Bezos-Backed Heartland Robotics Raises Another $20 Million

Heartland Robotics today announced that it raised $20 million in a series B venture round led by Highland Capital Partners. Other investors include Sigma Partners and existing investors Bezos Expeditions and Charles River Ventures. The Boston-based company previously raised $7 million in August, 2009.

The founder of Heartland Robotics is Rodney Brooks, a former AI reseracher at MIT and one of the co-founders of iRobot. Instead of making robot vacuum cleaners, time around Brooks is developing a new class of manufacturing robots. I normally don't quote from a press release, but this Brooks quote sounds like something straight out of an Isaac Asimov novel:

"Our robots will be intuitive to use, intelligent and highly flexible. They'll be easy to buy, train, and deploy and will be unbelievably inexpensive. Heartland Robotics will change the definition of how and where robots can be used, dramatically expanding the robot marketplace."

They sound so harmless, don't they? Let's just hope these robots obey the Three Laws of Robotics. I wonder if they'll be friends with the Anybots.

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5 Thoughts on 5 Things I learned in 48 Hours

5 Things I learned in 48 Hours - Techvibes.com.

Some of my thoughts on some of his thoughts:

#1 The Valley Feel- yes, it is true it does exist and it is unique to Silicon Valley.  That is not to say other areas don't have a great innovation vibe, far from it! Some other areas have great innovation. But regardless where you are, it is good to stay on top of what is happening in the Valley.

#2 The Valley Model- This I could take or leave. Yes, the Valley does have a unique VC-backed approach to innovation. But it isn't the only way to fund and promote start-ups.

#3- Think Small in Scope, and Large in Market- I love this idea. So true. Focus on what you want to do, do it super-amazing well, and then do what you do to conquer a huge (and growing) market.

#4- You Can't Phone It In- You really can't. It takes work and preparation.

#5- Be Yourself- Leave the impersonations to the comedians.

#6- Start Local- I think this is the most interesting and ties in with points #1 and #2. Yes, be aware of what is happening in the Valley. Hell, be inspired by it, but don't try to copy it (so I guess this ties in to point #5 also.) Find what is unique about your area and then build on that existing strength found, fund and grow your start-up.

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Flickr Hack Makes 3D Model of Any City in a Day

Scholars at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a method for creating 3D models of pretty much anything in pretty much no time.

Using a sexy algorithm and the millions of photographs available from Flickr, the team can create a sophisticated three-dimensional model on a single personal computer in under a day.

Sponsor

The process was created by a team made of specialists from UNC and colleagues at Swiss university, ETH-Zurich, led by Jan-Michael Frahm. Their proof-of-concept was Rome, which was constructed out of 3 million images in under a day using over-the-counter graphics software, according to UNC. "Our technique would be the equivalent of processing a stack of photos as high as the 828-meter Dubai Towers, using a single PC, versus the next best technique, which is the equivalent of processing a stack of photos 42 meters tall - as high as the ceiling of Notre Dame - using 62 PCs. This efficiency is essential if one is to fully utilize the billions of user-provided images continuously being uploaded to the Internet."

They follow-up Rome with the same process on Berlin.

The implications are interesting. Such a process could be, Frahm said, folded into consumer tools like Google Earth and Bing Maps. It could also help both disaster responders, who need a full picture of where they're headed, and tourists, who want to find out all they can about a location with a click.

Other sources: Futurity Discuss

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American Express Now Lets You Swap Rewards Points For Zynga’s Purple Cows

American Express and Zynga are teaming up to make it easier than ever to turn your money into virtual cows, tractors, and whatever else the folks at the multibillion dollar social gaming company can cook up. And this time, it doesn't involve actually forking over cash — at least, not directly.

You see, American Express is now allowing its customers to exchange their membership rewards' points for virtual goods and/or game cards' that can be redeemed for Zynga's in-game currency. These points are earned as American Express customers use their cards — the AmEx site says that you get one point for "virtually every dollar you spend on your Card."

Some of the rewards come fairly easy, with prices beginning at 200 points; others run into the thousands. To help make these rewards more appealing, Zynga is offering exclusive virtual items like a Purple Cow in FarmVille (540 AmEx member reward points), a Café World Amex Lightning Stove (1945 points), and other goods that can't be acquired any other way in the games. More items will be coming on December 6, with support for more games, including FarmVille.

In addition to these virtual goods, users can buy game cards, with denominations starting at $2 for 200 points and running up to $50 for 5000 points (you can get both physical and virtual game cards). Do the math and you'll notice that this is 100 points for every $1 of in-game credit. This works out to 1% of your spendings, which is a pretty standard cash back' amount seen in credit card rewards programs (some programs will do better than 1% for certain items, like hotels).

Obviously none of this is actually free — you'll be giving up cash, discounted hotel rooms, or whatever other reward program you might have chosen instead of Zynga's. But you can bet that plenty of people will make the switch regardless, if only because they want access to the exclusive items that Zynga is offering through the program. And the relatively small number of points needed to purchase' a new virtual good will mean that users can reward themselves more often, which they always like. After all, who doesn't want an elusive purple cow wandering around their farm?

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Facebook E-Commerce Platform Payvment Raises $6 Million

Payvment, a startup that allows anyone to create and operate a retail storefront on Facebook, has raised $6 million in Series B funding led by Sierra Ventures with a BlueRun Ventures participating in the round. This brings the startup's total funding to $8 million.

Payvment's Facebook App lets anyone create a retail store on the social network. The app lets you set up products, categories of products (i.e. shoes, T-shirts, sweaters), import photos, list terms of service and shipping options and more. Once you set up your online shop on Facebook, it will show up in a separate tab on your profile or page under "storefront".

Since the company launched in November of 2009, over 40,000 businesses and individuals have started to sell goods on Facebook and over 500,000 Facebook users have shopped for products in stores using the Payvment app.

Most recently, Payvment launched the ability for for retailers to provide instant discounts and coupons to users that become Fans or "Like" their fan pages. Users can also review items from within the store and the ability to allow shoppers to carry their goods with them across thousands of Payvment-powered storefronts on Facebook. It makes shopping on Facebook almost like shopping at Target, where you can visit multiple departments and buy all of your diverse purchases at once. Payvment currently lists over 750,000 products on its storefront.

Payvment plans to use the funding to hire employees in engineering, online community support, marketing, product integration, retail coordination and other areas.

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16 Handy iPhone Apps for Better Blogging

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

The statistics indicate that small businesses with corporate blogs receive 55% more web traffic than small businesses that don't blog. That's why it is so important for companies to explore the possibility of adding blogs to their marketing and social strategies.

Blogging isn't just writing posts. You have to choose images for your posts, monitor your blogging platform and analytics, market your blog and constantly think about new post ideas.

To keep your blogging activities flexible, there are several iPhone apps that you can use. This allows you to keep up with your blog no matter where you are.

These 16 apps will help you do just that. Add your favorite apps for blogging in the comments below.
---------------

Blogging Platforms
---------------

BlogPress ($2.99) provides complete mobile blogging, including text, images and video. It supports multiple platforms such as Blogger, WordPress, TypePad and many more.

If you don't need to have multiple platforms at your disposal, there are some apps for specific blogging platforms available. And many are free.

WordPress for iOS (free) allows you to moderate comments, create or edit posts and add images or videos. You can use this app with both a WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress.org site.

And if you have a Squarespace site, there's an iPhone app (free) to create and manage your Squarespace site entirely from your iPhone. It also offers "seamless importing" from WordPress, Blogger, TypePad or Movable Type sites.

---------------

Images and Video
---------------

Strong images or videos increase reader interest and engagement, so they're an important part of every blog post. And there are several apps that can help you find, format and insert them on the go.

Photobucket Mobile (free) allows you to upload photos and videos to your blog, Facebook or Twitter. The app also provides access to a searchable media library, with uploading capability and album management.

