There’s just one problem with the last feature: Upgrading to Google’s new version of Hangouts denigrates another of Google’s nifty services, Google Voice. After the upgrade, you’ll no longer be able to make outbound Google Voice calls from the Web or via the Chrome extension (obviously a pretty important feature in a phone service).

The good news: That handicap seems to be only temporary.

“Hangouts is designed to be the future of Google Voice, and making/receiving phone calls is just the beginning,” Nikhyl Singhal of Google wrote in a blog post on Monday morning. “Future versions of Hangouts will integrate Google Voice more seamlessly.”

So for Google Voice loyalists, at some point in the future, one service won’t come at the cost of the other. That’s a very good thing; Google’s new Hangouts product, frankly, is pretty great. It unifies chat across Gmail, Google+ and your phone, and includes video-calling options. To add Google Voice functionality in the future would make it a pretty killer app.

The bad news: We don’t know just how temporary this handicap is. So if you’re a regular Google Voice user, you’ll have to choose between either upgrading to the new version of Hangouts or hanging on to your Google Voice functionality and waiting for Google to make both products work in the future.

No timeline from Google on the upgraded integration between the products. For the sake of Voice loyalists, let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later.

Pretty straightforward stuff: You’re able to chat with friends through five different types of Google properties — Gmail, Google+, iOS and Android devices, and the Chrome browser.

Much like Facebook, WhatsApp, Path and the many, many other messaging services available today, you’re able to send cutesy emoji smiley-face icons and photos, save your entire chat history between devices based on one (or more) people, and make video calls.

It’s a logical progression for Google — whose Gmail and Chrome properties have massive reach around the world — and, frankly, it should have happened some time ago. Since Facebook revamped Messages three years ago, the social giant has threaded email, chat and texting into one unified history, and has recently added emojis, as well.

It would have been interesting to see how WhatsApp could have been integrated if Google had bought the massive messaging service, which Google tried to do months ago. Alas, Google thinks it has reach enough across its browser and email marketshare, competing messaging app or not.

Expect the new Hangouts system to roll out soon.

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Because I get bored on Sunday nights, I opened up Yahoo’s recent regulatory filings for some light reading and, as usual, found some tasty information that the company had kindly dropped in for my erudition, but declined to call my attention to.

Namely, that the Silicon Valley Internet giant is paying not so very much for its mobile acquisitions, according to several documents the company has filed.

In fact, Yahoo’s average price paid for each of five of the 10 startups it has purchased since last fall is a tiny $3.2 million in cash.

For example, here’s last week’s 10-Q referring to three of CEO Marissa Mayer’s first acquisitions — content curation app Snip.it, which Yahoo bought in January (funding amount unknown, but the $10 million acquisition price reported by some sites is clearly wrong, as you will see from the filing); recommendation app Alike (funding amount unknown), which was on February’s menu; and recommendation app Jybe (funding amount unknown), which the company picked up in mid-March:

The Company did not make any acquisitions during the three months ended March 31, 2012. However, during the three months ended March 31, 2013, the Company acquired three companies, all of which were accounted for as business combinations. The total purchase price for these acquisitions was $10 million and consisted entirely of cash consideration, primarily allocated to goodwill. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets acquired and is not deductible for tax purposes.

The Company’s business combinations completed during the three months ended March 31, 2013 did not have a material impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.

Going back further, Yahoo’s purchase of recommendation app Stamped last October (it had $3 million in funding) and video-chat app OnTheAir ($880,000 in funding) in December were also on the cheap — a bargain at $6 million total — according to its 10-K filed a few months ago:

During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company acquired two companies, which were accounted for as business combinations. The total purchase price for these acquisitions was $7 million. The total cash consideration of $7 million less cash acquired of $1 million resulted in a net cash outlay of $6 million. Of the total purchase price, $6 million was allocated to goodwill and $1 million to cash acquired. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets acquired and is not deductible for tax purposes.

The Company’s business combinations completed in 2012 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, and therefore pro forma disclosures have not been presented.

It will be interesting to see what Yahoo reveals as to the price, and how it will account for the late March acquisition of Britain’s news reader Summly, which AllThingsD reported was a loftier $30 million.

The Summly deal did not appear to have closed by the end of the quarter, so no purchase information has been released, although it will be soon enough, along with that of the more recent string of mobile buys by Yahoo: To-do app Astrid, social polling app GoPollGo, travel rewards app MileWise and mobile gaming studio Loki.

For those four tiny companies, which were doubtlessly also bought for very little, Yahoo did tout what it’s really after in a festive tweet on Friday.

Warm entrepreneurial bodies:

We recently added 22 entrepreneurs to our growing mobile team. Welcome to Yahoo! @astrid @gopollgo @milewise @lokistudios!

— Yahoo! Inc.(@YahooInc) May 10, 2013

Wiseman joined the company in 2007, straight out of Stanford’s computer science program and following in the footsteps of a number of his classmates who joined the social giant in 2006. Working at Facebook was his first full-time professional gig, having previously held only internships at tech companies like Apple and Pixar.

While Wiseman, a classic “under-the-radar” type, hasn’t surfaced much at public-facing company events or in the press, he has played a role in launching some of Facebook’s pivotal products over the six years he worked there.

He was the engineering manager on about a dozen projects, including Photos, Video, Groups, Pages, Chat, Privacy and Profile improvements. He led engineering for Timeline last year, and was one of the first engineers to work on Facebook Chat, now seen as one of Facebook’s biggest priorities for the future of the company.

“I love Facebook and am still very excited about it,” Wiseman said in an interview. “But I’ve sort of developed a desire to work on a more tangible social problem — like the health care industry — that I don’t think Facebook necessarily plans to tackle in the near term.”

In the meantime, Wiseman will join Social+Capital as an engineer in residence, meeting different companies and figuring out exactly what he wants to do next. His last day at Facebook was Friday, and he begins his new gig tomorrow.

Longtime digital exec Jeff Berman is joining Hollywood production company BermanBraun as its first president.

Berman — who is no relation to BermanBraun co-founder Gail Berman — comes to the firm from the National Football League where he has been in charge of its Web, mobile, social and non-console gaming efforts. While there, he worked on several new initiatives, such as its multi-party video chat for Fantasy Football.

Several years before that, he was a top exec at social networking site Myspace, finally ending up as president of sales and marketing, where he was in charge of branded advertising, sales operations, entertainment, content and marketing. Efforts there by Berman included the now defunct Web-only series “Quarterlife,” which also had a very short life on a major network.

The Yale Law School grad was also on the board of Buddy Media, which was sold to Salesforce.com last year.

