It’s Friday night, and that means another Web Faceoffis going into the books. For the last few weeks, we’ve placed popular web services in the ring and asked all of you to choose the victor. In our most recent faceoff, Facebook defeated Twitterby a few hundred votes.The results of this week’s faceoff though were remarkably different. On Monday we asked all of you to vote between Wordpress and Typepadin order to figure out which blogging platform should reign supreme. The fight wasn’t even close, though.3,102 votes were cast, and with 87% of vote, Wordpress destroyed Typepad. Wordpress garnered 2,714 votes compared to Typepad’s mere 267 ballots (9%). 121 of you decided to call it a tie.Check back again Monday night for the next edition of the Web Faceoff. We’re going to pit two of the web’s heavyweights in a bout, so don’t miss it.Who would win in a fight: Wordpress or Typepad?(trends)Web Faceoff: Overall ResultsWeek 1:- Mozilla Firefox vs. Google Chrome- WINNER: Firefox, 4600 votes (Chrome: 3310 votes, Tie: 911 votes)Week 2:- Tumblr vs. Posterous- WINNER: Tumblr, 1809 votes (Posterous: 1496 votes, Tie: 256 votes)Week 3:- Pandora vs. Last.fm- WINNER: Last.fm, 1187 votes (Pandora: 1156 votes, Tie: 122 votes)Week 4:- Twitter vs. Facebook- WINNER: Facebook, 2484 votes (Twitter: 2061 votes, Tie: 588 votes)Week 5:- Wordpress vs. Typepad- WINNER: Wordpress:, 2714 (Typepad: 267 votes, Tie: 121 votes)Reviews: Chrome, Facebook, Firefox, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Pandora, Posterous, Tumblr, Twitter, TypePad, WordPressTags: poll, typepad, web faceoff, Wordpress
Black Friday: it’s the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving and it’s an extremely important day for both retailers and shoppers. In the hopes of turning a profit for the year, retailers often offer deep discounts on Black Friday to entice holiday shoppers.Of course, given how great the deals tend to be, there’s always consumer demand to know what those discounts will be ahead of time. There are even multiple websites dedicated just to Black Friday sale predictions and leaked advertising content. This year is no different with a few of those sites getting a leaked version of OfficeMax’s doorbuster deals for Black Friday.According to Reuters, Black Friday ads for 2009 have not only been leaked to the web, but they’ve already been pulled due to formal Cease and Desist orders. At the center of all the ruckus is OfficeMax, who’s Black Friday ad was posted to the web on several different sites on October 21, 2009, and even Gizmodopicked up the story.There was some speculation that the print ad circulating on the web was an early version or a fake due to misspellings, but since most parties have since received Cease and Desist orders from OfficeMax, and have consequently removed the advertised deals (though Gizmodo’s postis still up, with a complete listing of discounted prices), we’re inclined to believe that the advert in question is legitimate.If you’re looking to get a first look at Black Friday steals, we suggest you do so quickly, as this is clearly going to be a recurring trend up until Thanksgiving. Still, we think this is probably the first of several Black Friday Ad leaks you’ll see this year.Image courtesy of iStockphoto, sculpies.Reviews: iStockphotoTags: black friday, black friday ads 2009
And the wacky promotional campaigns for Windows 7 continue. If you had an officially sanctioned Windows 7 partyin Japan, perhaps you had it catered with Burger King’s Windows 7 Whoppermonstrosity.Intrepid gaming blogger CheapyD braved a trip to a Tokyo BKto try the 7-layer beef patty contraption to bring us the footage of this 5-inch stack of meat. We’re pretty sure our cholesterol count increased just from watching the vid; check it out below.[via Gizmodo]Tags: burger king, MARKETING, microsoft, video, Windows 7
This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.Name: Lu.lyQuick Pitch: Lu.ly brings users’ Facebook and Twitter stream into browsers in real-time.Genius Idea: Lu.ly is a browser extension for Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari (Safari currently in alpha) that lets you see your friends Twitter and Facebook status updates in real-time via scrolling text within the Lu.ly toolbar.Lu.ly also lets you share web pages on Twitter or Facebook (and automatically shortens the URLs), send direct messages, @replies and RTs.There are a lot of Twitter add-ons for Firefoxbut Lu.ly is one of the first that offers support across browsers. Plus, the ability to see Facebook and Twitter updates in one space is really nice.Lu.ly scrolls new status messages and tweets into your window as they appear. You can click backwards and forwards through your timeline and reply or send a direct message to the user from the toolbar. You can also click on links from tweets or on a user’s username and a new tab will open with that link or the user’s Twitter page. What we really like about Lu.ly, though, is the ability to use the search bar to search Twitter. Although there are other toolbar plugins that also show Twitter updates, Lu.ly is especially unobtrusive and really doesn’t distract you from what you are doing. In addition, if you want to turn off updates, you can just click on the service button for Facebook or Twitter and log-out.We like seeing useful toolbar plugins, especially when they are supported across browsers. Lu.ly’s streamlining of Facebook and Twitter in the browser definitely falls into that category.Spark of Genius Series Sponsored by Microsoft BizSparkBizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platformfor their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest– use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”Reviews: Facebook, Firefox, Internet Explorer, PHP, Safari, TwitterTags: facebook, firefox plugin, lu.ly, toolbar, twitter
