Price: $189.00
31.1.11
READ EURO OVAL - Books Literacy Kindle - Vinyl Car Decal Sticker #1735 | Vinyl Color: White
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
30.1.11
Mighty Bright PocketFlex LED Book Light
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Microsoft Windows Me Millennium Edition
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Chaotic Land Design Decorative Protector Skin Decal Sticker for Sony PSP Game Device
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Highlander
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
READ EURO OVAL - Books Literacy Kindle - Vinyl Car Decal Sticker #1735 | Vinyl Color: Green
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
29.1.11
Amazon Kindle 3g skin silicone case cover, neoprene sleeve, accessory bundle, screen protector, MiniSuit LCD Cleaner
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Lumian Design Mini LED Reading Light (White)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Beam N Read LED 6 Deluxe Hands Free Light; Extra Wide & Bright Light from 6 LEDs Plus 4x5 Clip-On Magnifier
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Neoprene Protective Glove Cover Sleeve with Soft Silky Smooth Interior Fur Padding for Samsung Galaxy P 1000 Tablet + SumacLife TM Wisdom Courage Wristband, Green Trim
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
PC Study Bible Discovery Reference Library
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
28.1.11
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Fools Rush In (Weddings by Bella, Book 1)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Skque 2 Hard Shell Carrying Case Cover for Amazon Kindle 2
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Narnia And Beyond
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
LightWedge Soft Case, Original Size
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
The Music of Command & Conquer - Red Alert
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
27.1.11
READ EURO OVAL - Books Literacy Kindle - Vinyl Car Decal Sticker #1735 | Vinyl Color: Silver
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
BOOKS INSIDE - Kindle Cover Art Vinyl Decal Sticker - #K1001 | Vinyl Color: WHITE
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Amazon Kindle Replacement Battery (for 1st Generation Kindle)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Clip-on LED Book Light + Dual Pocket Carrying Case for Kindle Amazon's 6" Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
LED Reading Light, Energizer Trim Flex, Uses 2 3V Lithium Coin - Included EVEFNL2BU1BP
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
26.1.11
Hard Cube Carrying Case for E-Book Barnes and Nobles Nook + Black eLight
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Velocity Micro T301 Cruz 7-Inch Android 2.0 Tablet (Black)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Southern Cross
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Drancy: A Concentration Camp in Paris 1941-1944
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Coby Kyros MID7015 7-Inch Android Internet Touchscreen Tablet - Black
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Pdf Transformer 3 Convert Create Edit Ocr Sec
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
25.1.11
Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Craft Light - Black
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Kindle Lighted Leather Cover, Chocolate Brown (Fits 6" Display, Latest Generation Kindle)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Hard Cube Carrying Case for E-Book Barnes and Nobles Nook + Black eLight
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Happily Ever After (Deep Haven Series #1)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent: All About Money (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
M-Edge e-Luminator Kindle Booklight (Compatible Only with Latest Generation M-Edge Kindle Covers)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Kindle Lighted Leather Cover, Hot Pink (Fits 6" Display, Latest Generation Kindle)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
24.1.11
17 Day Diet (The 17 Minute Workout)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Durable Protective Neoprene Glove Sleeve Cover Carrying Case for Amazon Kindle 3 Wifi 3G 6 inch LCD Display Screen + Hi-Fi Noise Reducing Handsfree Jbuds Headphones with Mic
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Mighty Bright Double Flex Book Light - Available in 6 Colors
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Baby Einstein Gift Pack Volume 1 (Baby Bach/Baby Newton/Baby Einstein/Baby Shakespeare)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Always the Baker, Never the Bride
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Durable Protective Neoprene Glove Sleeve Cover Carrying Case for Amazon Kindle 3 Wifi 3G 6 inch LCD Display Screen + Hi-Fi Noise Reducing Handsfree Jbuds Headphones with Mic
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
23.1.11
Carson DR-200 ezRead Digital Reader, 7.5x Magnification Electronic Reading Aid
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Mighty Bright Double Flex Book Light - Available in 6 Colors
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Mighty Bright Duet2 L.E.D., Black
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
InCarCables Car Stereo Ipod/mp3 Auxiliary Aux-in Input Cable 3.5mm (1.6ft/50cm)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
5" 3x MAGNIFIER optical tool - MAP & NEWSPAPER
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Haynes Techbook Manuals - Automotive Computer Codes
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
22.1.11
Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
15.1.11
Quick Callanetics -Stomach - Amazon.com Exclusive
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
14.1.11
Neoprene Protective Glove Cover Sleeve for Barnes and Noble Nook Color Wireless Reading Device Wi-Fi 7 inch LCD Display Screen
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Allure: Confessions of a Beauty Editor
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Lightwedge Page Magnifier
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Mighty Bright Sight Reader Replacement Light Bulbs (2)
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
13.1.11
Kandle LED Book Light in White, by Ozeri -- Designed for the Amazon Kindle (1st and latest generation), Sony Reader and other eBook readers.