He’s an interesting person, then, for BermanBraun, which focuses on content across multiple screens, including big branded Web sites such as Wonderwall for Microsoft’s MSN and also more traditional entertainment shows. Its juicy-looking television series “Deception,” for example, is set to appear on NBC this week. It now has about 130 employees, mostly working at its Santa Monica, Calif., HQ.

“We needed an exceptional leader to manage the company,” said BermanBraun co-founder Lloyd Braun, who was once a top media exec at Yahoo. “And Jeff is someone who has skillsets in a whole bunch of areas and an emotional intelligence that is as important to what we do.”

Braun said Berman would initially focus on his area of expertise — digital — but that he would become more involved in the television and movie arenas over time.

BermanBraun — which considered raising funding last year — is at an interesting juncture in its development, trying to form a new kind of independent Hollywood media company that straddles analog and digital.

Berman said he was attracted to the opportunity there.

“I had a great job, since there is nothing bigger than the NFL,” he said in an interview yesterday. “But Lloyd and Gail have an incredible vision across platforms for entertainment.”

He added that content was just at the beginning of development online, but was finally poised to explode with the popularity of tablets, smartphones, interactive TV and other such devices, as well as social and e-commerce tools.

“The mind reels, there is so much that has happened and can happen,” said Berman. “I don’t know if there is a better time to be at such a place to create these new franchises — [BermanBraun] is a laboratory, where stuff is actually working.”

The South Korean company is the world’s top producer of smartphones, memory chips and televisions, and version 2.0 of the “ChatON” smartphone application is its latest effort to beef up its software and app capabilities.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

One such product is telyHD, which hit the market in January and enables HD video chatting, via Skype, on television sets. It has a wide-angle lens that captures more of the space around you, making it ideal for group chats.

Now Tely Labs, the company that makes the product, is updating its software to include a full Web browser, and to work with Apple’s AirPlay for basic media sharing. It will also allow a user to control the telyHD with his or her smartphone, instead of a cumbersome remote control.

TelyHD users will be able to wirelessly share photos to their TVs by going into the camera roll on a Wi-Fi-connected iPhone or iPad, tapping AirPlay (provided an Airplay-compatible device is nearby) and selecting the telyHD as the destination. Previously, users could share media with other telyHD users by inserting a memory card into the back of the device and uploading it through chat.

And they can also ditch the remote: Tely’s new SmartRemote app for iOS and Android devices allows users to control the telyHD, search for Skype contacts and Web content, and start and end calls, all from their smartphones.

The new Web browser, which is accessible through the Menu option on the telyHD standard remote, works with both a USB-connected keyboard and mouse and the SmartRemote app.

AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg gave the telyHD a full review in January of this year; he recommended the device for video chatting, but noted that its remote control left room for improvement. TelyLabs introduced a new, seven-button remote about a month ago that current customers could get for free in exchange for the old remote.

The upside of a product like the telyHD, compared to other videoconference systems for the home, is that, at $250, it’s relatively inexpensive. There’s no additional monthly fee for video chatting.

The downsides? While the software update, called the Entertainment Suite, is free for the first 30 days, it costs $49 after the trial period ends. Also, while the new telyHD wirelessly sends pictures from a mobile device to the TV, it won’t share video or audio content across devices. And it doesn’t offer content-specific apps, the way some set-top boxes do.

TelyLabs also said earlier this year that a second, more expensive telyHD for business users was in the works, but has declined to say exactly when that product is expected to hit the market.

But in many ways, the two cultures don’t jibe: One likes Mario and Luigi, the other thrives on machine guns and grenade launchers.

In an interview with AllThingsD, Nintendo President Saturo Iwata provided a glimpse of how he plans to balance the two — something he said he considers key to the Wii U’s success.

While there will be a steep learning curve when it comes to marketing to the two demographics, there’s some very basic logistical issues, too. For starters, Iwata said, Nintendo will have to be vigilant when it comes to monitoring and filtering content that is posted to its online gaming community, dubbed Miiverse.

Additionally, he said, while all third-party software developers will be free to create whatever games they want to, Nintendo has no plans to change its well-known and beloved style of game play. In other words, this means making first-party titles like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda or Wii Sports, which officially carry the “everyone” videogame rating.

“Even Zelda is going to be introduced to the Wii U system,” Iwata said. “I just can’t imagine in the game that someone’s head is going to be shot.”

Maybe not in Zelda, but you see it in plenty of other games, including Zombi U, an Ubisoft title coming exclusively to the Wii U. (See photo on the right!)

“Of course, legally we have to abide by the rules and regulations, but at the same time, even after doing so — even if one out of 100 is going to behave badly — that person alone can destroy the entire community,” Iwata said through a translator.

That means closely monitoring activity in the Miiverse, where avatars walk around a virtual “plaza.” Game players will be able to post their thoughts in “speech bubbles” that appear over their heads with text or drawings — sort of like a status update on Twitter or Facebook.

Iwata said those messages won’t appear in real time, so the service will have time to “filter” out any inappropriate content. ”We know that we have to be prepared to spend a sufficient amount of money and human resources to establish the system to try to eliminate those kind of bad behaviors,” he said.

The situation becomes more complicated in real-time environments, where players chat with one another using a microphone or Web cam.

With Xbox and PlayStation, the chat channels are often inundated with trash-talking and swear words among players who are competing in multiplayer mode.

Iwata has said he envisions a community on the Wii U which encourages empathy for other players.

In a follow-up interview, Scott Moffitt, Nintendo’s EVP of Sales and Marketing, said that there’s mature-rated content on the Wii today, so the Wii U will be no different.

“It is up to the family member to set the parental controls in their household,” he said, adding that each console will be able to support up to 12 password-protected accounts.

Moffitt also said that users will only be able to chat with people they are already friends with; he declined to provide specifics on how those introductions would first be made.

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Much like a Google search, Club Penguin’s new chat box allows kids to use predictive text to type in a message.

As shown in the screenshot, words appear as the user begins typing — in much the same way that Google tries to predict what you are searching for. But unlike Google, there’s a limited number of phrases kids are allowed to use, in compliance with Internet regulations concerning young children.

This is the first major change Club Penguin has made to its chat in six years, and Lane Merrifield, co-founder of Club Penguin and now EVP of Disney Online Studios, acknowledged that it’s a pretty obvious way to do it.

That’s because filtering, in particular, is really complicated, Merrifield said. Club Penguin has a team of 200 to 300 workers in seven countries which constantly monitors discussions and kicks out any kids who misbehave.

