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Half of Water-Damaged UK Cellphones Fall in Toilets [STUDY]

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:26:51 +0000

Have you ever dropped your mobile phone in the toilet, er, loo? A new study reveals almost 15% of Britons have. That might explain how 16% of mobile phones have poop on them . GoodMobilePhones.co.uk surveyed 1,937 mobile users over 18 and found that 31% of respondents have damaged their mobiles with water or another liquid in the past. The number one destination for mobile damage is the toilet, claiming 47% of damage incidents. Spilling drinks on mobiles or dropping mobiles into drinks was the second most popular cause of damage, claiming 21% of cases. Filling spots three through five are dropping phones in a bath or shower (12%), dropping in a kitchen sink (7%) and putting through the washing machine in a pocket (3%). Men are three times more likely to be victims than women, with 73% and 27% respectively reporting to have damaged their devices. The study also revealed 86% of Britons did not insure their phones before their deaths by water. Have you ever damaged your mobile? What was the cause? Image courtesy of Flickr, Plemon Studios [Via Daily Mail ] More About: cellphones , Mobile For more Mobile coverage: Follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Mobile channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

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Half of Water-Damaged UK Cellphones Fall in Toilets [STUDY]

What 11/11/11 Looked Like On Twitter [VIDEO]

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:39:53 +0000

Nerd New Year , the alternate name for 11/11/11, has come and gone. And just like the regular New Year, when Twitter records have been broken , it was a popular day to tweet. This video, created by Twitter’s in-house data visualization specialist Miguel Rios , puts a geographic spin on that fact. It shows a wall of tweets moving around the world — first at 11:11am local time, then at 11:11pm. The scale of the “1″ represents the volume of tweets from that location. “Whether you were inclined to crack a joke about this rare binary occurrence, wax poetic about its meaning, or join in a global game to share photos at 11 a.m. and 11 p.m., numerology dominated the conversation,” read a post about the visualization video on the official Twitter blog. As fascinating as it is, the video is incomplete — there’s no clock to tell us exactly what time we’re seeing at any given moment. The two waves of 11:11 local time are easy to pick out, but some parts of the U.S. seem to have jumped the gun, while tweeters in Europe and the Middle East seem to form a second wave of interest in the date. Can Twitter visualizations like this be useful, or are they just interesting novelties? Let us know in the comments. More About: design , Twitter , visualization For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

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What 11/11/11 Looked Like On Twitter [VIDEO]

The Future of Social TV [VIDEO]

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:52:16 +0000

Technology is changing entertainment for better and for worse, according to TV Guide’s general manager and executive vice president, Christy Tanner, who spoke at the Mashable Media Summit . SEE ALSO: Social TV: How Content Producers Can Engage Their Audiences in New Ways TV Guide launched Watchlist , a social feature that lets users search online to see where they can find their favorite shows on TV or on other connected devices. Tanner also talked about social media’s effects on the TV-watching experience. The Mashable Media Summit in Pictures Media Summit 2011 The Mashable Media Summit on Nov. 4 at the Times Center in New York City attracted professionals in digital, tech, advertising, sales, marketing, mobile and publishing from all over the world. Click here to view this gallery. Presenting Sponsor: AT&T More About: features , mashable media summit , Media , social tv , television , trending , Video For more Entertainment coverage: Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

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The Future of Social TV [VIDEO]

Tumblr Numbers: The Rapid Rise of Social Blogging [INFOGRAPHIC]

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:45:10 +0000

The Social Media Infographics Series is supported by Vocus ‘ Social Media Strategy Tool , a free, six-step online tool that lets you build a custom social media framework tailored to your organization’s goals. In four short years, Tumblr has grown from relative obscurity to start-up darling to international microblogging network. The platform has grown a staggering 900% in the past year and eclipsed platform competitor WordPress , largely due to its global reach and brand-building potential . Those under Tumblr’s influence are fiercely loyal — with 2% of users making up 43% of total visits — and they log in from all over the world. Take a look behind the scenes at Tumblr’s influence on the web, including top tags and fun facts, in this handy infographic. Infographic designed by Emily Caufield . Series supported by Vocus This series is supported by Vocus ‘ Social Media Strategy Tool , a free online tool which lets you build your own custom social media framework in six easy steps. It helps you determine your organization’s goals, explore the latest MarketingSherpa research data, and create your own workbook packed with the strategies, tactics and resources you need. Try it today! More About: features , mashable , Social Media Infographics Series , tumblr For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

