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| 6 Cuddly Mascots Created by Tech Companies | |  Trying to gain attention in the tech industry can be daunting. If you don't make a booming first impression or raise millions in your first VC round, you could be destined for obscurity. In order to stand out from the crowd, some startups adopt mascots for their products. However, a mascot's success all depends on the public's reaction. (See Microsoft Word's Clippy or the Pets.com hand puppet for examples of what not to do.) The trick is to make your product lovable enough that the public embraces whichever mascot you've chosen. URL shortener Bit.ly's pufferfish is a great example. The company introduced a clever mascot to make the brand more three-dimensional. Here's a few mascots that caught our eye. Know any that we overlooked? Let us know in the comments. |
| Startup Stops Sites Selling Your Information in One Click | |  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: SafeShepherd Quick Pitch: SafeShepherd finds and removes your information from websites that sell it. Genius Idea: Automating each of about 25 personal information vendors' removal processes. Want to know somebody's birth date? Address? Phone number? Whether they're divorced? There's an entire genre of websites such as Spokeo, Radaris, White Pages and Been Verified that will gladly sell you such information. They pick it up from sources such as government records and public social media profiles. "Twenty years ago all the information was legally public as well," SafeShepherd CEO Robert Leshner says, "but none of this information was accessible. Unless you lived in the same town as somebody and were willing to go get the records, you probably couldn't get them. The Internet has made it easy." You may be just checking out someone before your first date, but some of these sites' customers have more malicious intentions -- like identity theft. Most personal information sites allow you to remove listings about yourself, but the process can involve following complicated instructions, emails and other kinds of takedown requests. It's a project. SafeShepherd aims to make it easier to opt out of personal information site listings. It shows you where you're listed and automates the removal process when you want to opt out. The startup, which graduated from accelerator 500 Startups in August, will let you remove up to 10 records for free. A free search for my name, however, yielded no results that were actually mine. It also seems like a wasted effort to remove your information from 10 sites, but leave it standing on 15 others. To see and remove all records, SafeShepherd charges a monthly fee of $14 or an annual fee of $65. Leshner says the site also plans to introduce a family plan that allows users to protect spouses and children. So far the site has about 8,000 paying and non-paying users, who have between them removed about 23,000 records. Would you pay to remove your information from vendors? Let us know in the comments. Image courtesy of Flickr, Darwin Bell 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. |
| JK Rowling Upgrades Website, Teases First Adult Book | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 11:12 PM | Lauren Indvik |
|  Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling released details of her forthcoming adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, alongside her newly redesigned website Thursday. Until Thursday, the author's website, JKRowling.com, had been under construction and inaccessible for several months. The new design reflects a cleaner, more streamlined aesthetic. It's available in a variety of languages and dialects -- including both British and American English. Absent, however, are the easter eggs and similar touches of whimsy. Instead, milestones in Rowling's professional life are plotted on a flowing timeline, accompanied by text, photos and video. The palette is subdued and faintly feminine. Details about the book itself are sparse. Publisher Little, Brown & Co. has described it as a "blackly comic" novel aimed at a demographic generations older than the one targeted by the Harry Potter franchise. It will be published in hardback and ebook form worldwide on Sept. 27. Of the plot, the publisher says: "When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?" Rowling's seven-novel Harry Potter series has sold 450 million copies and been adapted into top-performing feature-length films. It will be difficult to imagine such success for Rowling's next novel. Tell us: Are you planning to read it, or will you wait for the reviews to come in first? Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, fast50 |
| Is Boeing Developing a Super-Secure Spy Phone? [VIDEO] | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 8:44 PM | Kate Freeman |