With this new system, Club Penguin has examined years of chat logs to discover how kids communicate and to learn what phrases they use on a regular basis. The predictive engine will have 300,000 phrases to start, and will support English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

For instance, a kid may type in “Want to go to the … ” and the engine will suggest “dock, lighthouse, nightclub or beach.”

By using predictive text, kids who may not know how to type or even spell can communicate much quicker. The game’s core demographic is between the ages of 7 and 11; typing proficiency often doesn’t accelerate until the age of 10.

Using the old Club Penguin system, kids would type in a phrase, which then would have to be approved. Spelling errors could cause a completely innocent phrase to be rejected.

Chat has become one of the most popular features in Club Penguin, with kids exchanging more than 56 million chat messages a day.

In all, 150 million accounts have been created on Club Penguin, and more than 21,000 kids log in daily.

Along with the new chat system, Club Penguin is making a few other social changes.

It will now be easier to locate friends by adding them to a friend list. Previously, kids were spread out across 150 servers in order to properly balance the load of users. Now they can find friends and jump to their locations more easily.

Improved communications, along with better Web browsing and more powerful apps, were the key focal points as the company looked to make the first major update to its revamped phone software.

On Tuesday, the company is announcing a host of new communications options that are among 500 new features that Microsoft is adding to its phone operating system in the “Mango” update due out later this year. The company is outlining the changes and sharing other details at a press event in New York that is just getting underway. (It’s being Webcast and AllThingsD has live coverage here).

As part of its effort to be a better communicator, Microsoft is adding support for Twitter as well as tighter integration with Facebook and an integrated conversation feature that allows chats to move between Facebook Chat, Windows Live Messenger and text message all within a single “thread.” The company is also adding an option to let users combine contacts into various groups that can be reached en masse via email or text message. On the email side, customers will now have the option to combine views from various email accounts into a single inbox as well as view messages in either standard or conversation view.

While apps are important, Microsoft is hoping to convince friends that when it comes to keeping in touch, it is better to integrate multiple modes into a single hub than to have to open a different program for each means of communication.

“Our friends aren’t apps—they are people,” Sullivan said.

That said, even with Mango, users will have to do some switching. The feature that lets discussions move from chat to text message doesn’t extend to email, while Twitter users will still need a separate program to handle more advanced tasks.

Still, Microsoft hopes integrating more options into its People hub will help the company’s products stand out from rivals. Sullivan noted that Microsoft’s research shows people spend 2.5 hours a day socializing on their phone–more time than is spent eating. “It’s pretty dramatic,” he said.

The Mango release of Windows Phone is due to show up on phones later this year. In addition to current hardware partners that are planning new phones, Mango will work on existing Windows Phone devices and will form the basis for Nokia’s first crop of Microsoft-powered phones.

Last night, BoomTown attended a Silicon Valley book party for Amy Chua, the author of one of this year’s most talked-about tomes: “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.”

Online chatter about it–or, more specifically, an essay Chua wrote in The Wall Street Journal related to the book, titled “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”–quickly rocketed around the Web and mostly not in a good way for Chua.

In chat forums, on Twitter, on Facebook and all over the blogosphere, she was pilloried for her words about raising her children, which included:

Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:

• attend a sleepover

• have a playdate

• be in a school play

• complain about not being in a school play

• watch TV or play computer games

• choose their own extracurricular activities

• get any grade less than an A

• not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama

• play any instrument other than the piano or violin

• not play the piano or violin.

As it turns out, even though it surely sold a lot of books, Chua said the badly-titled essay and the ensuing heated debate on the Internet misconstrued and twisted what was meant to be a much more funny and complex memoir about parenting.

Here is an interview with Chua talking about her online experience and book’s heated reception:

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110315/grrrrr-tiger-mom-talks-about-internet-frenzy-around-book/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110228/video-nings-andreessen-and-rosenthal-talk-about-new-social-chat-service-mogwee/ http://allthingsd.com/20110228/video-nings-andreessen-and-rosenthal-talk-about-new-social-chat-service-mogwee/#comments Tue, 01 Mar 2011 02:56:21 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=41116

Yes, it’s actually called Mogwee, which was the codename for the new mobile social communications service being launched tonight by Ning, the high-profile social networking platform co-founded by Silicon Valley icon and investor Marc Andreessen.

Part Twitter, part SMS, part Path and any number of such social start-ups, Mogwee actually stands for “more great weekends,” said CEO Jason Rosenthal, who has been focusing Ning on premium offerings.

BoomTown interviewed Rosenthal and Andreessen–who is also chairman of Ning–at an overpriced tea salon in San Francisco last week about the latest entrant into the crowded socializing of smartphones market.

The Mogwee app was approved today for the Apple iPhone and iPad. The Google Android version is coming in about a week and the one for Research in Motion’s BlackBerry is to come after that.

Also on deck: Integration with big social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Currently, the only way to bring in friends is via your cell phone’s address book.

Once loaded, you can use Mogwee to chat live, share photos, play games, make analog plans and–horrors–throw sheep.

As you can see from the video and screenshots below, a user creates any series of “Hangouts”–such as a whiskey one by Andreessen–for real-time groups or one-to-one chat.

Here is the video interview I did, as well as a look at the service (click on the images to make them larger) and a blog post Rosenthal did about Mogwee:

I’d like you to meet Mogwee.

In January I talked to you about the custom social revolution that is fueling our business as more and more customers come to us to create powerful, custom social websites for their group, band, cause, classroom or business. Since then we launched the Ning Design Studio, major enhancements to the Ning Engagement System, and are in beta with our next killer feature, Paid Access. We have more on the way as Jonathan shared in his recent road map post, and I can’t wait to see Ning help even more customers bring their websites and brands into the social age.

With our road map in place, our business growing and the team humming–I spent some time last fall working with Diego, our CTO and Marc, our Chairman, to think about the next major area for Ning to tackle. We have this awesome team, a deep bench of talent, and 5 years of experience in group and social dynamics. We also knew that with the advances in smart phones mobile was going to be a critical part of the next break through services.

Enter Mogwee–with a very small team (just 2 at first) we began work on a new product–it would be both mobile and social at its core–not an adaptation of an old service for mobile. It would also rethink the modes in which we communicate for the modern age–a native app with chat as the backbone, real time and asynchronous sharing, additional mobile services built in–and it would be fun. A fun, consumer social product, that would be great for anyone to use!

I’ve been asked a few times–how does this relate to Ning? I believe that innovation (not the word, the act) is critical to making Ning a great company, not just building one great product, but a host of amazing new products for the future. Is Apple just the iPod? Google just Search? HP just a printer? We need to be pushing into new businesses that make sense and relate to our “social” DNA. We have an extremely talented engineering team–giving them new challenges and the freedom to invent makes Ning a better company and one that attracts and retains amazing people who want to do amazing things.