Microsoft has dominated the social buzz this week. They made waves when they inked a search deal with Twitter, but the story that has dominated the news this week has to be the highly anticipated launch of Windows 7. The newest version of Microsoft’s operating version promised to deliver speed, security, and usability upgrades that Windows Vista lacked. But did Microsoft succeed in erasing Vista’s dark shadow? Mashable Founder Pete Cashmore was on CNN Liveto discuss that very issue.On the “Blogger’s Bunch” segment, Pete and others chatted about not only the impact of Windows 7, but debated whether the operating system wars are dead due to the rise of web apps and the browser. In addition, they analyzed recent chatter about Hulu potentially charging for shows in 2010. You can watch the full debate on Windows 7 and Hulu in the CNN video below:Embedded video from CNN VideoReviews: Hulu, Windows VistaTags: cnn, microsoft, pete cashmore, Windows 7
Correction: The real-time update only affects the Loopt Mix iPhone app for now—One of the very first players in the geolocation space was Loopt. It lets users find out what is going on around them and what their friends are doing nearby. Earlier this week Looptlaunched Loopt Mix for the iPhone, an app that lets you meet new people in your area by seeing who on Loopt is in the area and browsing their profiles.Today, they are adding a new feature to the Mix app: a real-time activity stream of what is going on around you. This has been one of Loopt’s most-requested features (in fact, they told us that it would have been implemented sooner if the technology had been easier).This is how it works: a bar pops up at the top of the app and you get a push notification and see photos when someone near you launches their app. This means you can see who is in the app nearby right now. This could be incredibly helpful if you’re looking to find people in Loopt nearby or you just want to chat. In addition, the real-time bar also shows status messages.The feature should be live within the hour and it opens up a really compelling component to the geolocation space.What do you think of the convergence between geolocation and realtime? Let us know in the comments.Tags: geolocation, iphone, loopt, loopt mix, real-time
The Wall Street Journalis reporting that the Power.com lawsuit against Facebook has been dismissed by a US District Judge.If you haven’t been following the data ownership scuffle, it’s been a back-and-fourth mélee withFacebook first filing suitagainst Power.com for allegedly using Facebook user data (primarily a member’s user name and password) without authorization. Then in July, Power.com counter-sued Facebookwith claims of unfair competition, and stopped supporting the site as part of their social media aggregating service.Today the Power.com counter-suit has been dismissed, though a Facebook representative assures us that their original legal matter against Power.com is still pending. Power.com, however, isn’t ready to concede defeat, as indicated in the official statement below. It looks as if they’re planning to re-plead their case in 30 days.Power.com has issued this statement on the dismissal:“Earlier in the case Judge Fogel granted Power’s motion to require Facebook to provide a more detailed pleading of its claims. Yesterday’s order essentially does the same thing with respect to Power’s counterclaims and affirmative defenses. The Court determined that Power’s pleading did not provide enough detail with respect to the fair use defense and other affirmative defenses, and also with respect to the counterclaims under the unfair competition laws. The Court gave Power 30 days, until November 21, 2009, to re-plead their defenses and counterclaims with more detail. Power intends to do so.This is a routine type of order that often occurs in the early stages of litigation, where the parties dispute the sufficiency of the pleadings in terms of the level of factual detail that is provided. Power is confident that it will be able to amend its pleading within 30 days to satisfy the Court’s concerns.”We’ve embedded the entire dismissal document below, should you be interested in reading detailed information on the proceedings.Power.com DismissalReviews: FacebookTags: facebook, lawsuit, power.com