Adobe Photoshop Express (free) provides one-finger photo editing. You can crop, adjust, filter and add effects or borders on the go.

CellSpin ($1.99) offers the ability to capture video, photo, audio or text and upload it simultaneously on all of your social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. This could be an easy way to send out photos of the team at a company event to your entire network (at one time!).

---------------

Marketing Your Blog
---------------

Once you have your blog up and running, you have to start marketing it. Some of the best ways to market your blog are via other social media sites.

Twitter (free) provides you with the same real-time search and trending topics you enjoy on your desktop.

If you are looking for more organization, Tweetdeck (free) provides the ability to create groups, manage multiple accounts as well as sync to your existing desktop Tweetdeck account.

Facebook (free) gives you access to not only your personal Facebook account but any company Pages to which you're assigned administrator access, as well. So you can check your Pages and respond to comments.

---------------

Analytics
---------------

After spending time marketing your blog, it's only natural to want to see the traffic numbers. Analytics App ($6.99) provides complete mobile access to Google Analytics.

Analytics Pro ($6.99) also provides access to Google Analytics, along with features to export data into reports, as well as grouping and sorting of accounts. In addition, it provides an intuitive date picker for setting the date range.

For a quick check on numbers like subscribers, Twitter followers and page views, Ego ($4.99) offers a single dashboard to check the statistics that matter to you.

---------------

Idea Gathering
---------------
Bloggers are constantly looking for their next post idea. To make sure you don't forget your best ideas, consider a note-taking app.

Evernote (free) allows you to create text, photo and audio notes that will sync with your PC, Mac or Web. A nice feature is Evernote's search capability, so you can store and catalog a lot of thoughts without losing them.

If you're already using Microsoft OneNote, MobileNoter (free) can be used as a standalone app or synced with OneNote. It allows you to create notebooks and share your information. This could be very handy if you have a multi-contributor blog and want to exchange ideas among several people.

As the name implies, Simplenote (free) offers a straightforward, easy note-taking app that syncs with your computer. It's a great place to jot down a list to reference later.

And while we're talking about ideas, don't forget to set up Google Reader on your iPhone so you can read your favorite blogs when you're out of the office. Other blogs are a great source of inspiration.

Writing a blog is hard work. But it doesn't have to be a burden. Finding a few apps that can make managing your blog a bit easier makes all the difference. What apps are you using to manage your blog? Leave a note in the comments.
---------------

More Blogging Resources from Mashable:
---------------

- 15 Excellent Corporate Blogs to Learn From
- 10 Tips for Corporate Blogging
- 10 Free Drupal Themes for Small Business
- 20 Free Social Media Icon Sets For a More Shareable Website
- 5 Hot Design Trends for Aspiring Bloggers

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HootSuite Reaches 1 Million Users [INFOGRAPHIC]

Social media dashboard HootSuite has reached an important milestone: one million registered users.

To celebrate the event, HootSuite shared with us some stats from its two-year history. HootSuite users send over one million messages per day, mostly on Twitter, but also on Facebook, Ping.fm and LinkedIn. It took one year and two months to reach the first 250,000 registered users, but then, in only ten months, that number has quadrupled.

In 2010, HootSuite was really busy, adding HTML5 support to its web interface, launching iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry apps, and recently switching to a freemium business model.

In the future, HootSuite plans to launch a social sharing tool for publishing platforms and release an API which will allow third-party developers to create apps and tools for the dashboard.

Check out some other stats from HootSuite in the infographic below.

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Why Your Business Should Consider Reverse Mentorship

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

The word "mentorship" usually evokes imagery of an older, more experienced individual imparting knowledge and know-how upon a younger, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed individual that's the traditional use of the word that we've all come to know and accept.

Alexa Scordato, however, is turning that word on its head with a concept she calls reverse mentorship. Scordato currently serves as the community manager at 2tor, an education technology startup. Fresh out of college, though, she first started her career as an executive assistant at Mzinga, a social software company, where she and Chairman and CEO Barry Libert took part in a reverse mentorship.

Pairing senior executives with digital natives seems like an obvious win for the digitally challenged; you put in a few hours a week, and the youngster teaches you how to use Twitter and Facebook. The term "reverse mentorship" can be a bit misleading in that way. What it really is, though, is a two-way conversation — digitally savvy newcomers to the business world have the opportunity to impart their tips and tricks for mastering the Internet, and senior business leaders act as role models and career coaches for budding professionals.

Over the past few years, Scordato has become a very vocal advocate for reverse mentorship, speaking on the subject at various events, including TEDxBoston and Pivot Conference.

While reverse mentorship may be a concept that's been in practice for a while, we really like Scordato's take on the subject. Inspired by her thoughts, here are just a few reasons why your business should consider setting up a reverse mentorship program.
---------------

There Are Knowledge Gaps on Both Sides
---------------

The beauty of reverse mentorship is that it takes both sides into account, realizing that we all come with our flaws, whether we're 22 years old and fresh out of college or 60 years old, steering a business.

"There's a big crisis that I think we're experiencing right now in the marketing industry, which is a severe knowledge gap," said Scordato at PivotCon. "There are a lot of very seasoned marketers out there who are struggling to basically understand the new rules of marketing."

That's just one side of the story. Scordato also explained that, like many other Millennials straight out of college, she had a lot to work on professionally: "I lacked business acumen. I was fascinated with Barry's lingo things like EBITDA and cash flow. I didn't understand any of it. But it was interesting, because I realized that he was equally fascinated by this thing called Twitter."

Scordato and Libert paired up each day for 30 minutes before the work day began. Their morning routine consisted of blogging and engaging via social media. Scordato explained the end result, "[I] got him on Facebook; put his speaking gigs on YouTube; he's on LinkedIn; we wrote 53 blog posts together over the course of a year, and you can tweet him."

Each employee has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Learn about your employees what they excel in and where they need improvement and pair them with others who complement those qualities.
---------------

The Future of Business Is Social
---------------

Communication models are evolving within organization and outside of them. Communication with colleagues or customers is becoming more direct, making it faster and easier to collaborate with others. Dying are the days where the only means of communication with customers was via a toll-free number or a suggestion box. Many areas within business are embracing social and digital media CEOs, public relations pros, salespeople and recruiters to name a few.

"The future of business is social," Scordato stated. "We have to stop thinking about our companies as a corporate ladder. It doesn't resonate with me, it doesn't resonate with my peers. If we want to be an organization that really embraces change and adopts and is innovative, we need to think faster, smarter, social."

The digital age is upon us it's time to embrace technology and see what your organization can accomplish.
---------------

The Generation Gap Argument is Old
---------------

"That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in the next."
John Stuart Mill, British philosopher (1806-1873)

When discussing the evolution of technology, it's almost inevitable that someone will bring up the argument that there's an inexplicable knowledge gap between youngsters who grew up with computers, cellphones and other gadgets and old fogies who remember the days when TVs and radios didn't exist. Sure, there have been many technological advances in the past 50 years, but that doesn't excuse anyone from learning.

Furthermore, we must remember that each new generation is not a new subset of humans we are all people, and we all share commonalities. And most importantly, we can all learn from one another.

Let's get over the excuse that there are too many differences between generations, because frankly, it's lazy and outdated. Scordato sums it up nicely:

"We need to think about reverse mentorship and pairing young people with seasoned executives. We need to stop thinking about it as an us versus them' conversation. It's a two-way street. I'm not going to stand here and say, Oh my gosh, these people over here don't get it. They're slow. They're old. They don't know what they're talking about.' And I would expect that people I want to learn from, my mentors, wouldn't look at me and say, Alexa doesn't know anything. She's just one of those Millennials.' "

The sooner we acknowledge our similarities along with our differences, the sooner we can begin to learn from each other and bridge the so-called generational gap.
---------------

Conclusion
---------------

Adopting a reverse mentorship program isn't a matter of reworking business processes or changing staff. It can be as simple as matching up compatible employees and enabling them to meet during lunch to discuss topics that they're interested in. The important thing is to facilitate a two-way dialogue between newcomers and veterans at your business to encourage sharing of useful skills and knowledge.