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Tumblr Numbers: The Rapid Rise of Social Blogging [INFOGRAPHIC]

Proof: Saul Bass Was the Godfather of Typography Videos

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:50:03 +0000

The name Saul Bass may not ring a bell, but you definitely know the man’s work. Bass was one of the most respected graphic-designers in the film business. He was most well-known for his inventive and striking title sequences for films such as Psycho , The Man with the Golden Arm , Spartacus , The Seven Year Itch , West Side Story , Walk on the Wild Side and a ton of other classics. Don’t believe us? Talk a look at the above collage/homage put together by Ian Albinson, Editor-In-Chief of Art of the Title . Albinson made the video to celebrate the release of the book Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design . The Museum of Modern Art in New York is holding a screening and talk about Bass, who died in 1996, on Nov. 14. Bass was known for his distinctive style, using dramatic cuts and treating text as if it was a character in the scene. While Bass never quite made a typographic music video, his work serves as inspiration for the stylized, typographic videos such as Cee Lo’s “ F_ck You ” and many others . Although best known for his movie work, Bass was a prolific designer creating distinctive logos for Dixie, Quaker Oats, United Airlines and many more. If you’re a Bass-ophile or just curious to see his work, there is also an entire site dedicated to Bass’ movie stills. Check out the video above and let us know: Do modern typographers and designers owe Bass some props? More About: Film , kinetic typography , music video , typography , Video For more Entertainment coverage: Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

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Proof: Saul Bass Was the Godfather of Typography Videos

Possible Google Music Store Screenshots Surface

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:54:55 +0000

A Spanish-language blog has leaked what are purported to be screenshots from the new Google Music Store, a service that the company may announce on Wednesday. The blog, TechnoDroidVe , appears to be based in Venezuela. Its authors claim they got access to an unreleased version of the service by using an HTC Inspire to access the Android Market. Screen grabs displayed on the site show images from artists including Green Day and Shakira. Prices range from $0.99 to $1.29 per song. Albums are priced between $8.49 and $9.99. There is also a “Free Song of the Day,” according to the site. Reps from Google could not be reached for comment. The alleged existence of the Google Music Store comes after Google sent out a mysterious invitation to an event in Los Angeles on Wednesday. In October, reports surfaced that Google would open its own MP3 store “within a few weeks,” but that the company was unlikely to secure rights to sell music from two of the four major label groups, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, by launch. Google’s new store could be connected to Google Music Beta , which was released in May. Such an offering would vie with iTunes Match , a cloud-based offering from Apple that would let users access songs and playlists from other devices for $24.99 per year. Apple has not yet indicated when it will offer that product. (UPDATE: Apple released iTunes Match Monday.) A Google Music Store would also compete with Amazon Cloud Player , a product the company introduced in March that costs $20 per year and has no storage limits. Chino & Nacho App provides short descriptions of artists, according to TechnoDroidVe Click here to view this gallery. More About: Amazon Cloud Player , google music , itunes , itunes-match , trending For more Entertainment coverage: Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

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Possible Google Music Store Screenshots Surface