Carl Icahn, the famed hard-nosed billionaire and corporate raider who attempted to seize control of Yahooafter the company rejected Microsoft’s $50+ billion acquisition offer, has resigned his position as a member of the Yahoo Board of Directors, according to several reports.In May 2008, he shook the company started by Jerry Yang (who was CEO at the time) by nominating a “dissident slate” of directors, which would have essentially given him control of the company. In the end, he received control of three seats on Yahoo’s board and eventually helped force Jerry Yang out as Yahoo’s CEO.As to why he left, he stated that “there was not a need at this time for an activist investor,” according to Marketwatch. With a Yahoo/Microsoft deal now locked in, it seems that that Icahn era of Yahoo has come to a close.Tags: Yahoo
For today’s Lunchtime Pollwe’re going to do something a little different. It’s a Smartphone Smackdown, and we want you to vote in the poll for your favorite smartphone platform of choice.This time we’ve set up a real poll with real bean counters and a third-party monitoring agency to check all of the hanging chads. We’ll keep the voting open until next Thursday, October 29 at noon EST, and post the results later that day. Head on after the break to see our staff picks and cast your vote!What’s your favorite smartphone platform?Mashable FavesAdam Hirsch: Love the iPhone for the Apps, but I have a WinMo as my phone because of speed/productivity with email. However, going to go Android shortly.Sharon Feder: I have a BlackBerry and really and enjoy it but wish I had access to an app store more like the iPhone’s app store.Ben Parr: iPhone: People still undervalue how much extra functionality apps provide it.Jennifer Van Grove: iPhone. I’ve owned the original, waited in line for 8 hours for the 3G, and now have the 3GS… it’s the simplest and most powerful phone on the market.Christina Warren: iPhone. I’ve had BlackBerry, WinMo, Symbian and Android. Even WITH AT&T, the iPhone is just the best. Period.Barb Dybwad: Also have to go with iPhone. It’s got most well-stocked and easiest to use App Store, and it makes all the difference. Very excited about Android though as a relatively close second.POLLWhat’s your favorite smartphone platform?(survey)Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ericsphotographyReviews: Android, App Store, iStockphotoTags: android, apple, blackberry, Google, iphone, lunchtime poll, microsoft, Mobile 2.0, palm, RIM, smartphones, Symbian, webOS, windows mobile
Worried that too many tweets are mere pointless babble? So is Australia’s Griffith University, who recently made Twitter education part of the mandatory courseloadfor journalism students.According to a senior lecturer at the University, “Some students’ tweets are not as in depth as you might like.” The solution? Make Twitter writing practice a compulsory part of the course curriculum for would-be journalists.University officials cited increasing demand from employers for new hires well-versed in social media, and Twitter’s importance in global events like the Iran electionsearlier this year.While we perhaps would have given up a prized appendage to have anything as cool as a Twitter course available back when we were in school during the Pleistocene Era, the Griffith U students’ reactions have been mixed. Some students had no idea what Twitter even was (sort of proving the point of needed education for future journalists!), and a few outspoken J-schoolers who felt the class was “a waste of time.” Clearly kids these days don’t know how good they have it.What’s your take: should Twitter fluency be required for future journalists? Or is it impractical to expect students to inject “more depth” into their tweets?[Via PSFK]Reviews: TwitterTags: education, journalism, twitter
I’ll admit it: my normal workday only helps perpetuate a number of typical blogger stereotypes. So, when I was asked to film a series of videos sponsored by UPS that involved me getting dressed up (ok, business casual), shaving, and being in front of a camera all day, it certainly sounded like a big break from the norm.After somewhere between 40 and 50 takes at a studio in New York City, the result is a series of three videos in the style of the “whiteboard” UPS commercials (Postal Service music included) about how businesses can seize the opportunities created by social media.Obviously this is a huge topic that we’ve taken thousands of blog posts on Mashable to explain, so narrowing it down to 1-2 minute segments wasn’t easy. But we’re pretty pleased with the end result, and hope it will be valuable to those just getting started in the social media space. Some other great bloggers (Matt Marshall of VentureBeat, Mike Masnick of Techdirt, and Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends) also contributed to the project, which is housed at brown.popurls.com. You can check out my first video – “Monitoring Your Industry” – embedded below. We’ll share the other two videos over the next few weeks.Reviews: MashableTags: monitoring, social media