Has your organization tried out reverse mentorship? If so, let us know about the experience in the comments below.
---------------

More Business Resources from Mashable:
---------------

- 6 Ways to Score a Job Through Twitter
- Small Biz Checklist: 5 Important Tasks for the End of the Year
- HOW TO: Boost Holiday Sales With Commonly Overlooked Marketing Strategies
- Social Point of Sale: The Holy Grail for Location-Based Marketers
- 4 Job Search Tips for Aspiring SEO/SEM Specialists

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The 20 Gift Cards Consumers Want Most [STUDY]

Holiday shoppers will no doubt be picking up gift cards as convenient gifts for friends and loved ones. Should you count yourself among that bunch, new research from online gift card marketplace GiftCardRescue.com might help you decide which cards to stuff in stockings this year.

The site polled 6,000 users from January to October 31 on their most wanted gift cards, in order to come up with its top 20 gift card list for 2010. For the second year in a row, respondents voted Walmart, Amazon and Target gift cards as the most wanted.

Also notable is that prepaid cards from Visa, American Express and MasterCard are on the rise, according to user preference. These varieties sacrifice retailer brand name in favor of universal purchase appeal.

Of course, not everyone will appreciate a gift card from one of these retailers. Noticeably absent is Apple's iTunes gift cards likely a side effect of the fact that GiftCardRescue does not buy these cards back from users and possibly a signal that its list is a bit flawed. Still, if you want to err on the side of caution, the top 20 list should be a helpful guide for figuring out the gift cards consumers want most this year.

Will you be wrapping up gift cards as presents this year? Let us know in the comments what cards you'll be buying.

Image courtesy of Flickr, silkolive

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How Entrepreneurs Are Using Kickstarter to Fund Their Dreams

Thanks to the success of projects like Diaspora, Designing Obama and The Glif, more and more creatives are looking towards Kickstarter as a way to fund their projects.

The site makes it possible for individuals or groups to fund an album, finance a documentary film or publish a quarterly magazine by soliciting backers online. The brilliance of Kickstarter is in its all-or-nothing approach. This creates a huge incentive for project creators to really put a lot of thought into their project and to offer appropriate rewards for pledges.

We wanted to find out why so many entrepreneurs are turning to Kickstarter to fund their projects. Kickstarter projects come in all sizes and we spoke with three project creators about the how's and why's of crowdfunding.
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The Still Funding
---------------

Christopher Salmon fell in love with Neil Gaiman's short story, The Price. As a filmmaker, Salmon immediately saw the potential of bringing the story to life, using computer animation. He contacted Gaiman and thanks to an incredibly detailed animatic received permission to create the film. Gaiman even agreed to provide the voice narration for the project.

Things were starting to come together, until Salmon ran into a familiar problem for indie filmmakers: Money.

Getting funding for a short film even for something like The Price that has a built-in fan base isn't easy. For Salmon, it was important to not only find a way to raise money, but to do so in a way that would let him retain control of his project. That's when he turned to Kickstarter.

Salmon decided to use the service to raise the $150,000 he needs to turn his animatic into a fully-fledged 3D animated short. As of publishing, the filmmaker is less than 32 hours away from his deadline and he needs roughly $20,000 to meet his goal.

When we spoke to Salmon last week and asked him about the project, he told us that it was the all-or-nothing approach of Kickstarter that really interested him. Ambition and belief in the story is what led Salmon to create the intricate animatic that won over Gaiman; that same ambition is what led him to trust that he will reach his goal.

Salmon spoke to us about the overwhelming feedback he has received from supporters. Interestingly, the film has generated a lot of support and interest from the overreaching film community since the funding push kicked off at the beginning of the month. Pledges have come from all parts of the world and that support and trust will guide him into making an even better film, according to Salmon. "I want to make it as good as it can be to show my thanks," Salmon said.

The plan is for the film to hit the festival circuit as soon as it is complete.

Pledges of $25 or more will receive a digital download of the finished film. Those that choose to donate $50 or more will get a special edition DVD that includes an exclusive interview with Neil Gaiman. Additional pledge levels include other incentives like posters, a Blu-ray edition and signed copies of the film.
---------------

The Just Funded
---------------

Tom Durham is another filmmaker who saw Kickstarter as a way to fund his project. Less than two weeks ago, Durham successfully reached the funding goal for his project, 95ers: ECHOES. Durham's goal was to raise $12,000; he ended up raising just over $17,000 for his project.

Kickstarter turned out to be a crucial part of making 95ers: ECHOES a reality. An ultra-indie sci-fi film about an FBI agent with the power to rewind time, Durham describes the project as "The Time Machine meets X-Files meets Heroes meets A Christmas Carol."

Durham has literally put his life into the film. The project has taken over four years though the idea goes back more than a decade and most of the funding came from mortgaging his house. He does not recommend that approach.

After almost reaching the finish line, Durham hit a wall. Completely out of money, he was faced with having to wait another year to save up the funds to finish the project properly. Fortunately, a relative told Durham about Kickstarter and he decided to give it a shot.

Durham tells us, "Kickstarter understands the artist and understands today's patron, and connects them." After the initial round of backers trickled to a stop, the 95ers was featured on the Kickstarter home page. At this point, the project really started to take off. "Something about our own story, and something about the movie's story, was connecting with people," says Durham.

With his funding goal complete, the next step is to finish the film. The plan is to have it completed by the end of January so that it can go off to festivals and then TV and DVD. Durham hopes to have the film on SyFy in 2011.

Incidentally, this is only the first of five planned 95ers films. We imagine that Durham will skip the mortgage next time and go straight to Kickstarter.
---------------

The Big Success Story
---------------

About a week and a half ago, we covered a Kickstarter project called the TikTok+LunaTik. TikTok and LunaTik are high quality kits for turning the iPad nano into a multitouch wrist watch. When we first wrote about the project, it had raised nearly $200,000 far more than its initial funding goal of $15,000.

Since then, the project has gone on to raise more than $450,000, making it the most successful project in Kickstarter's history. Oh, and there are still more than two weeks to go before the project ends.

For Scott Wilson, the founder of MINIMAL, the Chicago-based design studio where TikTok and LunaTik were engineered, the success has been pretty overwhelming.

Wilson came into Kickstarter with more experience under his belt than the average project creator: his past client list includes a stint at Nike and he has an extensive client list.

So why choose Kickstarter? Well, as we mentioned in our earlier piece, Kickstarter is one of the more pure ways that an entrepreneur can fund his or her idea. Wilson didn't want to deal with VCs. He didn't want to compromise his design. He wanted to make his project on his own terms. That echoes what Salmon told us about his project.

Scott Thomas, who used Kickstarter to fund the Designing Obama book last year, is a friend of Wilson's and encouraged him to give the service a shot. The results, needless to say, have been pretty spectacular.

It wasn't until about 6:00 PM on the first day that the project started to gain attention. After seeing little activity for most of the day, Wilson was shocked to look at his phone and see the funding notices fly in. When we spoke to Wilson last week, the project had just crossed the $300,000 mark.

Aside from the ability to control his own project, Wilson acknowledges that the potential publicity was also an attractive element. Wilson believes that the story behind the project could be as compelling as the product itself.

At this point, Wilson's priority is to just make sure he can get his kits manufactured. Within the first week, he already contacted his manufacturer and doubled-down on his tooling so that the process can get started as soon as possible. Kickstarter backers will be the first priority with orders for retailers and others coming after those are fulfilled.