After several months of preparing we take Mogwee on its maiden voyage, launching today in Apple’s App Store, and very quickly after for Android and the web, we’re feeling excited, and for the 6 people now working on Mogwee–pretty tired.

Mogwee is a new social communication service that brings together all of the things you love to do with your friends and family on your phone. From chatting live and sharing photos, to planning a night out or playing a game, with a single tap, Mogwee gives you instant access to everything that makes life fun. I can’t wait for you to give Mogwee a try!

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110228/video-nings-andreessen-and-rosenthal-talk-about-new-social-chat-service-mogwee/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20110222/exclusive-apple-ipad-2-event-set-for-march-2/ http://allthingsd.com/20110222/exclusive-apple-ipad-2-event-set-for-march-2/#comments Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:00:15 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=40948

To those who care intensely about this kind of stuff–which would be pretty much everyone in the tech ecosystem–Apple will hold its much-anticipated event on March 2, where the tech giant seems poised to unveil a new version of its hugely successful iPad, according to multiple sources.

As in, iPad 2! Or, as BoomTown is now officially nicknaming it: iPad Too!

Analysts expect the iPad 2 to be thinner than its predecessor and feature an improved display, as well as front-facing camera and Facetime video chat support. And some reports suggest it will be powered by one of Qualcomm’s multimode chips and will run on both GSM and CDMA-based networks around the world.

In its last earnings calls, Apple said it had sold nearly 15 million iPads, since it went on sale last spring.

This is a very big deal, although Apple will be facing increased competition with the launch of a passel of tablets coming from numerous manufacturers, most of which are using the Honeycomb version of Google’s Android mobile operating system.

According to several sources close to the situation, the Wednesday date in a little more than a week is firm and will take place in San Francisco, the scene of many such Apple events.

In that case, the venue is likely to be the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

It’s not clear when Apple will begin sending out its famous invites for the gathering, but I am guessing soon, in order to get the Apple faithful to the proper level of froth.

(The image above is from one of my favorite previous save-the-dates.)

Now that this date is confirmed–at least by me!–the next round of speculation will be around whether Apple CEO Steve Jobs will appear or not. Sources said he is considering it.

He is currently on leave to deal with ongoing health issues, although has been sighted all around Silicon Valley at various places. In addition, Jobs sat right next to President Barack Obama at a high-profile meet-the-tech-moguls dinner in the area last week.

In other words: Let the media frenzy begin!

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110222/exclusive-apple-ipad-2-event-set-for-march-2/feed/ 81 http://allthingsd.com/20110216/assistly-extends-customer-service-to-facebook-walls/ http://allthingsd.com/20110216/assistly-extends-customer-service-to-facebook-walls/#comments Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:08:59 +0000 Liz Gannes http://networkeffect.allthingsd.com/?p=3669 When something breaks, we users ask for help wherever we think we can find someone responsible. Or maybe we just stand up on our social media soapbox and whine.

Either way, Assistly helps companies deal with our problems by providing a Web-based customer service and support platform that combines more traditional methods like email, chat and phone with Twitter and, as of today, Facebook. The idea is to make support more efficient and coordinated.

So now, if you post about your problems on the Facebook walls of Assistly customers like 37signals, Vimeo, Rdio, Grooveshark and even Twitter, you might get a quicker and better-delegated response from employees there. (Though the new Assistly Facebook option just rolled out today, so they may not be using it yet.)

There are many (so, so many) social media management tools, but Assistly is more competitive with customer support providers like Zendesk. (Both Zendesk and Assistly already offer Twitter support, but Assistly is first to offer Facebook. Twitter itself uses Zendesk for customer support via email and Assistly for customer support via tweet.)

Assistly CEO Alex Bard and members of his team have been working on customer support software dating back to 1996 with eShare Technologies, followed by eAssist Global Solutions, founded in 1999. More recently they made the Goowy widget analytics platform that was bought by AOL in 2008. Their current company has raised about $5 million from investors True Ventures and Social Leverage.

For its own customers, Assistly starts at $39 per month per full-time user, but it also has an hourly rate so companies can spread the responsibility for customer support across all their employees.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110216/assistly-extends-customer-service-to-facebook-walls/feed/ 4 http://allthingsd.com/20110215/live-htc-shows-off-first-tablet-android-phone-with-facebook-button-and-more/ http://allthingsd.com/20110215/live-htc-shows-off-first-tablet-android-phone-with-facebook-button-and-more/#comments Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:55:15 +0000 Ina Fried http://mobilized.allthingsd.com/?p=4140 HTC on Tuesday became the latest cellphone maker to “friend” Facebook in an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the social network.

At a press conference due to start any minute, the Taiwanese cellphone maker is set to show off a pair of Android phones–the Cha Cha and the Salsa–as well as its first tablet and several other Android devices.

HTC’s move follows that of INQ Mobile, which last week announced two Android models that feature heavy Facebook integration. Gemalto also announced Monday it plans to integrate Facebook into SIM cards, allowing users of low-end phones better access to the social network.

Like many others’ news here at the show, most of HTC’s had leaked out well ahead of the event.

One particularly nice touch–HTC planned ahead and ran Ethernet cables to each seat in the theater. (Unfortunately, Mobilized left the MacBook Air Ethernet adapter back in the apartment.)

Mobilized has live coverage of the event below.

9:58 am: Still waiting for the press conference–which was due to start a half hour ago–to get under way. We do have comfy seats and soothing music, but would have prefereed an extra half hour of sleep.

9:59 am: Apparently all I had to do was complain. Now it’s getting started with CEO Peter Chou taking the stage.

“2011 is going to be an amazing year,” Chou promises.

Some analysts predict smartphones will outsell feature phones, Chou says.

“Features that were once fancy, extra, are now becoming standard,” he says. “‘Nice to have’ is turning into ‘must have.’”

Hardware is important, but so are software and services like Sense and HTCSense.com. Company plans new versions of HTC Sense for phones with keyboards, larger screens, etc.

10:04 am: Some stats from Chou:

25 million smartphones sold last year, more than double the prior year, with revenue up 93 percent.

The company’s global brand awareness reached 50 percent, up from 13 percent a year and a half ago. (Of course, that means half of consumers still don’t know HTC, but a big improvement nonetheless.)

10:05 am: On to 2011: 4G networks will change everything again. HTC Thunderbolt, its first LTE smartphone, shipping this week with Verizon.

10:07 am: Company is announcing five phones today, the most it has ever announced at one time. Chou says.

