an excellent curriculum. Most publishers aren't thinking this way, but need to. This is the great thing about having open educational resources - we can all build on our piece of it.

For Comedy

Baratunde Thurston, Web Editor at The Onion
Geo-location will offer another tool for the forces of Good in the great battle between effective filters and information overload. While social media helps me find value based on trusted sources, geo-location will go a step further by narrowing my choices to what's nearby. For all its ability to build connections, the Internet has in some ways disconnected me from my locale. I'm a "national" or even "global" citizen and I look forward to once again being where I am. The creative opportunities are also fun. I've left a bunch of easter egg "tips" in Foursquare and have a bunch more hijinks planned. Geo-targeted comedy is the future.

That's what some of our friends have to say about this trend, how about you? This is going to be a big topic in the near-term future, so let's start talking about what we'd like to see from geolocation services.

If you're excited about this trend like we are, check out specialist blogs like LocationMeme and CheckinBlog, too.

Finally, watch this space: location is the topic for one of our next research reports and for our next public in-person event. These are exciting times to know where you are and to have software that can do something with that information!

Titile image: Earth Chicken by Flickr user HikingArtist.com

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Facebook is revamping their messaging system into a full-fledged email client, according to tech news site TechCrunch. We can't imagine ditching our beloved Gmail accounts for Facebook's alternative anytime soon (at least not without some serious innovation from Facebook), but for those true Facebook nuts, it could be a viable email alternative. [TechCrunch]

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Well this is awkward.

A UK company has launched a range of Windows or Linux-based tablets and branded it the iTablet. A screenshot can be found to the right, and while it’s hardly likely to have Jobs knees wobbling, it doesn’t look all that bad.

Due to start shipping in April 2010, it runs Windows 7 and is powered by a 1.6GHz Intel processor. It’s available in two sizes, of 10.2 and 12.1-inches (both 35mm thick, which sounds horrendously thick, given the iPad is 13.4mm deep), and each model contains 250GB of internal storage, a 3G chip, flash and Bluetooth.

The iTablet range is due to be available in a range of solid and metallic colours including white, grey, pink, blue, red, yellow and black. Pricing has yet to be released.

So it’s got flash and a shoddy camera, still more features than the iPad but less is more, right?And branding wise, is this ridiculous or a genius approach to getting free press? Oh and how long before manufacturers X2 is sued?

Source: Pocket Lint

Apple has posted a note to iPhone developers that sounds suspiciously like a warning against including location-based advertising in a mobile app.

The specific text reads: “If you build your application with features based on a user’s location, make sure these features provide beneficial information. If your app uses location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user’s location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the App Store.”

Developers began noticing the “App Store Tip” and suggesting the underlying message is that Apple wants to reserve location-based ads for themselves to either utilize or control. Other outlets picked it up, largely agreeing with that analysis.

We do know Apple acquired mobile ad network Quattro Wireless, ostensibly to make a concerted push in this space, which stands to become extremely hot over the next few years. We don’t yet know what their exact plans are, but this developer-facing post certainly seems to hint at Apple’s intent to heavily mediate how location-based advertising will be handled on apps for the iPhone. For now, developers should brace themselves for rejection if a submitted app contains a hook that “primarily” enables local ads.

What do you think: is the developer tip an early warning sign about Apple’s own mobile advertising foray, or is there an alternative explanation for alerting developers about local ads?

[via ReadWriteWeb and Gizmodo]

Tags: -local, advertising, apple, iphone, iphone apps, location, location based advertising, Mobile 2.0

Location sharing social network Foursquare saw traffic to its site triple in the last two months since November, according to new numbers from traffic analyst firm Hitwise today. The service has seen unprecedented media coverage lately and is no doubt sending more updates to Facebook and Twitter, prompting the growth in visits back to Foursquare that Hitwise is measuring.

Foursquare announced a fascinating deal with Canadian newspaper chain Metro late last month that would deliver local editorial content to users depending on the locations they check-in from. We called that deal a sign that the era of location-as-platform has arrived.

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Where was all this traffic to Foursquare coming from? Hitwise's Matt Tatham told us it broke down like this last month:

1. Google sent 24% of this traffic and it's navigational not SEO. Most of this is probably from people who saw media coverage and Googled for the company's name.


2. Twitter 21%


3. Facebook 19%

Founder Dennis Crowley confirmed our assessment of the situation and said that the growth had been steady over time. "Usage growth looks more like a vert ramp than a hockey stick," he told us by email. Crowley was one of the founders of a location-based service called Dodgeball that was bought and then squandered by Google. This next attempt at the emerging world of location has been backed by a remarkable list of investors, including Twitter's Jack Dorsey, Digg's Kevin Rose, Delicious inventor Joshua Schachter, Ron Conway, Union Square Ventures and O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures.

Foursquare is just one of many location-based social networks available but it's clearly growing fast. The service gives each user a user ID that's visible in their profile URL. A newly created test account we just set up was #354,317. If that's a roughly accurate estimate of the service's numbers, then Foursquare has doubled in registered users since mid-December.

Business review site Yelp came out with its version of mobile check-ins last month as well. Many people presume it's only a matter of time until Facebook moves into the location space, which will seriously shake that market up. Yahoo this week had a patent published for geo-located, social Augmented Reality. Location is hot.

We've got high hopes for a world of awesomeness built on top of platforms like these and Twitter's new location API, though adoption of that data has been surprisingly slow in uptake.

Why is location as a platform so exciting? Because it can be mashed up with other information. Among people hanging out at this coffee shop, what news stories are being read and shared the most today? (And who discovered those stories first?) You check-in at the local park a lot, would you like to read or perhaps contribute to the Wikipedia entry on it? These are the kinds of things that will become possible.

In the short term, it's just plain fun to check in on the internet from your favorite locations around town. "Where are you?" could become the new "what's on your mind?"

Watch this space for our forthcoming research report on mobile geolocation and our next public event, on trends in mobile development.

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"The hologram of a DNA spiral that I'm holding in my hand," your professor might say, "can be turned, twisted or expanded at-will and everyone on this video call will be able to see me do it." Is that the distant future of education, sales and casual communication online? Not if Augmented Reality company Zugara has its way.

The company announced today that it is working on fast and easy shared webcam Augmented Reality and its first prototype is already available.

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Though hundreds or thousands of Augmented Reality products hit the market last year and a handful have been widely seen - many people still doubt the utility of this technology. Zugara's approach seems to be one of the most clearly useful. If the company can pull-off making this kind of service fast, cheap and easy - we might find it in use in many different sectors. The webcam social shopper technology you see in the video is available now as a B2B service for apparel and shopping company partners.

Some AR proponents believe that in addition to the web browser and the mobile browser, the ability to view and interact with information placed on top of the world around us represents an important way that the internet will be interacted with in the future.

It's exciting to look forward to a web that lives between our eyes and the physical world. The AR industry faces challenges but it's one we're watching closely.

Do you work in the AR industry? If so, please take our survey about the way the industry really works. Watch this space for our next premium research report, on the use of AR in marketing.

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