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
3" MAGNIFIER optical tool - MAP & NEWSPAPER - w/ergonomic cushion grip handle
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
High Density Nylon Padded FlexWall Design Case for Samsung Galaxy Tablet / Apple iPad / ASUS Eee Slate EP121-1A010M and Many More!
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Mighty Bright Double Flex Book Light - Available in 6 Colors
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Complete Audio Holy Bible King James Version Complete
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Park Tool Big Blue Book of Bike Repair 2nd Edition - BBB-2
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
12.1.11
Skque Black Stylish Book Cover Shell CASE For Amazon Kindle 2
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
READ EURO OVAL - Books Literacy Kindle - Vinyl Car Decal Sticker #1735 | Vinyl Color: Pink
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Assassin's Creed II: The Complete Official Guide
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
One, Two, Three
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
SurfShelf Treadmill Desk and Laptop Holder
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Christmas With the Kranks
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
11.1.11
2081 | based on Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron"
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
The Justice Game
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Car Power Adapter / Charger & USB Cable COMBO for Barnes & Noble NOOK *Includes Blower Cleaning Brush* w/ Bonus Micro USB cable for charging mobile phones and USB compatible devices **Includes Cleaning Brush
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Bookworm
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
Neoprene Protective Glove Cover Sleeve for Barnes and Noble Nook Color Wireless Reading Device Wi-Fi 7 inch LCD Display Screen
Kindle is our #1 bestselling item for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.
Price: $189.00
4.1.11
3 Tools Realtors Can Use to Increase Sales on the Web
Greg Meyer is the customer experience manager and listening post for Gist. Reach Greg online at @GregAtGist on Twitter, or at greg@gist.com.
Realtors are passionate people, especially about their relationship with customers. One of the ways that they connect with these customers today is through the use of social media, and the methods for doing so are, themselves, becoming much more varied and sophisticated.
Realtors are also dealing with much more savvy customers. Today, customers want to buy a house or refer a real estate agent to a friend on TwitterTwitter
, FacebookFacebook
and other platforms, and agents know they need to be there to provide an open door to customers and provide an authentic, unique experience along the way.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely already familiar with social media 101. So, what are some of the ways you can increase home sales with the latest tools? And, how can you reinvent the home buying experience in clever, innovative ways? Here are three recommendations and accompanying tools that will not only increase sales, but will enhance the overall customer experience and set you apart from the competition.
It’s easy to upload static, one-room images of homes without giving your customer any real knowledge of what the home actually looks like. Instead share true-to-life panoramic images of your properties.
360 Panorama, an iPhoneiPhone app from Occipital, allows you to do just that –- share rich, full images of properties that are stitched together in real-time without any photo-editing work on your part. You can easily share these images over social networks like Twitter and Facebook to give your customers a deeper glimpse into their next potential home.
The broader trend: Be a salesperson, but sell something real — don’t just sell an idea. Easy-to-do panoramic images not only highlight the actual nature of the home, but give your customers a realistic expectation.