“I hope you agree it has been worth the wait,” Chou says, bringing out John Wang, HTC’s chief marketing officer.

10:07 am: Talking about HTC Sense. Location-data for 83 countries. HTC spent a year and a half building the maps product. You can preload, so travel won’t cost a fortune in roaming charges.

Weather is another good example, Wang says, where the company aimed not just to provide information, but also offer an emotional experience.

“When it is sunny you almost feel the warmth on your body. When it rains, you almost want to wipe your phone dry.”

10:10 am: First demo fails as video he wants to show won’t play.

“Well, maybe later on,” Wang says, moving on to the new phones.

And another fails as whatever was supposed to happen isn’t happening.

Okay, here we go. HTC Desire S. And, we’ve got some more demo fail going on.

10:12 am: “We apologize for this,” Wang says, annoucing a few-minutes pause.

10:15 am: And we are back, with HTC Desire S, Incredible S and Wildfire S.

Desire S doesn’t have front and back. Machined out of a single block of aluminum. “It feels solid in your hand,” Wang says. Also has full HD video recording.

Wildfire S, smaller and in three colors. “It can almost disappear into your pocket. (Mobilized hates it when that happens. We’ve put two iPod Nanos through the wash.

10:20 am: HTC Incredible S. As you rotate the large Android phone, the icons on the buttons also rotate. 8-megapixel camera, integrated video chat with front-facing camera. “Incredible S combines premium design with premium experience,” Wang says.

So, essentially these are updates to the existing product line.

Next up, the Facebook phones.

10:22 am: There are 500 million Facebook users worldwide, but 200 million check it on their phones. Those users are twice as engaged. Many young people check Facebook right when they wake up with a significant number doing so from their phones before they even wake up, Wang says.

Now showing a video of HTC’s work with Facebook to build the new phones.

10:24 am: Video of Facebook CEO Marc Zuckerberg touting the device.

“A lot has been made about a Facebook phone,” Zuckerberg says, but adds that there will be more than a dozen phones this year with deep social integration. “HTC is doing that here.”

Mobilized is apologizing in advance, but I may not make it through the whole press conference.

10:26 am: The new phones–the Cha Cha (with keyboard) and Salsa (touch-only) both have a dedicated blue Facebook button at the bottom.

10:27 am: Can use button to post updates, but also if taking a picture can use that button to share social network. “When you press this button, the photo is instantly uploaded to Facebook,” Wang says. Button blinks also when reading an article on the Web. Press the Facebook button and it will share that on Facebook. Similar, when you are listening to a song, pressing the button will share that information.

If you hold button down, you check in on Facebook Places.

Both phones also support Facebook messaging and chat.

“We did not just add social networking to the phone,” Wang says.

10:30 am: Bringing up Facebook VP Chamath Palihapitiya to talk about the partnership.

“I’m just frankly very thrilled we are taking this very important step, which I think will be the first of many,” he says, saying he expects Facebook and HTC to do more things together.

10:32 am: Chou back up, saying he could just stop with five great phones and ensure another great year. But he’s not. There’s a tablet coming.

10:34 am: Chou says the company could have rushed out another “me too” experience, but says that wasn’t what the company wanted to do.

Showing video of how the company came up with its tablet, the HTC Flyer.

10:37 am: Chou holds up the Flyer, then hands things back to Wang. Flyer also has unibody design, which he says makes the tablet feel solid but keeps it lightweight.

HTC wanted it to be comfortable to hold in hand. At 415 grams it is about the same weight as a paperback book.

Here are a few features: 1.5GHz chip, 6-hour battery life, dual cameras, Flash 10 and HTML 5 support, along with new 3-D-based HTC Sense experience.

10:40 am: Also has a stylus–unique among Android tablets–HTC Scribe technology.

Allows you to share things more easily, Wang says. Just scribble “let’s go” on a restaurant Web page and press a button and it is sent.

You can also use it to do audio note taking–a la Livescribe, where notes are synchronized to the audio.

Mobilized has to jam to our next meeting, but I think we have hit the high points.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110215/live-htc-shows-off-first-tablet-android-phone-with-facebook-button-and-more/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110201/wedding-planning-apps/ http://allthingsd.com/20110201/wedding-planning-apps/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:57:08 +0000 Katherine Boehret http://solution.allthingsd.com/?p=1625 Brides- and grooms-to-be take comfort in the tangible, whether its bridal magazines that seem to weigh five pounds each, reception venue floor plans or photos of dream cakes. But keeping these tangibles handy at all times means lugging around a thick binder stuffed with paper. No thanks.

This week, I tested several wedding-planning applications for mobile devices that may get couples reaching for an iPhone instead of a binder. As a recently engaged person, I tested them for realistic usability, time-saving techniques and friendly user interfaces.

The Strength of The Knot

It’s nearly impossible to get engaged without quickly growing addicted to TheKnot.com, a one-stop shop for brides and grooms alike. Here, couples can create budgets using a template that estimates cost per item, and they can import guest lists in Excel spreadsheet format. They can also page through photos of other weddings held in their area, or obsessively chat online with other engaged people whose friends are tired of listening to them.

Unfortunately, The Knot Inc. doesn’t have one mobile app that replicates all of the rich features on its website, though typing http://mobile.theknot.com into the mobile browser on a device like the BlackBerry, iPhone or Android phones opens a condensed version of some features, including the ever-ticking countdown (201 days to go!) and checklists sorted into Category, Date or Reminders.

The Knot Wedding Dress Look Book encourages brides to enter personal details to find the best gown.

The company does offer two free iPhone apps (Android apps are in development) that focus on certain features of the website: The Knot Wedding Dress Look Book and The Knot Wedding 911. The Look Book encourages brides to find just the right wedding gown by entering details about themselves like body type, personality, type of wedding and best physical feature. Wedding 911 includes hundreds of wedding questions that are collected, sorted into eight categories and answered by the site’s editor in chief.

IPad owners can get their Knot fix by reading a digital magazine with features like videos demonstrating do-it-yourself save-the-date cards. The iPad app itself is free, but the magazine costs $4.99 per issue. Subscriptions aren’t available.

Get Yourself Registered

Thanks to the iPhone’s built-in camera, couples don’t need a store’s barcode scanner gun to add items to their registries; instead, they can take photos of products’ barcodes with their phone to automatically add items to registries. The MyRegistry.com Universal Wishlist With Barcode Scanner ($0.99), WeddingScan ($0.99), Registry Stop (free) and Gift Registry 360 Scan and Add (free) are four such iPhone apps that perform this function. If the barcode photo doesn’t work, users can manually type in the product name and take their own photo of it to illustrate.