|  Earlier this week it was reported that aerospace and defense firm Boeing is developing its own mobile phone for the James Bonds of the world -- namely, the defense and intelligence communities. The phone will compete with other "highly secure communication devices," but will have a lower price-point than what's currently available, said the National Defense Magazine's blog. The Boeing phone -- for that's it's name -- will be released late this year, and was developed on Android's open source operating system. Brian Palma, vice president of the company's secure infrastructure group, told the blog, similar secure, encrypted devices cost $15,000 to $20,000 per device and use proprietary software and hardware. With the Android platform, they can lower the cost of the phones, but not to a level where the average consumer will purchase it, Palma said. The magazine reported that the President of Boeing Network and Space Systems Roger Krone told reporters in Arlington, Va., that the phone likely marks the first time the company will offer a communication device designed to use cellular networks. The blog also noted a trend Boeing reported in employee device preferences: "Boeing sees a larger business trend where employees once went to work to take advantage of information technology because it was far superior to what they had at home. Nowadays, it is the opposite. The consumer products have outstripped the office IT, and they wonder why their work has far less robust computers and phones." Boeing, a company that's mainly known for making airplanes, introduced its Dreamliner jet last summer. The 787 Dreamliner has 19-inch windows that can be electronically dimmed, plus the cabin has a higher humidity to increase comfort. What do you think about Boeing making phones? What do you think would be a fair price for this phone if it hit the consumer market? Tell is in the comments. ?Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, webphotographeer ? |
| Google Announces 2-for-1 Stock Split | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 5:51 PM | Todd Wasserman |
|  Google is planning a two-for-one stock split that will take effect sometime after June 21. The split, which investors have been requesting for some time, is designed to preserve the power of existing shareholders. The company is planning to create a new class of non-voting capital stock, to be listed on Nasdaq under a yet-to-be-determined ticker. Existing stockholders will get one share of the new stock for every Google share they currently own. Google employees in the future will get non-voting shares. In a letter to shareholders, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin noted they are "halfway" through a plan to sell a "modest percentage" of their overall stock. The pair announced the plan in November, 2009 and say they'll end the sale in 2015. "We both remain very much committed to Google for the long term," the letter reads. The stock split announcement came on the heels of the company's first-quarter 2012 financial results. Google's non-GAAP earnings per share hit $10.08 vs. The Street's estimate of $9.65. Gross revenues for the quarter were $10.65 billion, a 24% jump over the first quarter and 6.6% over the fourth quarter's $10.58 billion. Google's stock was up about 0.5% in after-hours trading on the news. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, RonBailey |
| 3 Marketing Lessons From Facebook's Instagram Acquisition | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 5:47 PM | MatthewSiegel |
|  Matthew Siegel is the co-founder of Indaba Music, an online community of musicians making and promoting music. He was named one of Billboard's "30 Under 30" power players of the music industry in 2010. Follow him @matthewlsiegel. This week, pages upon pages of commentary have been written about Facebook's acquisition of Instagram, the astronomical valuation applied to the deal, and the competitive impetus for the transaction. But what's most interesting is what it implies about Facebook's perspective on content creation versus content distribution. Before Instagram, Facebook was exclusively a way to distribute. It didn't provide tools to actually create (with the exception of typed status updates). Instead, it largely left creation to others -- notably Zynga for games, native camera applications for photos, and record labels and Spotify for music. Facebook's purchase of Instagram represents the acquisition of a technology platform that enables people to create and share. Think about it. When you take out your phone and snap a photo, not only do you use Instagram to create content, but you almost always immediately use the app to share it, too. The larger shift toward content creation has been on the horizon for some time. Just look at Pinterest. While many users aren't creating the images themselves, they are the creators of their own pinboards, and the time spent crafting those vehicles for self-expression is undoubtedly astronomical. That makes this space ripe with deeper user interaction, and that's worth something. Facebook certainly thinks so. They just spent $1 billion on a company with no business model -- just the proven capability to engage consumers while they create. Marketers should take a cue from Facebook's move and apply the following tips. 1. Seek Out Content Partners If content creation isn't your brand's core competency, don't reinvent the wheel - look to others who can help. Just as Facebook acquired Instagram, marketers too can work with companies that deliver content creation capabilities. Running a campaign with a content partner can, in the end, result in far more engagement than expected. 