Many people look online for an agent who knows the most about a given area or city. For realtors, it has become more about adding credibility while still making it easy for customers to get to and understand the information they need to make an informed, home buying decision.
There are plenty of chart making tools out there, but the one that I’ve found to be most useful is FusionCharts.
Combine this with data pulled from Zillow and Trulia APIs (or if you prefer, their widgets) and you have a deep, intelligent way to inform your customers on everything they need to know before making a purchase. Anything from the latest mortgage rates in their state to historical home prices by zip code or neighborhood.
The broader trend: Differentiate from the crowd by being known as the realtor who provides deep insights into what is, at times, a data-deluged market. By providing credibility-building information and sharing it via social networks, you’re providing a transparent view of your unique understanding and also educating your customers on everything they need to know.
You’re busy, and so is the marketplace. There are plenty of agents in your neighborhood today and all of them want to sell your customers a house. The problem is that none of “your” prospective customers can find out what they need to know without you. So, how can you make finding a house as easy as possible?
Create a comprehensive and easy-to-use property listings site with AgencyLogic’s PowerSites tool. PowerSites is a single property website generator that has robust property listing layouts. The trick that makes this tool stand out from the rest though is its integrated social marketing approach.
First, you create the PowerSites listing, which comes loaded with high quality photo options and a selection of professional, real estate-specific layouts. Then, your PowerSites listing is automatically added to your Facebook profile or page, depending on your preference. There are also options for video, blog and podcast integration for those of you who want to beef up the listing even more.
Here’s an example of a complete listing.
Hopefully, knowing about these customized and task-specific real estate tools will take your customer interactions to the next level on social networks and elsewhere online.
It’s about making the home buying experience that much easier by delivering realistic images, deep data visuals and an integrated marketing presence to customers through robust tools, while still supporting your customer in one of the most emotional and important purchases they will ever make: Buying their next home.
Disclosure: Gist is a MashableMashable sponsor.
- Why the Fashion Industry Is Betting Big on Branded Online Content
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- 6 Reasons Why Social Games Are the Next Advertising Frontier
- 3 Things Brands Must Do to Reach Millennials Online
- HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Facebook Insights for Small Business
Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto, MarsBars
Android App Sends Texts to Wrong Recipients
This is enough to make you paranoid: Google has acknowledged a bug in Android’s default text messaging app that sends texts to the wrong person.
Equally disturbing is that the problem’s been going on since March, and Google hasn’t fixed it yet. The bulk of the complaints started in July, but here’s a report of the problem from March 17 on Google’s Nexus One support forum:
“When I have three or four separate text message conversations going, the software gets confused and sends texts to the wrong person some times. You will think that you are typing a response to contact A and then suddenly the contact name at the top switches to contact B.”
In addition to this problem, some users report texts sent to random people who aren’t in their address book.
The burning question now is, how widespread is this bug? Informal polls show relatively small percentages of people are affected, but it’s still significant. ZDNet site Hardware 2.0 has been running an informal poll for about 12 hours thus far, with 10% of the respondents reporting trouble with SMS messages sent to the wrong person.
It seems if Google wants Android to continue being profitable, it needs to work well on all 172+ phones running it, especially when dealing with an operation as simple as sending text messages to their intended recipients. This problem, along with that sophisticated Android malware uncovered yesterday, is making Google look bad.
Even if the bug is only affecting a fraction of Android users, we think this potentially embarrassing problem is more serious than what Google has classified on its Android Google Code site as a “Priority Medium” bug.
How about it, readers? Let us know if you’ve experienced the problem in the comments.
5 Predictions for Startups in 2011
How we engage with the people, places and things around us is ever-changing thanks to rapid improvements in mobile and web technologies. The speed at which this evolution takes place will only continue to accelerate in 2011 with the help of fledgling startups who will push the boundaries around geolocation, mobile photos, entertainment services, community and physical-to-digital connections.
What follows is an exploration of five significant startup markets that will grow in significance in 2011. Some of these specialized categories are ripe for disruption and innovation, while others have already produced early leaders that will be difficult to best.