Gift Registry 360′s free iPhone app is a personal bridal registry. Users photograph barcodes with their phone cameras to automatically add products to the list.

Wedding Planner-Approved

A friend of mine who’s a successful wedding planner in North Carolina recommended two apps for the iPhone and iPad: Brides Wedding Genius and My Wedding Concierge. Both are available in free versions, though a $4.99 version of My Wedding Concierge is also available for the iPad.

Brides Wedding Genius is a free iPhone app that focuses on dresses, jewelry and travel destinations for a wedding or a honeymoon. Users conduct searches for content by plugging in preferences such as price, style of ring or destination. Results can be starred and saved to a list of favorites. A helpful “Find Online” tab quickly opens each item’s website within the app. A $2.99 upgrade will add features and sync the app with BridesWeddingGenius.com.

My Wedding Concierge is a self-described inspiration engine, and I tested the full version of this app on my iPad. The home screen of this app offers a large search box and an “Inspire Me!” option below this box. Inspiration comes in the form of suggested wedding blogs, of which there are many, I’ve discovered since becoming engaged. I like that My Wedding Concierge tries to sort through these blogs to return relevant content, even though some blogs seemed a bit unrelated to my searches.

The Knot’s iPad app offers a digital magazine version of the popular website and costs $4.99 per issue.

Make Contact

The $9.99 iWedding Deluxe iPhone app works well if you have a lot of people already added as contacts in your iPhone; a shortcut lets you move those contacts over to the app in one step, thus keeping names of transportation companies, photographers, the ceremony officiant and rental companies in one central spot.

This app’s Home screen shows a countdown clock that measures time down to the second after users input the time of their wedding during setup. A section called The Guide helps locate nearby wedding vendors using GPS and Google Maps. It also lists useful blogs and tips for setting a budget, choosing a ceremony venue and proper etiquette.

BlackBerry and Android

I found a handful of wedding planning apps on the Android and BlackBerry platforms, including a $1.99 Android app called MyWeddingBudget and a $2.99 BlackBerry app called Wedding Organizer. But both of these felt rather bare bones and not as intuitive as the iPhone and iPad apps I used.

If all else fails, the $0.99 Bridezilla Tamer iPhone app will try to add humor to the situation with lines like, “You’re right, it’s perfectly reasonable that our cake costs three months’ rent because we’ll remember how it tasted forever!”

Write to Katherine Boehret at katie.boehret@wsj.com

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110201/wedding-planning-apps/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110121/dispatches-from-the-supply-line-stoke-ipad-iphone-chatter/ http://allthingsd.com/20110121/dispatches-from-the-supply-line-stoke-ipad-iphone-chatter/#comments Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:44:53 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=56196 With the first-year anniversaries of the iPad and iPhone 4 fast approaching, and both devices destined for an update per Apple’s annual mobile device refresh cycle, the Apple rumor mill is undergoing a refresh of its own.

Supply chain sources tell China’s Economic Daily News that Apple has lined up four new component suppliers for the iPhone 5, which they claim is scheduled for a summer launch. Meanwhile, Taiwanese trade pub DigiTimes is reporting that Apple recently bolstered its printed circuit board (PCB) supply chain in preparation for the next iteration of the iPad. Where the company once used just three PCB suppliers for the device, it’s now using seven. Not a surprise, really, given the 14.8 million iPads Apple sold in 2010. DigiTimes’ sources claim they’re scheduled to begin small-volume shipments next month, before going all out in April. Which jibes nicely with that annual refresh cycle I mentioned earlier and rumors of a spring launch.

As I’ve noted here before, the iPad 2 is expected to be thinner than its predecessor and manufactured with the same unibody approach Apple’s been using for the MacBook. It’s also expected to feature an LCD backlit display, a front-facing camera and Facetime video chat support. Finally, some reports suggest it is powered by one of Qualcomm’s multimode chips and will run on both GSM and CDMA-based networks around the world.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110121/dispatches-from-the-supply-line-stoke-ipad-iphone-chatter/feed/ 2 http://allthingsd.com/20110106/live-verizon-wireless-touts-4g-network-shows-off-devices/ http://allthingsd.com/20110106/live-verizon-wireless-touts-4g-network-shows-off-devices/#comments Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:03:21 +0000 Ina Fried http://mobilized.allthingsd.com/?p=1957 Well, we didn’t learn much new about Verizon Wireless’s new network or devices at the Ivan Seidenberg keynote on Thursday, but he did say that the company would have a preview of its LTE device lineup at this afternoon’s press conference.

Here’s hoping there are a few surprises here beyond the previously announced Motorola Atrix and Xoom.

The event is set to kick off shortly and Mobilized will have live coverage here.

1:05 pm: Well, despite timely warnings to get in our seats beginning at 12:45, it’s now five minutes after and the techno is still pumping.

1:11 pm: Okay. Getting started. Loud music gets louder. Cue video.

Tony Melone and Marni Walden take the stage and CEO Daniel Mead (at least I think it is Mead) is doing an intro.

1:15 pm: Another video now playing with partners. Since HTC CEO Peter Chou is in there, I think it is probably safe to say their oft-rumored LTE smartphone will make an appearance.

1:16 pm: Samsung and Ericsson execs also in the video.

1:17 pm: Verizon exec now touting the advantages of its 4G network including its spectrum, which it says will give it the best in-building coverage.

Also talking about how it is sharing its spectrum with rural service providers.

1:18 pm: Mead: “We’re very pleased to be part of bringing broadband to rural America.”

1:21 pm: Mead hands off to CTO Tony Melone to talk 4G and LTE.

Melone says that the company knows there is a lot of skepticism of the company’s move to go straight to LTE but that the bet is paying off with more networks and running faster than planned.

“The customer feedback we are getting is everything we had hoped for and then some,” Melone says.

Melone talks about 4G LTE plans.

Thirty-six months from now we will have the nation covered with LTE, Melone says. Two-thirds of the population will be covered in 2012. This year alone, he says, Verizon will add 140 new markets, including places like Little Rock, Detroit and Sioux Falls.

1:26 pm: On to devices.

Ten devices coming by mid-year being shown on stage: Four smartphones, two tablets, two notebooks and two mobile hotspots.

1:33 pm: LG CEO shows off the LG Revolution, what appears to be a slimmish smartphone.

Next up, Skype’s CEO talks about a new partnership that will allow for Skype to be always on and integrated into the address book of all of Verizon’s LTE smartphones,

1:34 pm: He’s followed by HTC CEO Peter Chou, who introduces the HTC Thunderbolt.