Wilson, like other Kickstarter project creators, updates the project on a regular basis. He has been using his project's exposure level to help educate other would-be creators and to even promote some other Kickstarter projects. In the waning hours of the funding push for The Price, profiled above, Wilson sent out a plea via Kickstarter's messaging system to those who back or watch TikTok+LunaTik and recommended that they also pledge to Salmon's project.
---------------

The Future of Funding
---------------

Kickstarter is impressive because it can work on multiple scales. From smaller projects like 95ers: ECHOES to mid-sized projects like The Price to half-million dollar juggernauts like TikTok+LunaTik, the model for creator-centric funding has tons of potential.

Of course, not every idea will meet its funding goals. As with anything else, luck as well as effort and overall idea quality will ultimately play a part in what makes it big and what doesn't. Still, we think Kickstarter represents a new era for funding.

What do you think of Kickstarter? Would you consider using it or a similar service to fund your next endeavor? Let us know!
---------------

More Social Media Resources from Mashable:
---------------

- 10 Unique iPhone Photography Accessories
- How Social Media Is Changing the Way Movies are Promoted
- 6 Ways to Score a Job Through Twitter
- 4 Social Web Apps for Making and Sharing Your Travel Plans
- HOW TO: Use Social Media to Enhance Your Event

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Google’s Secret Social Initiative Delayed Until Spring 2011 [EXCLUSIVE]

Google's big social initiative, once thought to be a full-fledged social network named "Google Me," is experiencing delays that have pushed back the launch until spring 2011.

Mashable has learned that Google's big social play could debut in March or April, a far cry from earlier rumors that pegged a 2010 launch date.

The project is a top-secret affair, even within the company. It is being led by Vic Gundotra, one of the company's public faces and a VP of engineering.

"We're always experimenting with new ways to improve our products, and we have already confirmed that we are focused on incorporating social elements across Google," a Google spokesperson told us when reached for comment. "But we have nothing new to announce at this time."

The rumors were running wild earlier this year about Google Me. According to chatter, at the time, it was going to be a "full, first-class social network" designed as a direct competitor to Facebook. A few months later though, Google CEO Eric Schmidt stated that the company is actually building social components into Google's core products.

"If you think about it, it's obvious. With your permission, knowing more about who your friends are, we can provide more tailored recommendations. Search quality can get better," Schmidt said at the time.

So what is causing the delay? The likely culprit is disagreement on the design, purpose and execution of the project. One of our sources told us that he/she has heard "tales of disorganization and too many different teams working parallel or in conflict."

Google's social initiative was sparked by the threat Facebook presented to its domination of the web. Facebook's growth has spooked Google's leadership. When Facebook learned of the search giant's plans, it responded by entering "lockdown" for 60 days, where the company focused on completing new features like Facebook Messages, Facebook Places and Facebook Groups.

Beyond YouTube, Google has a poor track record in social, part of the reason why it acquired Slide and Ångströ. The delay of Google's big social initiative is yet another black eye for the company and another win for a certain social network based out of Palo Alto.

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OpenTable Now Shows You Where You Can Dine Tonight

The OpenTable website has long remained a sparse entity for booking restaurant reservations, but now it's experimenting with a completely overhauled metro home page for each city it serves.

Apart from the much improved new look, the site revamp introduces "Tables for Two Tonight" to all metros, a previously tested concept that highlights available tables for two with one-click booking options at popular and top-rated restaurants. The addition offers site visitors a quick way to find and book timely reservations.

Other improvements include an upgraded restaurant search experience, featured deals and events and suggestions for restaurants you might like based on previous reservations booked through OpenTable.

The new metro home pages are already visible to some users and will go live in all metro areas starting Tuesday morning.

OpenTable continues to seat millions of diners and sign on new restuarants every quarter. Most recently, the company reported 15.4 million seated dinners for Q3 2010. While its mobile apps play an ever-growing role in the booking process, the website overhaul should help the company convert even more potential diners into seated guests.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Robert Scoble

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Google May Acquire Groupon for $6 Billion, and It Would Be Worth Every Penny

Forget the rumor that Google acquired Groupon for $2.5 billion; the search giant is about to close a deal for the group-buying service for a whopping $5.3 to $6 billion, according to multiple reports.

It would be worth every overpriced penny.

The deal is worth $5.3 billion with an additional $700 million earnout based on performance, according to All Things D. The New York Times reports that a deal could be completed as soon as this week. With a price tag almost double that of DoubleClick, Google's biggest acquisition to date, there are still plenty of ways for this deal to fall apart.

Earlier this year, Yahoo tried to snag the group-buying company, but failed. Google, with its $30+ billion cash reserve, reportedly then offered Groupon $3 billion to $4 billion. However, it was rebuffed, so the tech giant upped its offer.

Groupon pioneered the group-buying model through its deal-of-the-day business model. Launched in November 2008, the company has grown from an offshoot of ThePoint to a multi-billion dollar empire with thousands of employees worldwide. In April 2010, Groupon raised $135 million from Digital Sky Technologies, setting its value at over $1 billion.

If the Google deal does go through at a $6 billion valuation, that would mean that Groupon's value has grown by more than $625 million per month or over $20.8 million per day. That skyrocketing value is simply mindboggling.
---------------

Acquiring Groupon: Overpriced or a Genius Move?
---------------

There are many reasons to think that Google would be overpaying to get its hands on Groupon. Any company whose value rises by $20 million per day risks a flameout at the level of Pets.com. $6 billion is a stretch almost any way you slice it.

Still, Groupon has an asset that Google covets so highly that it's willing to pay billions: local advertisers. Through its massive sales team, Groupon has built an impressive array of relationships with thousands of restaurants, spas and local businesses in hundreds of metropolitan areas. It's a market that Foursquare, Facebook and Yelp all target, but none of them has figured out the formula like Groupon.

The group-buying website's value isn't in its technology the flood of Groupon clones proves that but in its unparalleled distribution. No other company in the world has the attention of local businesses that Groupon commands. And no other company has the expertise to turn that attention into a steady and consistent firehose of cash.

It's that attention and expertise Google wants. This is about taking Google's ad platform to the next level. It also doesn't hurt that Groupon is set to exceed $500 million in revenue this year. It's a multi-billion dollar business in the making.

If Google goes through with the biggest purchase in the company's history, it will have the upper hand in local business advertising. That advantage could be so great that the courts stop this acquisition from ever happening. That's why Google wants Groupon so badly that it's willing to overpay by billions; if all goes according to plan, the search giant will be flooded with so much local advertising revenue that it will be able to buy a dozen Groupons.
---------------
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Why Google <3s Groupon

The Google-Groupon acquisition rumors are coming in hot and heavy now. The day began with a rumored price of $2.5 billion, which was way too low. Now it ends with a more likely price somewhere between $5 billion or $6 billion. Whatever the price, it will likely be Google's largest acquisition ever if it goes through (beating out DoubleClick's $3.1 billion, and certainly YouTube's $1.65 billion price tags).

But why is Google even interested in Groupon? It is essentially an e-commerce site, bringing consumers daily deals from local and national merchants. Google doesn't do e-commerce very well (although it is trying through sexier product search). Buying Groupon would be a very risky $5 billion bet for Google in an unproven area outside its sweet spot of search I won't even get into valuation, which at $5 billion would be somewhere in the neighborhood of ten times whispered revenue run-rate of $500 million. But Groupon is the clear market leader in the fastest growing new category on the Internet, and Google seems willing to pay whatever it takes to buy market leadership. As one CEO in the local commerce industry put it to me on Monday, "I think the way Google will evolve is they will want to control everything significant on the Internet."

Local commerce is one of those opportunities where Google is putting a lot of wood behind the arrow. Google Places is increasingly front and center on the main search results page for local searches, and VP Marissa Mayer recently switched from Search to now running Location and Local Services. She is known to be a big fan of Groupon, and now it will likely become a business under her direction.

But if there is one thing that explains Google's affinity for Groupon is its pay-for-performance model. Groupon doesn't get paid by merchants unless it delivers customers to their doors in the same way that Google does not get paid by search advertisers unless it delvers clicks to their websites. Through its online-to-offline coupons, Groupon has figured out how to track that last mile in local online commerce between the ad and customers showing up at a store.