Matt Silverman is a humorist, musician, and Googleophile from New York who labors to make the Internets funnier via The Sick Burnand his YouTube band The B’lights. For a laugh, follow him on Twitter.Most iPhone users know not all apps are created equal, and as the Android Market continues to grow, that’s an axiom that is beginning to affect users of that operating system as well. While a wider selection is often a plus, finding the perfect app for Twitter can be a labor intensive task as the number of choices swells. Where one might have a great UI, another may have critical features you crave in order to keep in touch with followers. Choosing can be difficult.Here’s a breakdown of four of the most impressive free Twitter apps in the Android Market today; their features, and their flaws. Please share your experiences with these and any other Android Twitter applications in the comments.TwidroidTwidroid has been my go-to Twitter client for some time, and it has come far from its buggy beginnings. The free version will likely impress you, while the pro version (US$4.89) adds additional features like multiple accounts and video uploading.Pros:Clean User Interface. You won’t find a better UI in the Market. The Home, @Mentions, Direct Messages, Search, and Refresh buttons are available from anywhere in the app, and the toggle-able input box reduces screen clutter. A calm blue color scheme makes for easy reading.Tweet options. Tapping a tweet brings up a nice overlay with all of the mentioned links, profiles, and hashtags. Tapping a tweet’s blue arrow allows you to retweet, reply, and view the tweeter’s profile, among other useful options.Highly configurable. The number of tweets in your feed, the frequency of notifications, even the font size are all customizable from the Settings menu.Other great features include search, trending topics, notifications, URL shorteners, photo upload, and cut and paste.Cons:Can’t manipulate tweets from user profiles. A vital flaw in Twidroid that lesser apps address is the inability to select a tweet while viewing a user’s profile, including your own. This makes it difficult to interact with new followers or with tweets that have fallen below the maximum size of your timeline.Hangups. Occasionally, Twidroid will go to a lot of trouble to refresh your timeline without showing any new information. This issue has been mostly curtailed with recent updates.SwiftThe Swift Twitter app is a relatively new arrival in the Market, released in August 2009. The interface takes some getting used to, but it’s worth the effort, as there is strong functionality under the hood.Pros:SPEED! Swift is, well, swift! The app loads quickly, and pulls in new data like a champ.Continuous feeds. Many mobile Twitter clients will load a set number of recent tweets, and refreshing may disconnect you from older items. But Swift is unique. As you scroll through your time line, Swift automatically loads older tweets, allowing you to read and respond to anything in your feed. Your feed will show you where you last left off, and you can always “Jump to Now” to get the most recent updates from the top.Resends failed tweets. If there’s a hiccup in your connection or Twitter’s service and your tweet isn’t sent, Swift will “try again later” and attempt to resend automatically until successful.Expandable links. Selecting a tweet with shortened links will automatically display the expanded URL or title of the destination web page. This is great for avoiding suspicious sites, but I find it most useful in deciding which articles are worth the load time in a mobile browser.Cons:Can’t view your own profile. Other than searching for yourself, or selecting your own tweet (or a tweet that mentions you), Swift offers no easy way to view your own profile. Beyond the pure narcissistic pleasure, I find viewing my profile useful for interacting, and it allows me to put the right foot forward when following new people. This missing feature is a disappointment in an otherwise great app.Odd user interface. Once you figure out that Swift’s interface is hidden below your username, you’ll be off and tweeting. Despite regular use, I’m often fumbling for buttons that aren’t there and pressing things inadvertently.Doesn’t always confirm tweets. Swift will occasionally send your updates into the Twitterverse without confirmation of success. If you don’t get feedback right away, check your feed to avoid the dreaded double post.TwitterRideTwitterRide is a solid app. While it lacks a few premium features, its lightweight, dead simple interface makes it great for quick posts and replies.Pros:Simple and clean UI. Three large tabs top TwitterRide’s interface: Main Feed, @Replies, and Direct Messages. That’s all you need. Switch between them with ease and speed. Little stars on each tab let you know of new arrivals. There’s plenty of clutter-free space to read your tweets, and three built-in color schemes to suit your eye.Easy tweet manipulation. Tweeting, retweeting, replying, and DMing are done from a separate screen where you can add a URL, photo, or mark your GPS location.Smart profile viewing. Twitteride allows you to view your own profile from the main menu, and view anyone else’s by selecting or searching for them. You can reply and retweet directly from a user’s feed. TwitterRide also allows you to update your profile photo directly from the app.Cons:Can’t see the timeline when tweeting or replying. Because TwitterRide takes you to a new screen when updating, you can’t reference the timeline or even the tweet you’re replying to without going