Chou says he’s been personally testing and using the Thunderbolt, which features the new Skype video chatting along with HTC’s Sense user interface.

“Let me tell you, it’s blazing fast,” Chou says.

Other features include a built-in 4G hotspot and a 4.3-inch Super LCD screen.

1:37 pm: He thanks Qualcomm and Google engineers that worked together to create the device, so guessing this one isn’t using Nvidia’s Tegra chip.

Next up is Electronic Arts VP Travis Boatman. EA’s mobile games lineup ranges from Monopoly and Tetris to Need for Speed and the FIFA 11 soccer game.

The new mobile version of Rock Band for Verizon’s LTE network lets people form a band and remotely jam over the network.

Samsung executive goes onstage to show off three devices for the LTE network, One is a mobile hotspot, one is a smartphone and the other is a 4G version of the Galaxy Tab.

Phone packs 4.3-inch Super Amoled Plus display, which is said to boost colors and offer improved display. It’s got an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with HD video and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat.

The tablet has a 1.2GHz processor developed by Samsung, while the hotspots provide connections to up to five users at a time.

Most impressive is the fact that the Samsung executive pulled all three devices out of various pockets.

Marni Walden shows off the remaining devices–a Novatel MiFi hotpot that works with both 3G and 4G networks.

There is also a Compaq Netbook, an HP notebook, as well as the previously announced Motorola Xoom and Motorola Droid Bionic.

1:47 pm: On to Q&A (hoping laptop No. 2 holds out through the end of question time.)

First question has to do with LTE speeds, which often exceed the 5- to 12-megabit speeds promised. Mead says that the company’s goal is to meet the promised speed range once the network is fully loaded, something that is not the case today.

Next question is on battery life. Melone says the company believes it will be able to meet customer expectations in that regard.

The company says it won’t announce pricing or rate plans for the 4G products, beyond noting its current prices for 4G laptop cards and service.

As for simultaneous voice and data, Walden says the company intends that at least some of its 4G launch devices will support talking and accessing data at the same time.

“It could be on some devices and not all,” Walden says.

Walden also confirms all the phones it showed Thursday are running Android.

1:55 pm: Asked about net neutrality, Mead says that what the industry needs is “unfettered development.”

“We think the free market system works very well, and we don’t need a lot of heavy intervention.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110106/live-verizon-wireless-touts-4g-network-shows-off-devices/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110106/skype-snaps-up-mobile-video-chat-player-qik/ http://allthingsd.com/20110106/skype-snaps-up-mobile-video-chat-player-qik/#comments Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:50:53 +0000 Tricia Duryee http://emoney.allthingsd.com/?p=1335 Skype has confirmed it is acquiring Qik, a start-up that has been getting attention over the past year for becoming the default video-chat software on many new smartphones with forward-facing cameras.

Skype did not confirm the price, which was rumored to be about $100 million, according to BusinessInsider.com.

Skype said Qik has 60 employees, headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., and has an office in Moscow, Russia, and that it expects to close the transaction later this month.

Qik runs on more than 200 mobile phones, including Android, iOS, Symbian, BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile. It also comes preloaded on a wide variety of mobile handsets through valuable ç it has inked with handset manufacturers and wireless carriers. The partnerships helped rocket Qik’s growth. At the beginning of 2010, Qik had 600,000 users, and it ended the year with five million.

Qik has been trying to position itself as the alternative to Apple’s FaceTime application, which allows people to make video-conferencing calls from their iPhone 4. However, one of the biggest complaints about Qik is lack of integration into a users’ phone book. Presumably, Skype could bring some of that functionality to the table since many users already have built up their address book within their interface.

Skype also mentioned it plans to take advantage of Qik’s engineering expertise for optimizing video transmission over wireless networks. One cool feature that Qik has, and Skype doesn’t, is that it allows people to share videos in real time, and also record and store them to view later.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110106/skype-snaps-up-mobile-video-chat-player-qik/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110105/a-phone-thats-a-beauty-on-the-outside-a-monster-inside/ http://allthingsd.com/20110105/a-phone-thats-a-beauty-on-the-outside-a-monster-inside/#comments Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:10:45 +0000 Tricia Duryee http://emoney.allthingsd.com/?p=1252 At Nvidia’s press conference today, CEO and co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang admitted this was going to be a promiscuous CES for the company.

Nvidia, which builds tiny computer processors to help devices display graphics, games, video and more on phones, will be found all over the show floor, demonstrating products in conjunction with wireless carriers, automotive makers, handset makers and others.

And for those looking for even more from Huang –and maybe a demo that works– he’ll be appearing on stage with my colleague Ina Fried at our own D at CES event on Friday.

The biggest partnership of all, however, was not announced–a rumored relationship with Microsoft that will likely be unveiled later today, Huang hinted. [Update: that news can be found here.]

What Nvidia was willing to talk about was its plans to build high-performance ARM-based CPU cores, designed to support future products ranging from personal computers and servers to workstations and supercomputers. Up until now, the project was code-named “Project Denver.”

However, Nvidia spent most of the time talking about its new Tegra 2 processor, which is designed to efficiently display Internet content and games–on par with the quality of a console–on a cellphone. That means a compact design that provides the same quality but helps preserve battery life.

Nvidia’s Huang demonstrated the capabilities of the chip with the help of LG, which made an appearance onstage to show off the new Optimus 2X, a new Android phone. Loaded with a Tegra 2, one of the head honchos from LG described the phone as “a beauty on the outside–a monster on the inside.”

Huang plugged the phone into a giant HDTV to demonstrate the chip’s capabilities. He played Angry Birds and navigated a few apps on the homescreen.

But one of the big pushes is in viewing Adobe Flash, and the demo gods were against them. The wireless network was slow, prompting Huang to ask the packed crowd of reporters to spare a bit of bandwidth for him.

“I feel like I am on 56K here,” Huang said. “Oh you guys suck,” he joked.

Huang said the company brought in technology to block others from hogging the bandwidth, but people were using it anyway. “You guys really suck,” he said to more laughs.

More demonstrations were made with videogames, and even other demos failed, including a video chat over Skype.

After it was all said and done, Nvidia served lunch.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110105/a-phone-thats-a-beauty-on-the-outside-a-monster-inside/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20101220/google-social-researcher-jumps-ship-for-facebook/ http://allthingsd.com/20101220/google-social-researcher-jumps-ship-for-facebook/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 02:28:04 +0000 Liz Gannes http://networkeffect.allthingsd.com/?p=1481 Paul Adams, a senior user experience researcher at Google who was the company’s research lead for social, announced today he will be joining Facebook next year.