Regardless, the startups iterating in these newly invented product categories will capture our imagination in the year ahead and transform the way we use technology in our daily lives.
Read on for five major trends that will hit startups in 2011, and let us know your own predictions in the comments below.
As constant web and mobile users, we’ve all grown accustomed to tagging people and places in photos and status updates. In the year ahead, new services will help us tag real world objects in much the same fashion.
QR code and barcode scanning mobile applications are growing in popularity and purpose, and we’re quickly moving towards a scanning and tagging world where we use apps like Barcode Hero or Stickybits to add our own content to the physical objects we encounter in the real world.
The physical-to-digital connection is what will drive this trend in the new year. Startups such as thingd and Moodstocks have a more grandiose vision around creating digital databases of things, but they’re also creating products that are people-friendly and practical.
We’ve yet to see any one object tagging application or service become a breakout hit, but this will change in 2011 as more consumers warm up to the mobile and social discovery of “things.”
2010 was the year of the checkin. What started as a simple, albeit explicit, way to publicly say “I’m here” mutated into a way for startups to create entertainment checkin services and for companies to build tools to help publishers keep visitors on site.
The entertainment-oriented services are an especially interesting group of services. GetGlue, Miso, Philo, Tunerfish, TV.com Relay and a handful of others have all cropped up with their own variations of the “check in to content, get rewards” concept. Most are successfully inking deals with studios and networks around their entertainment properties, and just recently, GetGlue grabbed $6 million in a Series C round led by Time Warner Investments.
Within this fast-maturing niche is still room for innovation. The opportunities are in motivating user behavior around entertainment content and surfacing fail-proof recommendations.
Somewhere sandwiched amongst ClickerClicker
, Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes, GetGlue, BoxeeBoxee and Netflix is something that can actually figure out what we really want to watch right now and help us watch it in a fashion that supports the interests of studios and networks. It might be a combination of semantic intelligence, social media and game mechanics, or it could be something entirely new.
There’s certainly money to be had here. Investors are financing these ideas, networks are looking for strategic partnerships and cable companies have money to spend.
The rise of the social web has led to brands and businesses emphasizing FacebookFacebook, TwitterTwitter, Foursquarefoursquare, YouTubeYouTube and their social presence over their own website. Social will remain a top priority in 2011, but there will be a website renaissance that focuses on bringing the community back to the site.
2010 has laid the foundation for this movement with the emergence of publisher tools that drive website visitor engagement. Badgeville, OneTrueFan, Marginize, Meebo and Envovle, for instance, are all working on their solutions for the website-as-community concept.
Badgeville lets publishers install a plug-and-play product that adds social rewards and gaming elements to their websites — think rewarding user activity with badges and achievements, à la Foursquare. OneTrueFan also applies game mechanics to website content and Meebo will release its own solution for web checkins in 2011.
Marginize’s browser extension pulls social conversations into a site’s margin but its publisher tool eliminates the need for the extension and lets visitors check in, earn badges and rewards, and participate in onsite comment threads that can be pushed out to social networks. Envolve, however, takes a Facebook-chat style approach to website engagement.
There will continue to be rapid innovation around publisher community tools in the new year. I’m not yet convinced that 2011 will be the year web users completely embrace this idea, but this trend will certainly be pushed forward by publishers who use these tools to engineer a more compelling reason for the visitor to stay and engage. Should they do so successfully, the fruits of their labor will be users that remain on site, share their activity with social networks and influence upticks in traffic, and possibly even sales.
In 2011, the location-sharing counter culture will emerge as mobile users demand less social, more practical tools for sharing their whereabouts with smaller circles of friends and family members.
There’s clearly an audience that appreciates the visibility and rewards that come with checkins, and that is not likely to change. But, a growing number of mobile users will want to apply geolocation technology to their personal lives — think keeping track of the kids, knowing that a significant other made it home safely, or sending and receiving timely notifications based on geographic location.