Google could start showing Groupon deals as tags on local searches or within Google Maps. The ability to add deals to their Places pages could make Places more appealing to local businesses as well. The biggest challenge for Google will be scaling the business from one which deals with a few hundred businesses per day to tens or hundreds of thousands. Groupon still requires a large local sales force to manage these deals, and an army of copy writers to make the deals appealing. The larger Groupon gets, the harder that becomes. And those reputed 50 percent margins are begging to collapse. With a $5 billion price tag, there will be no margin of error for Google on this deal.

Photo credit: Flickr/Matt Smith

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Instagram Captures Their First Big Brand Partner: National Geographic

There seems to be a common cycle for many startups. First, you capture users. Then, you capture brands/celebrities. Then you capture revenues. Most startups never make it past step one, let alone steps two and three. The mobile photo sharing service Instagram rocketed past step one in about a week. And then kept going. Now it's time to explore step two. Which is exactly what they're doing with their first major brand partnership: National Geographic.

The partnership seems like an obvious one since Instagram is all about great-looking pictures, and National Geographic is known for great-looking pictures. "National Geographic makes a ton of sense as an initial partner – they're a fantastic company with such a rich visual history. Given that they're so visually oriented, it's a no-brainer that we're going to be trying some interesting stuff out with them over the next few months," Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom tells us.

He notes that they've been talking to National Geographic for weeks about a potential partnership and what it could mean and how it could work. "Basically, we've been going back and forth brainstorming ideas for how NG can participate in the community," Systrom says. He says that it remains to be seen exactly how National Geographic will use the service, but says that engaging their fans will be a first priority.

"They'd like to participate more actively with their fans through photos – whether it's enabling people from around the world to tell their story through an interesting prompt/contest, or crowd sourcing images for an upcoming story everything's on the table," he says.

"They've also got a huge photographer/reporter base that could contribute images on the ground' as things happen imagine a live' version of National Geographic. But again, this is all very early, and we're excited to figure out how NG and other brands can fully utilize our platform," Systrom continues.

Systrom also notes that while they have been talking to other potential partners, they have nothing else to announce just yet. "Talking with brands has always been on our todo list – but doing so only really makes sense when you reach a certain scale to provide a big enough audience. Instagram is quickly becoming a standard tool in people's social media toolkit, and it's natural to start talking to brands about how they can leverage the visual nature of Instagram," he says.

He also declined to give any specific numbers in terms of their current userbase nuumbers, but it seems pretty likely that they're already close to a million users (if not past the milestone).

Things are pretty busy at the old Twitter office.

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It’s the Community, Stupid!

Last week's guest on Press:Here was Tim Wu, author of the new book Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. Wu also wrote this guest post for us about why we should all fear Steve Jobs.

In general Wu who gets credit for coming up with the term "Net Neutrality" has a really important mission whether you agree with him or not: Raising alarm bells that the Internet, like every mass communication medium that has come before, could one day become strangled and controlled by a handful of companies.

From what I've read and from our conversation on and off camera last Thursday, Wu seems to stop short of saying what has happened before on radio, telegram and television will happen with the Internet, saying it could happen. The question, he says, is whether there is something inherently different about the Internet from a technology standpoint that keeps it inevitably open. I think what keeps it from happening is something else: The community around the Internet and the age of modern entrepreneurship in which we live.

Unless the FCC totally screws up on Net Neutrality, big Internet companies just don't have the luxury of shutting upstart rivals out. You want to be cynical and say money drives policy in Washington? Fine. There is more money on the side of the Internet being open than the Internet being closed.

Wu argued that there is nothing different about entrepreneurship today in Silicon Valley than there was back in the early days of the telephone or the radio, and- channeling my inner James Carville- I argued why he was wrong. Here's the gist of my argument, which we didn't have to time really get into on camera:

1. Invention versus iteration. There was probably more raw invention in early waves of communications industries because a lot of Internet companies have been able to stand on the shoulders of giants. Try inventing the consumer Web without copper lines going to homes and businesses and try inventing all of that without, say, electricity. As the Web gets longer in the tooth, there's less sheer OH-MY-GOD! innovation and more iteration. Facebook was a version of social media that worked, not the first social media site; same with Google and search. And unlike a lot of the other waves Wu talks about, at this point the consumer Internet is almost purely software development, not hardware and manufacturing; it's mostly design and user experience not hardcore circuitry and science.

This may sound like a knock, but when it comes to commercialization it's not. The more revolutionary the invention, the harder it is to fund it, manufacture it, commercialize it and get broad distribution for it. The lower the barrier for disruption, the more it occurs and the fewer opportunities large incumbents have to keep markets closed by, say, sucking up manufacturing capacity or raw materials. The assets for the web are smart coders and venture cash. The former tends to flow out of big companies seeking new challenges and new stock options. There's no shortage of the latter- in fact there's an unhealthy glut of it. When new upstarts are awash in an industry's natural resources, it's hard for incumbents to keep them out.

2. Lines of credit versus venture capital. Wu argues that modern venture capital isn't a differentiator because there were ways of financing companies in earlier waves of technology, like lines of credit. Come on. Really? There is a world of difference between an entrepreneur able to put up enough personal collateral to secure a line of credit and an industry where thousands of VCs have $20 billion-plus burning a hole in their pocket looking for high-risk, no revenue opportunities in which to invest. By definition it opens the concept of being an entrepreneur up to huge new swaths of the global population. That means at a minimum that more companies are started, and that means there's more opportunity to start the next Google or Facebook. The barrier of financing for a smart idea is all but eliminated.

How different would, say, early Hollywood have been if any kid with an idea for a movie studio had millions of dollars in funding? It creates huge, constant pressure on incumbents to keep users happy and as mentioned earlier- incentivize the best employees to stay because suddenly jobs at startups not only offer stock options but they have enough cash to pay competitive salaries. And if one hot company gets traction it means hundreds more are started the next day by VCs who want "their YouTube," "their Foursquare," or "their Groupon." This much money with the sole purpose of backing new companies starts to become a game of odds. Every VC would have to be utterly inept not to accidentally back the next great Web mogul.

There is a fundamental difference in how banks and VCs make money and what keeps them in business. Lenders want companies to do well enough to repay debt, and then take bigger loans to continue building their business. Venture capitalists want continual waves of industry disruption. When you have power and money behind breaking not protecting big companies, it's a different scenario. Building a huge company is never easy, but entrepreneurs at the center of the Web are hardly the Davids going up against Goliaths that entrepreneurs were in previous information ages of the past.

3. The culture of pioneers versus the culture of young-eating-the-old. Wu's argument is that when a technology is new, aggressive entrepreneurs flood in, many go out of business and a few survive to become the big winners. He is right that there is nothing unique about that cycle generally. But the uniqueness of Silicon Valley is that it no longer relies on returns from the pioneers of huge new industries, it relies on the young continually eating the old throughout an industry's life cycle. Witness the lack of mourning when a former giant falls on hard times. Witness the lack of asking for bailout dollars. Witness the constant churning of talent, press and attention towards new things. The hype cycle is a bad thing in a lot of ways for Silicon Valley. But the one good thing that it does is continually champion the new over the old.

Overall, Wu and I agree more than we disagree. If the future of the Internet were up to Google, Apple, AT&T and the federal government, I'd be concerned too. But $20 billion a year in venture capital and thousands of people starting companies all over the world every year aren't going to cede anyone that right. The biggest evidence of that is Facebook. If the Internet were copying the trajectory he describes, we'd have our winners and they'd be AOL, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay and Google- end of story. I doubt AOL, Yahoo or eBay would argue they are protected oligarchs, and Amazon would be in the same state had the company not dramatically pivoted into new areas. Google dominates, in part, because it is the youngest of the bunch and iterated in business model and product after watching the older search and portal companies. And Google is now feeling the heat from companies like Facebook and Twitter. Mobile Web may prove to be another matter, but there are just no signs to support that the early pioneers of the Web have an advantage that makes them immune to younger challengers.