back and forth. This is the main reason I tend not to interact heavily with followers using this app.Difficult to select links and profiles. Because TwitterRide does not bring up an overlay when you select the body of a tweet, you’ll need to steady those fingers to touch the tiny links and @mentions you’re aiming for. Opening links inadvertently while scrolling through your feed is also a common problem.XeekuXeeku has a lot of advanced (and some strange or unnecessary) features. If you can get over the sheer ugliness of the interface, Xeeku can be a useful tool.Pros:Advanced tweet manipulation. Selecting a tweet allows you to reply, retweet, go to a user profile, go to a mentioned profile, go to links, and search hashtags. These options are available throughout. Another handy choice is “Gmail Share” which will paste the tweet URL into a new e-mail message for sharing with your Twitterphobic friends and family.Other smart features include photo upload, trending topics, @reply notifications, and saved searches.Interesting features. Xeeku has some unique functions that I haven’t seen in other apps:By selecting Recent Conversation from any user’s tweets, Xeeku will line up the @replies you’ve been trading with that user so you can read them in succession.Clicking on a user’s profile will load their timeline and stats, as well as a “friend drawer” which shows the photos of the users they follow, much like a profile page on Twitter.Selecting “Gallery” from the main menu loads a random selection of “Featured User Photos” from twitter.xeeku.com. This is a fun way to see what users are uploading and find interesting people to follow.Cons:Harsh Interface. Gradients, mismatched icons, sharp edges, and wandering text await new Xeeku users. In addition to its ugliness, the interface can be frustrating. A row of buttons floats aimlessly at the bottom, putting the comparatively less useful “Saved Searches” and “Trends” icons before “Mentions” and “Direct Messages.” Additionally, the app insists on going full screen and hiding your notification bar, cutting you off from new emails, messages, and the battery life indicator.No settings. Want to turn off notifications? Rather see 200 tweets in your timeline? Well, you can’t, because Xeeku has absolutely no settings menu. Xeeku is a lot like kindergarten snack time: “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.”Instability. Xeeku has been updating recently, and while some patches tend to improve stability, others increase the Force Close rate. On the whole, it seems Xeeku may be so feature-heavy that it stumbles under its own weight.ConclusionFor now, these four apps tend to have the most useful Twitter features for Android. Of them, Twidroid and Swift do the best job balancing rich functionality, speed, and interface design. In Android communities, Twidroid tends to be the Twitter app by which all others are measured, but I find I’m using Swift more and more for its speed and stability.As an Android user, what’s your go-to Twitter app, and why? Which features are crucial to your mobile Twitter experience?More Twitter resources from Mashable:- 6 Incredible Twitter Powered Art Projects- HOW TO: Do Good on Twitter- 10 Most Extraordinary Twitter Updates- 6 Gorgeous Twitter Visualizations- 10 Ways to Find People on TwitterReviews: Android, Android Market, Twidroid, TwitterTags: android, Android apps, Lists, Mobile 2.0, mobile apps, twitter, twitter apps
Thanks to this week’s advertisers and partners for enabling us to bring you the latest social media news and resources. We’re particularly inspired by those brands that are engaging with our readers as part of our Twitter Brand Sponsorsprogram: Mashable’s sponsors are as social media savvy as our readers!Advertise with us and get noticed.Help us to help you. Mashable is seeking out site sponsors for our large, diverse audience — social media users, venture capitalists, early adopters, developers, bloggers, and many more. You’ll receive hundreds of thousands of views a day in addition to weekly recognition to thank you as our premium sponsors. Are you interested? Contact usfor more information and to receive our media kit and rate card.This week, our valued sponsors are Grasshopper, MOTOBLUR, Que Publishing, SynergyChat, PayPal X Innovate 2009, Conduit,
Much was made of Barack Obama’s use of social mediain his successful 2008 Presidential campaign. Although it’s now been nearly a year since he was elected, the President and his team continue to make use of the tools that helped him land the job. The latest example: the official Obama family portrait, posted to Flickr on Thursday. The photo is part of the White House Flickr stream, which includes hundreds of sets from the President’s day-to-day engagements around the world.As with all photos posted to the stream, however, users should be aware of the restrictions placed on their use: “This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.”Do you think Obama has been doing an effective job of using social media since he became President? Share your thoughts in the comments.See Also: Obama: Does He Pass the Social Media Test?Reviews: FlickrTags: flickr, obama, obama family portrait, politics