Consumer-friendly Neer is a prime example of how always-on location technology can be highly personalized and yet not overly intrusive. Geoloqi’s geonotes further personalize the experience by allowing you to leave notes for you or your friends at various locations.
In 2011, we’ll see more applications and services emerge with similar purpose due to advancements in geofencing, proximity awareness and mobile device technologies. Perhaps the only barrier to mainstream adoption is the strain that these services place on mobile phone batteries.
We’re in the midst of a mobile photo sharing boom that has yet to reach its climax. Due to rapid improvements in handset technology, it’s now possible to take a stunning photo and upload it to the web in seconds.
Applications that build expressly around this purpose have cropped up in recent months and prove the viability of this emerging market. Instagraminstagram, for instance, has surpassed 1 million registered users in just 10 weeks’ time. With this type of momentum, the startup looks to be an unstoppable force.
But greatness will not be achieved in replicating the features or filters of Instagram, at least in an iPhone app. AndroidAndroid may still be up for grabs, though not if Picplz has a say in the matter.
Purpose will matter just as much as a platform. Foodspotting, DailyBoothDailyBooth and PathPath all have put their own unique spin on mobile photos. Still, the underlying mobile photo sharing trend can be applied in a number of yet-to-be fully explored fashions.
Because smartphone adoption is nowhere close to capacity, and growth is anticipated in the new year, there’s still time for a few more big ideas around mobile photo sharing to emerge in 2011.
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Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto, LuisPortugal
Images courtesy of FlickrFlickr, jcoleman, dan taylor
The First Rule of Social Media: Know Your Audience [COMIC]
Jobs Demand Media informs, entertains and connects millions of people every day. Through a portfolio of vertical web properties reaching more than 100 million monthly visitors, a global network of digital ...
Delicious’s Loss Is Startups’ Gain As Users Jump Ship
Startups in the web-based bookmarking space are seeing huge surges in the final days of December following news that Delicious may shut down or be sold in the near future.
While Yahoo insiders say Delicious’sDelicious future remains uncertain — and continuing service and new registrations may be unlikely — startups such as YourVersion, Springpad, Histori.us and others have seen spikes in traffic and usage, much of which is due to Delicious users jumping ship and importing their bookmarks onto other sites.
On December 16, a leaked slide from a Yahoo all-hands meeting showed that the semi-popular social bookmarking app Delicious, which the former company acquired back in 2005, was set for a “sunset” phase.
While Yahoo claims it wants to sell the app rather than kill it off entirely, it’s difficult to say who would buy the service, given its financial struggles and deep integration with Yahoo’s technology.
As a result of the leaked slide, Delicious users have rushed to find alternative bookmarking apps and features. Many of the startups in this space have built and publicized importing tools for quickly and easily migrating from Delicious to their apps.
Springpadspringpad CEO Jeff Janer wrote to us in an e-mail, “We’ve seen more than 2 million bookmarks migrated from Delicious to Springpad in the last 10 days.”
And YourVersion CEO Dan Olsen wrote that while his company has supported Delicious imports for a while, “We did see a traffic surge in December from Delicious users… In fact, the Delicious servers were often timing out when people were trying to do imports via the API, so we quickly added the ability to import your bookmarks from an XML file as well.”
Delicious traffic, according to a couple of metrics tools, has seen wider-than-usual swings in December. A surge around the time of the leaked slide seems in line with the volume of alarming news about the service. However, the subsequent dip in traffic, while it could be due to end-of-week and holiday doldrums, could also signify a coming dive in traffic as the “sunset” approaches.
Several competing startups we looked at, however, have seen marked spikes in traffic for the same time period. According to Alexa.com, Histori.us’s traffic was up 40% for the month, Pinboard.in saw a 720% spike, Zootool was up 21%; Springpad’s site saw a 30% increase in traffic; and YourVersion was up 154%. These are just figures for web traffic, not mobile or tablet apps.
It will be interesting to see how the Delicious drama plays out in 2011, and perhaps more interesting to see how these startups continue to capitalize on the sunset of a rather large web service.