Overexposed? Artist Fills Room With 24 Hours of Flickr Photos

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:43:45 +0000

Photography has received a boost in recent years with the advent of more powerful cameras in our phones and the explosion of picture-sharing on the social web. In fact, we likely share millions of photos a day and the sheer scale of that sharing is a little hard to imagine. Or is it? Dutch visual artist Erik Kessels is going beyond imagination by literally printing out every image uploaded to Flickr in a 24-hour period. Judging from the above picture, that’s a lot of images. More over, these are just the pictures from Flickr; imagine what it would look like if Kessels dug into Facebook , Twitter and other photo-hosting sites such as Picasa. The installation is on display at the Foam photography gallery in Amsterdam as part of What’s Next? , an exhibit examining the future of photography. Kessels’s goal was to make-real the mountains of personal information and data that people share every single day, he told Creative Review : “We’re exposed to an overload of images nowadays… This glut is in large part the result of image-sharing sites like Flickr, networking sites like Facebook, and picture-based search engines. Their content mingles public and private, with the very personal being openly and un-selfconsciously displayed. By printing all the images uploaded in a 24-hour period, I visualise the feeling of drowning in representations of other peoples’ experiences.” People have been taking and sharing pictures since the first daguerreotypes were created in the 1800s. Kessels’s exhibit certainly forces us to examine how much media we share every day, but couldn’t the same be said for earlier generations who were just as snap-happy even if they didn’t have a Flickr account? The question is less about how many pictures we take but rather how freely we share those images with complete strangers online. Are we a society of over-sharers? Is it shocking to see how many photos are uploaded in a 24-hour period or should we be sharing even more? Let us know in the comments. More About: art , flickr , photo , photography For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

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Overexposed? Artist Fills Room With 24 Hours of Flickr Photos

3 Free Apps For Getting Things Done

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:20:35 +0000

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark . If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here . Each weekend , Mashable selects startups we think are building interesting, unique or niche products. This week we’ve focused on three new apps that help complete (or even inspire) daily tasks. Any.DO is a social to-do list that’s easier to use than any other we’ve seen. Hailo makes hailing a cab a matter of checking in on an app, and photo game Onefeat inspires creative feats throughout the day. Hailo: A Network For Taxi Drivers And Passengers Quick Pitch: Hailo is a network of licensed London taxi drivers that customers can hail using an app. Genius Idea: Making it easier for customers and taxis to find each other Mashable’s Take: Hailing a cab can be a competitive sport. Taxi drivers have no way of knowing for sure where there are customers who need a ride, and customers have no way of telling them. Hailo aims to help the two parties find each other. Customers can request a ride with a free app. After their license is verified, drivers who register can use their own version of the app to accept those requests. So far the service has signed up about 2,300 of 23,000 London Black Cabs. At the end of a ride booked with Hailo, the cab driver enters the meter fee into his or her app and the customer’s credit card is charged. Hailo takes a 10% cut for making the arrangement. Founder and CEO Jay Bregman says drivers have already charged £1 million in fares through the system. Bregman hopes to expand soon into other cities. He says the company has already met with the Taxi & Limousine Commission in New York City and is actively preparing to launch in the United States. There he will have competition from Taxi Magic , which charges the user — not the driver — to pay for the ride with a credit card. Success for a taxi app is somewhat of a chicken-and-egg problem. On one hand, users won’t want to use an app to hail a cab if there aren’t enough drivers registered to respond. On the other, drivers probably won’t find much use for an app that doesn’t send them customers. Any.DO: A Social To-Do List Quick Pitch: Any.DO is a simple social to-do list. Genius Idea: A to-do list that responds to voice commands and gestures Mashable’s Take: If app stores were physical places, you’d have a hard time throwing a rock in them without hitting a to-do list app. The team behind Any.DO has already proven it can stand out in this crowded space . Their first to-do list product, an app for Android called Taskos , registered more than 1.3 million users. Those users are now invited to migrate to Any.DO. Any.DO helps users create, organize and share tasks with friends, even if those friends don’t use the app. It responds to gesture-based commands such as shaking the phone to remove completed tasks, and it can add tasks through voice recognition. Most of the app’s functionality — sharing, reminders, folders and priorities — is similar to other to-do list apps. What makes it stand out is its simple, intuitive interface. Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors recently led a $1 Million investment in Any.Do, but free apps can be hard to monetize. An Any.DO spokesperson said the business has “a few things in the pipeline” that could generate revenue, but it’s not ready to talk about them. Onefeat: A Photo Task Game Quick Pitch: Onefeat is an iPhone app that turns photo missions into a social game. Genius Idea: Photo sharing apps have taken off in the last two years, but many of them look the same. Take a photo. Add a filter. Post it to your networks. Paris-based Onefeat has added a new twist to photo sharing with its iPhone and Android apps, turning photo sharing into a game. Users earn points that can unlock trophies by completing “feats” such as “Get to the end of the world” or “Take a self portrait” that are proposed by other users. Flipping through feats is as entertaining as completing one yourself, and it’s not surprising that users from Brazil, France and the U.S. are playing regularly. Image courtesy of istockphoto, barisonal Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark , 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 . More About: Any.DO , bizspark , Hailo , Onefeat For more Business coverage: Follow Mashable Business on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Business channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