Indeed in a lot of verticals, late 1990s companies have already tried to flex these muscles Wu fears, and they've largely failed. Look at travel where online travel agents who had protected inventory fought sites like Kayak who wanted to spider their travel listings. The big portals tried to do this pre-Google, de-emphasizing the search box in favor of people staying within their walled virtual department store. Google disrupted that by making the idea of sending people away from your site more lucrative. Google got very little time to bask in that. Just a few years later, one of Google's biggest challenges is trying to find ways to match the dramatic rise of Facebook, when it comes to keeping their key employees and finding their own answer to social and casual games.

Consider the industry that has done the best job using a closed system and high-paid lobbyists to kill startups: Online music. VCs funding nearly any online music company in the last decade could have just made out the investment checks out directly to the labels, and the result would have been much the same. These companies were almost all bled dry with royalties, and then killed. One of the only reasons Pandora has survived is because it catalyzed its loyal users to break congressional fax machines with complaints about proposed legislation that would put the company out of business. But even in this industry where protectionism has killed so many great startups, the labels haven't "won" because they are still slowly dying. They continue to lose money, because of users like Pandora's who demand they work with new entrants, rampant and uncontrollable piracy and VCs who continue to fund new music startups like Spotify despite a graveyard of failures. It's not just the power of the Internet- it's a powerful community of hackers, entrepreneurs and VCs who send wave after wave of challenges to an industry that they believe should be more open.

Wu says somewhat dismissively in the clip below that everyone always thinks there's something so different about their own time. While it's good to sound potential alarm bells, I'd argue that believing that industries and consumers never change is just as flawed of an outlook.

There's a clip of the show below, go here to hear Wu talk specifically about the state of Net Neutrality.

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Have It Your Way: Sparkbuy Helps You Hone In On Your Ideal Laptop

Head over to Amazon's computer section right now and you'll notice that you have quite a few choices. Thousands of them, in fact. And honing in on the one that best suits your needs can be quite a chore — especially when the data you need to make a good comparison is scattered across blogs, review sites, and electronics databases.

Sparkbuy thinks there's a better way. The site, which recently closed a $1 million funding round, has set out to build a Kayak for consumer electronics', and it's starting with laptop computers. The gist of it: enter which criteria are important to you, and the site will give a listing of laptops that it thinks you'll like best. Sparkbuy is entering private beta tonight, and the first 500 TechCrunch readers to enter the invite code TCRUNCH-VIP' will gain access (make sure to click the Sign Up' link on the site).

At this point navigating Sparkbuy is pretty straightforward. After logging in, you'll see a list of computers alongside the right side of the screen, and a list of different options that you can rank by importance (if you care about them at all). These include things like screen size, lots of memory', Bluetooth, and so on. And yes, there's an option to specify that you only want to see Macs. All of these listings are currently being drawn from Amazon, so you can also include a high Amazon rating as one of your priorities.

As you arrange your top priorities, Sparkbuy will refresh its list of suggestions. Clicking on a listing will generate a popup that gives you an at-a-glance overview of the computer's specs. Once you've found a machine you like, the site will happily refer you over to Amazon to complete the purchase (Sparkbuy makes money through Amazon's affiliate program).

So what's the secret sauce? CEO Dan Shapiro acknowledges that there are plenty of sites out there that look to help consumers pick out a computer, but he says that most of this information is scattered across various review sites and blogs. Even the electronics databases, he says, are incomplete, because they use data provided by the manufacturer. These can be misleading or worse — the manufacturer will sometimes simply not list a feature that it doesn't have, which can lead to a blank spot in a database rather than a definite no'.

To fix this, Sparkbuy employs a part-time team of around 15, who have fleshed out its database of 2,000 laptops. Shapiro says that by the time the site launches to the public, its database should be 99% accurate.

Sparkbuy's flexibility seems like it will be great for tech-savvy consumers, but I question if it may be a bit too much for some people. After all, there's a reason why Apple only sells a handful of laptop models — it's easy to get overwhelmed when you're choosing between a dozen laptops that differentiate themselves with features you're only vaguely familiar with.

I asked Shapiro if the site might be better if it simply named the best of each class of computer: a great ultralight for people who travel frequently; a workhorse for people who need to do video processing, and so on. But he says that while consumers tend to have a lot of overlap in terms of the features they want, there's often one outlier — some feature that they definitely need that may not be found on your normal, baseline computer. That surprised me given how well Apple's one-size-fits-all solutions tend to work, but if he's right, then Sparkbuy may be on to something.

Shapiro says that Sparkbuy will likely open to the public around January. And the site already has its eyes on its next target: televisions.

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Is Twitter Predicting Contestant Exits From The X-Factor?

Glancing at my Twitter stream of an evening, I've been surprised at the number of Geeks watching The X-Factor TV show (in the UK) which is similar to American Idol . But then I guess it lends itself extremely well to witty asides on Twitter. This actually makes the show worth watching, much more for the social media discussions around it than the show itself. It's like being at a football match where the crowd's chants are more entertaining than the game. If there is a business model for bland, manufactured TV I guess this is it.

So we make no apology for passing on the news that social media monitoring company Brandwatch is claiming that it can predict who is about to exit The X-Factor TV "musical competition" based on what's being said about it on Facebook and Twitter. I asked what else they track, but sure enough, Twitter tops the list as a data source.

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ClickFox Raises $18M, Helps Clients Get A Cross-Channel View On Customer Behavior

According to an SEC filing, ClickFox has raised roughly $17.9 million in fresh funding. ClickFox started out in 2000 as a Web analytics company, but has matured into a full-fledged multi-channel metrics provider that aims to help its clients get a complete view on customer experience.

ClickFox realizes that customers engage with companies through a variety of service channels these days, from visiting a website, voice calling and online chat applications to kiosks, retail stores and mobile apps and websites, and aims to serve its clients with a cross-channel dashboard for keeping tabs on this complex tangle of touchpoints in order to gain insights into how and why customers behave the way they do.

ClickFox CEO Marco Pacelli and CFO Sharon Lynch are named in the filing, along with directors Dave Johnson (Jenne Distributors), Geoffrey Oblak (Ascent Venture Partners), Amnon Shoham (Cedar Fund), Ofer Timor (Delta Ventures) and Laurie Olivier (Veritas Venture Partners).

The list of venture capital firms that have participated in the $18 million round mirror that of the current backers as listed on ClickFox's website. Last time the company raised funding was back in June 2008, when ClickFox secured $12.5 million.

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eBay And PayPal Black Friday Mobile Stats: Sales Doubled; Payment Volume Up 27 Percent

eBay and PayPal have released their Black Friday sales and usage data and it looks like both the marketplace and the payments platform experienced strong growth in terms of mobile shopping.

eBay sales in the U.S. from its suite of mobile apps nearly doubled over Black Friday 2009. Globally, eBay mobile is on track to nearly triple its sales over last year and is expected to bring in well over $1.5 billion in mobile sales this year (previously, the company had publicly stated that eBay would bring $1.5 billion in mobile sales; it looks like that number has been altered slightly). On Black Friday, eBay saw a 30 percent increase in mobile bidding activity, compared to the previous year. And since the launch of its first mobile application in July 2008, nearly 30 million items have been bought or sold using eBay mobile apps around the world.

eBay owned PayPal reported a 27 percent increase in total payment volume on Black Friday 2010, compared to the previous year. Generally, PayPal saw an approximately 310 percent increase in mobile shopping on Black Friday.

Black Friday 2010 resulted in 21 percent more total payment volume compared to Thanksgiving 2010 and 19 percent more payment volume compared to an average Friday in 2010.