2. Embrace Platforms with Traction One of the first things Mark Zuckerberg said after the deal was that Instagram would largely be left alone, and the existing experience will remain intact. Marketers often go in the other direction. They try to micro sites, special flash platforms, or their own apps, which can limit the possibilities for sharing and consumer participation. Companies like Facebook and Instagram are already great at powering content creation and distribution. So are sites like Pinterest. Marketers should leverage each platform's expertise, instead of trying to create something similar from scratch. 3. Make Room for Amateurs Content creation can sound scary, because not everyone has the skill to create good music, photos, or video. Smart platforms and campaigns like Instagram and Pinterest make room for the pros, but they largely believe in the creative possibilities of the consumer audience. Anyone can snap a photo, just as anyone can create a pinboard. Marketers shouldn't relegate themselves to all pros. Pros create aspirational content that people will want to share, but amateurs bring reach. This May, Mashable will be be exploring the future of digital marketing at our signature conference, Mashable Connect. See below for all of the details." Event Information
Our annual destination conference, Mashable Connect, brings our community together for three days to connect offline in an intimate setting at the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World®. Registration is now open. Held in a unique location away from everyday distractions, Mashable Connect is a rare and valuable opportunity to be surrounded by digital leaders across industries. You'll spend time with Mashable's passionate and influential community, hear from top speakers who will provide insight into the the technologies and trends that are shaping the next era of digital innovation, and get to spend time with the Mashable team. To keep Mashable Connect as intimate as possible, only a limited amount of tickets are available. A Look Back at Last Year's Mashable Connect Supporting Sponsors Sponsorship Opportunities A limited number of sponsor opportunities are available for Mashable Connect. This is an excellent opportunity to get in front of Mashable's passionate and influential audience. Contact sponsorships@mashable.com for opportunities. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ymgerman |
| IWearYourShirt.com Founder Jason Sadler Answers Reader Questions [LIVE CHAT] | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 3:51 PM | Scott Gerber |
|  IWearYourShirt.com's chief t-shirt wearer, Jason Sadler, decided to he wanted to get paid to wear t-shirts for a living in the fall of 2008. With zero followers on social media, no video experience and a small Rolodex of contacts, Jason dove head first into becoming a virtual billboard for any company that wanted to be on his t-shirt. Every day in 2009 Jason wore a different t-shirt, made an accompanying YouTube video, hosted a live video show, tweeted, Facebooked and blogged about the companies on his chest. Fast forward four years and IWearYourShirt.com has been mentioned by many news outlets, including the Today Show, CBS Evening News, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and of course Mashable. Jason and his team of t-shirt wearers have worn shirts for over 1,200 companies, ranging from small mom and pop businesses to Fortune 500 companies. In the ever growing social media landscape, Jason has built a highly engaged community that actively consumes advertisements every day of the year.?? Outside of daily t-shirt wearing in his hometown of Jacksonville, FL, Jason is an avid sports fan, enjoys playing Scrabble, loves movies and frequently travels to speak publicly about monetizing social media and creating community. YEC Global is an international mentorship program of the Young Entrepreneur Council, an invite-only non-profit comprised of promising young entrepreneurs. Its goal is to promote and support young entrepreneurs around the world, as well as foster the thriving global entrepreneurial ecosystem by sending delegations to various countries around the world to lead in-person, peer-to-peer mentorship programs, creative sessions, panel discussions and business competitions. The program also offers one- to two-week internships at YEC member-owned companies. |
| YouTube Favorites 'Hunter and Bear' Return for Interactive Sequel [VIDEO] | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 2:24 PM | Todd Wasserman |