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3 Free Apps For Getting Things Done

Top 6 Mashable Comments This Week

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:32:13 +0000

One of the best parts about working in the Community department here at Mashable is getting to read and respond to the comments that you, our readers, leave on each article. Recently, we launched a new feature to showcase your best comments each week. Included in our weekly roundup will be comments that are on-topic, thoughtful or just plain funny. We love how these kind of responses drive a conversation and entertain us and the rest of the Mashable community. Here are this week’s top comments on Mashable: What Do Google+ Brand Pages Need? Brian Rich lets us know the 3 things that need to happen on Google+ brand pages for him to start becoming an active user of the service. Comment posted on: “Google+ Brand Pages Are the “Wild West”– for Now” Click here to view this gallery. Want to be featured in our weekly round-up? It’s easy! First, sign up for Mashable Follow , our content curation and social space. Next, read our comment guidelines to get an idea of what we’re looking for. Finally, start posting! We can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say about the topics we love. More About: comments , community , mashable follow , top comments For more Social Media coverage: Follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Social Media channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

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Google Leaves Trail of Clues to Mystery Musical Event

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:28:36 +0000

One thing Google appears to be learning from Apple is this: how to build buzz around a product launch by being short on details but long on clues. That’s certainly the case with the invite Google sent us and others in the tech press Friday, to an event next Wednesday in Los Angeles. The company isn’t saying what the event is about, exactly, but here are your clues: 1. It’s being held at Mr. Brainwash’s Gallery — yes, that Mr. Brainwash, the videographer and artist of doubtful legitimacy featured in the Oscar-nominated Banksy documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop . 2. The title of the invite: “these go up to eleven.” That would be a reference to This is Spinal Tap , of course, and to Friday being 11/11/11 . But don’t get thrown off the scent; the key part of this clue is the plural. SEE ALSO: 11/11/11 Is “Nerd New Year:” Here’s How to Turn It Up to 11 3. The event will be livestreamed at youtube.com/android , and the invite features a waving android logo in the corner. By Jove, Holmes, this may have something to do with Google’s mobile platform! 4. The photo of Mr. Brainwash’s gallery on the invite also features a T-Mobile banner. Random advertising, red herring, or clue? 5. The RSVP link for the event includes “Music 2011″ in the URL. Could we be looking at something so prosaic as a set of speakers? At Google I/O, the company gave us a demo of Project Tungsten , wherein sets of speakers could be remotely controlled via an Android tablet. The speakers would also know to play an album when you swiped a CD embedded with Near Field Communication in front of them. That’s an interesting gimmick, but who buys CDs any more — let alone NFC-enabled ones? We’re hoping there’s something more to the mystery, and look forward to letting you know next week. In the meantime, feel free to add your guesses in the comments. BONUS: Mashable’s Google I/O Coverage Android Honeycomb Goes to 3.1 Ice Cream Sandwich: Android’s Newest, Sweetest Flavor Google TV Gets Android Market Access Google Launches Movies for Android 100 Million Android Devices Now Activated [STATS] Google Music Is (Finally) Here Sneak Peek: Google Music on Android [PICS] How Google’s Music Service Works [VIDEO] Google Music Service To Debut Without the Labels Android@Home Lets You Control Your Lights & Appliances Wirelessly More About: android , Google , Mobile , speakers , T-Mobile For more Mobile coverage: Follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Mobile channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad

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Google Leaves Trail of Clues to Mystery Musical Event