Disclosure: Yahoo! is a sponsor of the Mashable Awards.
Tom Selleck Predicts the Future of Tech via a Series of ’90s AT&T Ads
On the eve of the New Year, we bring you a string of predictions that (mostly) came true, from the lips of Nostradamus himself: Tom Selleck.
Yup, he’s not just a crucial part of the “Tom Selleck Waterfall Sandwich” equation, he’s also a prophet — well, you know, in an accidental way, like that episode of Felicity that foresaw the coming of the iPad.
Back in the ’90s, the TV airwaves were graced with a series of AT&T commercials titled “You Will,” all of which told viewers about the crazy, tech-related abundances of the future. The commercials were narrated by Selleck and — it gets eerier — directed by The Social Network’s own auteur de cinema, David Fincher.
As you can see from the above video, a lot of Selleck’s (or the writers’, rather) predictions came true: e-books, GPS, iPad-like devices. While AT&T can’t exactly claim credit for delivering these bounties unto us, it did come out with a bevy of exceptionally good guesses as to what the future would bring.
[via Dvice]
Image Courtesy of Tom Selleck Waterfall Sandwich
3.1.11
HOW TO: Create Custom QR Codes for Your Digital Life
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.
Name: JumpScan
Quick Pitch: JumpScan provides a custom “all-in-one” QR code to link your physical and digital world.
Genius Idea: QR codes have been all the rage this year for big brands, and now ordinary consumers and small businesses can get in on the fun, too. JumpScan lets users create customized QR codes that combine all your contact information, including social media profiles, for on-the-go sharing.
Think of it as a QR-powered iteration of Flavors.me or About.me especially intended for mobile phones.
It’s also a lot like a next-gen version of ContxtsContxts and similar services, but it uses your phone’s camera instead of SMS for a smoother experience with fewer actions between meeting and contacting a person.
As a user, when you sign up for a JumpScan account, you’ll get to create a mobile landing page by entering your contact information. You can add your e-mail address, phone number, FacebookFacebook profile, TwitterTwitter and FlickrFlickr feeds and more.
Once you generate your own code, anyone with a smart phone can snap a picture of the image to be automatically redirected to your own JumpScan page.
We can see this going over really well on the business cards of the digerati, making the rounds at social media meetups and large conferences.
The startup is also pitching its codes as a great option for SMB advertising.
Here’s a quick demo video showing how the app works:
Jumpscan was founded in 2010 and recently scored some funding from an economic development agency in North Carolina.
What do you think of JumpScan so far? Would you use the QR codes from this company for maintaining and sharing your contact info?
Image courtesy of Flickr, mattedgar.
BizSpark 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.
HOW TO: Your Get Your Old PC Running Like New Again
Michael Smith has been the IT Manager at TrialPay for three years, where he supports a wide variety of computer systems for 100 employees. TrialPay works with more than 10,000 companies in social games and software, including CNET, which is offering a special “New Year, New PC” bundle.
Now that the new year is upon us, many people may be thinking about dumping their slower, outdated hardware and starting with a clean slate. But why shell out hundreds, if not thousands for a new system? There are several ways to give your PC a makeover that will get it running as good as new for much less.
Here are four things to try.??
Running too much software on your computer can eat up your hard drive space and degrade performance quickly. Be efficient when selecting software; only get what you need and use one solution instead of two when possible. Here are a few areas where you can cut corners:
Antivirus software: Choose an antivirus product that protects your computer from viruses, spyware and adware. There’s no need to purchase a separate solution to protect your computer from each when most of the top brands offer comprehensive protection. Using just one application for protection will decrease the number of programs running on your machine at the same time.
PDF tools: The top PDF tools offer more features than the average consumer actually needs. Try the lite version where possible, or try Foxit’s PDF Creator. It’s a great, lightweight alternative that uses less space on your hard drive and won’t slow down your computer.
File compression utilities: File compression utilities allow you to compress files to reduce their size and open compressed files without using a lot of disk space. By using the software to compress your files, you can actually get more mileage out of your hard drive and backup drive instead of purchasing a larger one.