|  Back in 2010, Tipp-Ex, makers of a brand of white-out tape, became a YouTube sensation with an innovative video. Viewers were able to control the plot of the video a la Mad Libs. The initial ad, which has received 19.2 million views on YouTube, featured a camper who confronts a bear. After the initial 30-second video, viewers could either opt to shoot the bear or not. In either case, they were able to enter a verb to fill in the sentence: "A hunter ____ a bear." (The hunter of course used the product to white-out the word.) Two years later, the pair are back with a sequel. This time, instead of entering a word, you enter a year. If you type "1968," for instance, the bear and hunter appear in a psychedelic sequence. "1" prompts a trip back to the manger in Bethlehem. But my favorite may be 1990s "Saved By the Bear." It would be nice if Tipp-Ex could have sprung for a cameo from Dustin Diamond, a.k.a. "Screech," though. I'm sure he's available. |
| Nest Labs Hires Apple's Former Patent Chief for Honeywell Lawsuit | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 1:55 PM | Sarah Kessler |
|  The same patent lawyer who defended iPad, iPod and iPhone technology is now defending thermostat tech for Nest Labs. Nest Labs announced on Thursday that Richard Lutton Jr., Apple's former chief intellectual property officer, will be joining the startup thermostat maker as general counsel. His first task will be to defend the company from a patent lawsuit filed by Honeywell in February, which alleges Nest Labs' only product, a $249 self-adjusting thermostat called Nest, infringes on seven of its thermostat patents. Nest Labs says Honeywell is using a patent-attack strategy to stifle competition. "Instead of countering product innovation with its own new products, Honeywell has a track record of responding to innovation with lawsuits and overextended claims of intellectual property violations," the startup wrote in a response filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. In the filing, Nest Labs argues that Honeywell's patents are "hopelessly invalid" because they were used by other companies for years before Honeywell applied for them. Patent lawsuits have become so prevalent in technology that Google cited them as one reason it wants to pay $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility. In an interview with The New York Times, Lutton says that the number of patents Apple applied for per year increased from about 50 to about 1,000 since 2001. In 2010, 107,792 patents were issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. While the system was designed to protect innovation, many entrepreneurs cite cases when it was instead used to stunt it. If Apple-grade patent lawyers become a staple of the modern technology startup, it will be easy to see their point. |
| Amazon Plans to Lower Ebook Prices, But Does It Need To? | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 1:16 PM | Pete Pachal |
|  In the wake of the Department of Justice lawsuit against Apple and book publishers over ebook pricing, Amazon is in a renewed position of strength. Emboldened by Wednesday's news, the online retailer has already made plans to lower ebook prices. In an emailed statement, Amazon said is a big win for Kindle owners. We look forward to being allowed to lower prices on more Kindle books." Amazon used to sell most ebooks -- including major titles and best-sellers -- for $9.99. However, after five major publishers made an agreement with Apple on ebook pricing that specified other platforms couldn't undersell Apple, Amazon was forced to raise prices, and many books began selling for $14.99. Now it looks like $9.99 could become the norm again. At that price, it's widely known that Amazon is selling ebooks at a loss in a broad strategy to cement its Kindle ereaders and tablets as the dominant ereading platform. Does it need to keep doing that, though? Amazon's market share among ereaders is already dominant. Numbers from last fall show it almost doubling Barnes & Noble's Nook platform, and that was before the release of the new Kindles during the holiday season. In the ebook market, Amazon holds a commanding lead with a 60% share. SEE ALSO: How Steve Jobs Got Apple Into Trouble Over Ebooks Regardless, price-cutting ebooks appears to be Amazon's plan, and it has publishers and retailers worried. While lower prices certainly benefit consumers, if consumers increasingly turn to Amazon's ebooks instead of brick-and-mortar retailers, more bookstores will be forced out of business. In the government's lawsuit, Penguin USA CEO David Shanks was quoted as saying, "I am now more convinced that we need a viable alternative to Amazon or this nonsense will continue and get much worse." What do you think of Amazon's plan to lower ebook pricing? Great news for consumers, or the beginning of the end of the publishing industry as we know it? Image courtesy of iStockphoto, theasis |
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