The move is especially interesting because Adams had prepared an influential slide deck about the shortcomings of today’s social networks that was widely circulated online as well as within Facebook. Originally presented at the Voices That Matter Web Design Conference in June, “The Real Life Social Network” has been viewed more than 400,000 times since being posted on SlideShare.

For Adams to join the opposition is obviously not a vote of confidence for Google and its much-maligned plans to offer more social products.

Adams, who had spent four years on the Google user experience team, didn’t specify what his new gig at Facebook will be. At Google he had worked on products such as Gmail, Latitude and YouTube, according to his bio. Adams is also the author of the forthcoming book “Social Circles.”

After seeing Adams’s tweet this afternoon, I took some time to replay his 224-slide presentation.

In the last five months, Facebook released a Groups feature that addresses some of the problems Adams identified in online social networking, but his ideas and principles have not gone stale. Adams’s main thesis is that online social networks have not evolved to accurately portray and extend the offline social networks people have had forever. He compares Facebook friend lists and IM chat contacts to the awkwardness of planning a wedding seating chart, where people from all parts of your life come together.

While tools like email exist to help people communicate with those they are most strongly tied to, and services like Facebook help us keep track of our “weak ties,” Adams speaks of a need for a third model of “temporary ties” that recede after a short-term period, like an eBay transaction. He also talks about the opportunity to capitalize on the high degree of influence that friends have on each other’s purchases.

Adams proposes that people will increasingly need to have more than one online profile, and that online social products must be designed with privacy and trust at top of mind. He says well-designed social products must communicate to users the consequences of their actions.

These are interesting principles, but they’re hardly a blueprint for Google’s long-awaited social offerings and upgrades. The big difference is that now Facebookers can go straight to the source rather than being a few of the 400,000 people to view Adams’s ideas and research online.

The Real Life Social Network v2

View more documents from Paul Adams.

Please note: As disclosed in my ethics statement, my husband is a part-time researcher on the Facebook user experience team.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101220/google-social-researcher-jumps-ship-for-facebook/feed/ 4 http://allthingsd.com/20101217/viral-video-ustreams-top-10-of-2010-from-chilean-miners-to-bieber/ http://allthingsd.com/20101217/viral-video-ustreams-top-10-of-2010-from-chilean-miners-to-bieber/#comments Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:02:27 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=38738

Here’s a really fun video of Ustream’s top 10 live moments of 2010.

The most-watched stream was, no surprise, the rescue of the Chilean miners, but Justin Bieber and Kayne West also scored.

The winners on the live video platform include, in descending order:

10. Disneyland’s “World of Color” Live
9. Golden Globe Awards Red Carpet Live
8. Ochocinco’s Live Date
7. Taylor Swift’s Exclusive Album Announcement
6. “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” Premiere Live
5. Kanye West’s First Ustream
4. Justin Bieber on AMAs Backstage Live
3. Snoop Dogg’s Live Mafia Wars Stunt
2. Paul McCartney’s Live Chat With Fans
1. Live Chilean Miner Rescue

Enjoy:

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101217/viral-video-ustreams-top-10-of-2010-from-chilean-miners-to-bieber/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101213/send-someone-you-love-the-gift-of-google-tech-support/ http://allthingsd.com/20101213/send-someone-you-love-the-gift-of-google-tech-support/#comments Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:08:47 +0000 Voices http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=33904 Google isn’t always known for engineering the most human-centric solutions, but today it opened the door on something special (and decidedly adorkable) for the holidays.

Head on over to teachparentstech.org and you’ll find a little Web form, shrouded in faux brown paper, where you can assemble your virtual tech-support care package.

After selecting to whom it should be addressed, you can pick from about 50 very short videos to attach to the message that the form creates. The videos feature fresh-faced Googlers in brightly colored shirts using plain English and screen-capture video to explain how to do things like resize a photo, use Google chat, get driving directions or find the nearest pizza place.

And the tech subjects seem to be pretty expertly selected as well (we’ve been asked to help our parents on more than a few of these specific problems).

After selecting a salutation, the videos you want to send and an appropriate closing remark, the form spits out a page that can be forwarded to the email of the desired tech noob.

We spoke with Jason Toff, a product marketing manager at Google and the informal leader of teachparentstech. He said that the project was built on the 20 percent time Google gives some staff members to work on separate projects outside of their assignments, and that it was really born out of a need found among his youngish Googley colleagues.

“The idea of parents needing tech support around the holidays really resonated with our core group of about six people. We just sent some emails out to some internal list serves expecting to get a lukewarm response, and over 50 people responded wanting to be in videos explaining some simple tech,” Toff said during our phone call.

Toff said there weren’t any other plans to build out additional products on the teachparentstech domain right now, but he’s hoping to see how this first thing goes and learn from it.

The site went live as of about 9:30 PT this morning and by noon had sent out over 3,000 virtual care packages.

The one pro tip we got from Toff was that if you care to see all the videos available, maybe to do a power-training session, you can head to teachparentstech.org/watch where all the available videos are displayed together.

Now, if only Google would buy up santagr.am and santatracker.com, our very Google holiday would be complete.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101213/send-someone-you-love-the-gift-of-google-tech-support/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101208/ipad-2-start-the-100-day-hype-countdown/ http://allthingsd.com/20101208/ipad-2-start-the-100-day-hype-countdown/#comments Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:54:29 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=54020

Industry sources are telling the occasionally reliable DigiTimes that Foxconn, Apple’s Chinese manufacturing partner, will begin shipping the next-generation tablet within the next 100 days in preparation for a spring debut that will follow the launch of the original iPad by about a year. The iPad 2 is expected to be thinner than its predecessor and manufactured with the same unibody approach Apple’s been using for the MacBook. It’s also expected to feature an LCD backlit display, a front-facing camera and Facetime video chat support. Finally, some reports suggest it is powered by one of Qualcomm’s multimode chips and will run on both GSM and CDMA-based networks around the world.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101208/ipad-2-start-the-100-day-hype-countdown/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101130/25-million-more-for-yammer-the-twitter-for-work/ http://allthingsd.com/20101130/25-million-more-for-yammer-the-twitter-for-work/#comments Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:12:03 +0000 Peter Kafka http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/?p=26465 Chatting at work is serious business for Yammer. The two-year-old start-up has raised a $25 million funding round led by U.S. Venture Partners, complementing the $15 million it has already raised to date. Yammer offers a social network for enterprise customers, and has plenty of competition from the likes of Salesforce’s Chatter, Socialcast, etc.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101130/25-million-more-for-yammer-the-twitter-for-work/feed/ 1