An uninstaller program is also a nice add-on to the products above ? it can help remove all of the “helper files” related to software programs that you might not be able to remove on your own. You can find several highly rated freeware or shareware programs at Download.com.??
Disclosure: Foxit Software’s e-commerce platform is provided by Trial Pay.
When you run any application on your computer, it uses part of your RAM (Random Access Memory). When you don’t have enough RAM, your computer runs significantly slower. Adding more RAM to your computer can give you an easy speed boost. Newer applications require more RAM, so even if you don’t run a lot of applications at once, an older PC might need an upgrade.
Crucial has a great tool to help you determine exactly what you need. Just enter the make and model of your PC, and Crucial tells you your current system specifications and the maximum RAM capacity that your computer can handle. It even provides excellent guides to help you install RAM yourself and troubleshoot problems, and it’s also a great place to get good deals on memory.
The installation process is straightforward (and even easier for laptops than desktops), so you can do it yourself. HowStuffWorks.com has created easy-to-follow installation videos for installing RAM. The desktop RAM video is here, and the laptop RAM video is here.??
Using more than 80% of your hard drive space can make your computer sluggish over time. Most experts agree that you should leave about 15% to 20% of your disk space free. If you’re maxing out your hard drive space, you don’t need to buy a new computer or install a larger hard drive. Instead, you can move your files to the “cloud,” which is a set of technologies and services that allow you to do normal computing tasks over the InternetInternet in real time. For example, instead of storing your pictures on your hard drive (which could take up several gigabytes of space), you can put them on a photo-sharing site (PicasaPicasa, FacebookFacebook, PhotobucketPhotobucket, etc.) or a free online file storage tool like DropBoxDropbox.
Online backup solutions are a great way to get more mileage out of your hard drive. You can look at online backup solutions, such as Mozy, SugarSyncSugarSync or CarboniteCarbonite, or you can get an external hard drive with backup software. For some excellent advice on setting up an external hard drive backup system, check out this Lifehacker guide.
Online backup solutions are the most convenient way to store your files because you can access them from any computer, as long as you have a good Internet connection. External drives can be heavy and cumbersome when traveling, and you risk losing all of your files if the drive is damaged or misplaced. However, online backup solutions are more costly than external drives. Most services charge a recurring monthly or yearly fee, whereas external drives are a one-time expense.
If your computer still doesn’t perform as good as new after trying the previous tips, consider restoring it to its factory settings. Identifying and repairing every issue affecting your computer’s performance can be time-consuming and difficult (even for advanced users). Starting from scratch allows you to remove everything lurking in your system that might be slowing it down. In fact, it’s the only way to be completely sure that you’ve removed harmful viruses or trojans.
Before wiping your computer, make sure you have an effective backup solution to store your documents, media files (video, photos, music, etc.), web browser settings, bookmarks, saved game files, and any other files that you can’t do without. Browser settings and bookmarks can be exported directly from your browser. Game files are trickier because every game is different. You might be able to copy the files from your game’s program directory file, but you should visit the official website for each of your games for specific instructions.
Then, identify the programs that you want to keep on your computer (games, antivirus software, Office, etc.). You will need to locate the installation disks, product keys or download links for each program that did not come with your computer when you purchased it.
Most computers come with a recovery disk, so when you’re ready to take the plunge, just pop in the disk and choose the “Restore” option. However, some computers don’t have recovery disks. Instead, this information is stored on a small portion of the hard drive that is partitioned from the rest of your data and will not be erased upon restoring the computer. See the manual that came with your computer for further instructions as this process will vary.
In any case, make sure you have your WindowsWindows product key. This key might be printed on a sticker somewhere on your computer or in the materials you received when you purchased the computer. You may be asked for this when restoring your computer.
For a more comprehensive tutorial, this LifehackerLifehacker guide has an excellent step-by-step guide for restoring your system. The entire process could take you all day, so be prepared to spend a lot of time on this.?
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Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto, pavlen
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