These results are definitely representative of a larger trend considering that PayPal processes 16.5 percent of U.S. eCommerce and 15 percent of global eCommerce.

In preparation for the holiday shopping season, eBay recently launched a new iPhone app that included bar scanning; and PayPal used exclusive deals as incentives to use the payments technology. Mobile shopping is expected to be huge this year and tt should be interesting to see if eBay and PayPal can sustain the mobile sales today on Cyber Monday and throughout the holiday season.

Of course for total retail sales, eBay lost out to Amazon, Walmart and Target who all took the top spors for online retail sales for Black Friday.

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New European Startup Programme Resembles Y-Combinator Model

So we have Seedcamp, Startup Bootcamp, The Founder Institute, Launch48, Hackfwd and various other startup programme across Europe. And we can now add another to that list: Springboard.

But this is not the Springboard we wrote about last year. Then, it was the brainchild of Red Gate Software who were effectively offering a very informal arrangement, helping young startups. It was also B2B focused.

This is a different beast. The new Springboard programme has wisely realised that there is a gap in the European eco-system for the super-early stage startup that really just needs enough cash to create something. That is in the Y-Combinator and TechStars sort of area, which is much more at the hacker/product end of the market.

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5 of the Best New User Experiences of 2010

As part of the ongoing Mashable Awards, we're taking a closer look at each of the nomination categories. This is "Best Website User Experience." Be sure to nominate your favorites and join us for the Gala in Las Vegas!

When it comes to user experience, designers and developers must do much more than present their users with a "pretty face" web page.

The user experience (UX) of a site or app involves much more than looks; the UX is something that lingers on after the user has left your site. It lies in ease of use, perceived value, whether desired goals were achieved and so much more. The user interface (UI) is only part of that larger experience, but it can contribute much to a user's impression of the app.

In writing about the best web designs of 2010, form and function each played a large role in determining our choices. But when we think about user experience, function takes absolute precedence.

What sites and apps were the most interesting, the most useful, the most innovative of the past year? In this post, we examine five groundbreaking new UX/UIs from 2010 and discuss how each one expands our expectations of the user experience.
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1. Quora
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One of the earlier launches this year, Quora was a buzz-heavy private beta service in 2009. As a product of some of the best design minds at Facebook, the site was almost guaranteed to have an excellent UX from the start.

We love Quora's elegant interactions. It looks simple; it prompts instant and easy engagement; and it takes the hide-and-seek elements of a QA site away, leaving the user with a trove of relevant information at his or her fingertips.

We're not the only ones who love Quora's design. For a bit of meta navel-gazing, read this Quora QA on why people like Quora's design.

Initially, another thing that made Quora's UX so excellent was the quality of its membership. Have a question about Facebook? A Facebooker would likely answer it. Questions about venture capital? Here are some actual investors to talk to you. Marketing? Ad execs were on the site, too.
---------------

2. Hipmunk
---------------

One thing we loved about Hipmunk from the start is that it took a traditionally bad user experience airline flight search and made it into a good one.

This startup reimagined the most important element of online flight search: how results are displayed. It took a convoluted, multi-entry/multi-exit process and made it simple to behold and linear to walk through, creating a user experience that is far from the stress-inducing nightmare flight search once was.

The company has also hinted it will be turning its eyes toward other types of travel services soon, possibly hotel search. We can't wait.

To get the big picture, check out the video above, and the excellent interview blogger Robert Scoble conducted with Hipmunk co-founder Steve Huffman.
---------------

3. Seesmic Desktop 2
---------------

Seesmic launched a new iteration of its popular desktop app just a couple months ago. Dubbed Seesmic Desktop 2, the application also included an entire marketplace of plugins, making SD2 an all-in-one social media access point a great set of features for run-of-the-mill social media narcissists, as well as businesses that need more control and monitoring tools for their web efforts.

Seesmic's Silverlight-built, Mac- and Windows-compatible product also came wrapped in a gorgeous and functional UI with elegant and subtle details, making it a joy to behold as well as a pleasure to use.

During some turbulent times for third-party applications, Seesmic founder Loic LeMeur proved his very salient point: If you make a great product, build in great functionality, and give users a great experience, you can still build a business on someone else's platform.
---------------

4. Flipboard
---------------

Flipboard launched this year as one of the first iPad apps that sought to reimagine social media for a new form factor.

The tablet gave designers and developers a chance to think about lean-back, glossy, high-end design experiences. Of course, magazines had a heyday; their content is already almost a perfect fit for the iPad. But when you think about social media content those messy, spaghetti-like, intertwining and overlapping feeds of drama, irrelevance and the occasional gem you begin to see what a challenge the makers of Flipboard had on their hands. Could social media be both beautiful and functional on a tablet?

Flipboard integrates personalized Twitter and Facebook feeds to build a social magazine for each user. In an initial review we called it "gorgeous and a pleasure to use," and the app has continued to rack up the platitudes from social media junkies around the web. Its core value proposition is more than just its beautiful, mag-like design; it makes the experience of reading social feeds simpler, faster and better.
---------------

5. Roku
---------------

Without a doubt, 2010 has been the first big year for Internet-connected living room devices. We've seen cool things in the past from PlayStation, Xbox and Boxee; however, 2010 brought something new: affordability and ease of entry.

Roku's set-top boxes start at just $60; already priced to win. Each model also comes with built-in WiFi and they are easy to install they practically set themselves up. They connect to some of the most popular Internet content providers, including Netflix, MLB.tv and now Hulu, as well.

The Roku UI is simple, clean, bright and intuitive; it reminds us of the more user-friendly gaming interfaces, like that of Nintendo's Wii. It's a design language that says, "I'm not technical; I'm fun." Very quickly, the design itself fades into the background and the content becomes all the user notices.

In a word, Roku's UX is amazing because it makes something that was supposed to be complicated and scary (bringing Internet content to the living room) inexpensive, easy and a pleasure to use.
---------------

What Are Your Picks?
---------------

Those are five of our favorite user experiences from 2010; we'd love to know what impressed you this year. In the comments, tell us about the apps, devices and websites that you've loved using throughout 2010 or nominate them for a Mashable Award.
---------------

The Mashable Awards Gala at Cirque du Soleil Zumanity (Vegas)

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In partnership with Cirque du Soleil, The Mashable Awards Gala event will bring together the winners and nominees, the Mashable community, partners, media, the marketing community, consumer electronics and technology brands and attendees from the 2011 International CES Convention to Las Vegas on Thursday, January 6, 2011. Together, we will celebrate the winners and the community of the Mashable Awards at the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity stage in the beautiful New York New York Hotel. The event will include acts and performances from our partner Cirque du Soleil Zumanity. In addition, there will be special guest presenters and appearances.

Date: Thursday, January 6th, 2011 (during International CES Convention week)
Time: 7:00 – 10:00 pm PT
Location: Cirque du Soleil Zumanity, New York New York Hotel, Las Vegas
Agenda: Networking, Open Bars, Acts, Surprises and the Mashable Awards Gala presentations
Socialize: Facebook, Foursquare, Meetup, Plancast, Twitter (Hashtag: #MashableAwards)

Sponsorships are available. Please contact sponsorships@mashable.com for more information.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Mashable Awards Gala Partner:

From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a global entertainment organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has over 5,000 employees, including more than 1,200 artists from close to 50 different countries.

Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to nearly 100 million spectators in 300 cities on five continents. In 2010 Cirque du Soleil, will present 21 shows simultaneously throughout the world, including seven in Las Vegas.

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com

Mashable Awards Online Partner:

Have you ever wished for your own personal gourmet Chef?

The Fresh Diet is like having a Cordon Bleu chef prepare your meals in your own kitchen. There's no cooking, cleaning, shopping - just fresh prepared delicious meals, hand delivered to your door daily! Whether you want to lose weight or just want to eat healthy, The Fresh Diet can help you meet your goals. The best news, we're giving away a FREE week of The Fresh Diet every day on our Facebook page. Just click here to become a fan and you could be the next winner. Join now!

Mashable Awards Partner:

Join us at the 2011 International CES®, the global platform for inspired ideas and innovation. With 2,500 exhibitors, CES continues to be the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow and always reflects the dynamic consumer electronics industry. The International CES is not open to the general public and all attendees must be in the CE industry to be eligible to attend the show. Register FREE for the 2011 CES with priority code MSHB, an exclusive promotion for Mashable Readers.

Mashable Awards Category Sponsor:

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform and the new BlackBerry PlayBook. For the latest on the BlackBerry PlayBook visit the Inside BlackBerry Blog.
---------------

Win an iPad!

Join us on Facebook to learn how to enter Dynadot's I Can Haz iPad Giveaway!

Dynadot is an ICANN accredited domain name registrar and web host where you can register the perfect domain name affordably, reliably, simply and securely. Whether you are a blogger, business owner, or planning on creating the next best Internet meme you need a domain that represents you. Let Dynadot help you establish your web identity today.
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Mobile Future is a broad-based coalition of businesses, non-profit organizations and individuals interested in and dedicated to advocating for an environment in which innovations in wireless technology and services are enabled and encouraged. Our mission is to educate the public and key decision makers on innovations in the wireless industry that have transformed the way Americans work and play and to advocate continued investment in wireless technologies.

Our "Mobile Year in Review 2010" animation proves a glimpse into the most notable breakthroughs in the wireless industry this year.
---------------

Yahoo! is an innovative technology company that operates the largest digital media, content, and communications business in the world. Yahoo! keeps more than half a billion consumers worldwide connected to what matters to them most, and delivers powerful audience solutions to advertisers through its unique combination of Science + Art + Scale. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal.

Mashable Awards Gala Silver Sponsor:

Aro Mobile is an intelligent mobile experience that includes better email, connected contacts, smarter calendar and improved browsing.

The Aro system automatically learns what's important in your life—the people, places, dates and organizations you care about most. In your communications, Aro automatically identifies people, places, events, dates,organizations and locations. From any recognized term, Aro offers quick action menus to speed up your day.

The unique Aro experience is powered by advanced web services: next generation natural language processing and semantic data analytics services. Aro gives you the power to see through the clutter and focus your mobile life.
---------------

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform and the new BlackBerry PlayBook. For the latest on the BlackBerry PlayBook visit the Inside BlackBerry Blog.

Mashable Awards Gala VIP Lounge sponsor:

Influxis specializes in the deployment of creative streaming solutions. Services include large scale deployment, mobile streaming, turn-key applications, and enterprise support with custom network options. With the unique combination of a worldwide network, knowledgeable developer support and nearly a decade of streaming media experience, Influxis is an essential partner to businesses, advertisers, developers, educators, and others who seek expertise in innovative streaming.

Mashable Awards After Party Sponsor:

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform and the new BlackBerry PlayBook. For the latest on the BlackBerry PlayBook visit the Inside BlackBerry Blog.

More About: best user experience, best ux, Flipboard, hipmunk, ix, mashable awards, mashable awards 2010, quora, UI, user experience, ux/ui

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Today’s Big Rumor: Google Buys Groupon for $2.5 Billion

Google has bought Groupon for $2.5 billion, Vatornews reports citing a "reliable source" familiar with the situation.

The acquisition - which is unconfirmed at this point - follows the rumors about Google being in talks to buy the risingly popular local deals site, after Yahoo had failed to negotiate an acquisition for a $2-3 billion earlier this year.

Groupon is one of the biggest Internet success stories as of late, with a $1 billion dollar valuation, reported revenues of over $50 million per month (the site is relatively new, having been launched in November 2008) and copycats, trying to emulate its success, sprouting nearly every day.

The acquisition, if true, makes a lot of sense for Google, giving it a wonderful opportunity to fuse Groupon deals with its local business directory, Google Places. On the other hand, for Groupon it'll be much easier to fend off all those similar services under Google's wing.

We've reached out to both Groupon and Google for comment on the deal, but haven't yet received word from them.

[via Vatornews]

More About: acquisition, Google, groupon

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Chairul Tanjung Prediksikan Pemilik Kartu Kredit Bisa Capai 85 Juta

Pengusaha kakap sekaligus pemilik Para Grup, Chairul Tanjung memperkirakan dalam 8 tahun kedepan pemegang kartu kredit di Indonesia akan meningkat hampir 7 kali lipat.

http://www.detikfinance.com/read/2010/11/29/120814/1504672/5/chairul-tanjung-prediksikan-pemilik-kartu-kredit-bisa-capai-85-juta

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AAXA debuts L1 v2: world's smallest 20 lumen pico projector

The pico projector may have peaked a year or so ago, but AAXA Technologies is hoping to ride the coattails of success with the L1 v2. Predictably, this is the second generation L1, and it's being hailed as the world's smallest 20 lumen pico projector at 4.2- x 2.1- x 1.2-inches. Other specs include a native 800 x 600 resolution, on-board gamma correction, an inbuilt media player capable of decoding a slew of file formats, an LCoS imager, a USB socket and an internal battery good for 1.5 hours of use. We're told that it can blast images up to 50-inches in size, and while the $449 MSRP still stings, those who pre-order now can get in for $399. Not exactly a Black Friday special, but hey...

Continue reading AAXA debuts L1 v2: world's smallest 20 lumen pico projector

Filed under: Displays

AAXA debuts L1 v2: world's smallest 20 lumen pico projector originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Slashgear | AAXA Technologies | Email this | Comments

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/26/aaxa-debuts-l1-v2-worlds-smallest-20-lumen-pico-projector/

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3 Things to Consider When Staffing a Software Development Project

Brett Miller is the president of Custom Software by Preston (CSP). For more than 10 years CSP has impressed clients with highly effective software solutions and teams of multi-talented software engineers.

There are multiple approaches you can take to staffing when it comes to IT projects. You can deal directly with full-time or freelance/contracted employees, or you can outsource using local or offshore development firms.

Determining which of these methods of staffing software development projects is right for your company can be a challenging endeavor, and three opposing characteristics of business need to be considered: cost, risk and convenience. Each of these three concepts demands extensive consideration in the specific context of the project and the organization as a whole.

Below is an overview of what you need to consider and the pros and cons of each option for IT staffing.
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Convenience
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First and foremost, you must decided whether to work with individuals or development companies. Regardless of if you're working with developers in-house, or remotely, or if they're full-time or contracted, the first decision you need to make is whether you want to work with individual developers or companies that specialize in outsourced development.
Full-Time Employees, Freelancers (directly) or Contracts (through staffing companies) - This approach allows your company to maintain total control as it manages the fine details of the project.
Outsourcing (local development company or offshore firm) - This option allows your company to step away from the "day-to-day" responsibilities of managing individuals and project details and instead focus on the project's big picture.

The underlying questions to ask here are simple: Do you want to manage the small details of the project? Do you have the time, expertise and desire to handle this responsibility? Or, would you rather use your time for something else and leave those details up to an expert?
---------------

Risk
---------------

Risk management is about assessing (and minimizing) the likelihood of delays or failures. Minimizing the effects of unforeseen difficulties is also critical. Basically, you want to reduce the likelihood of anything that affects the bottom line.

Throwing money at a project does not always guarantee the best outcome, however, being prepared to commit to the appropriate budgeting often does. In other words, a company that is prepared to fund success is more likely to achieve that success.

You can minimize risk by performing due diligence when selecting a company or individual to work with, clearly defining the project scope, expectations and milestones in any development contracts, and allocating enough money to hire competent developers.
---------------

Cost
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The most talented technical candidates do demand higher hourly rates, but as indicated already, their expertise reduces risk and the number of required project hours. Spending additional money also allows the convenience of implementing the exact approach your company desires, while at the same time potentially simplifying the candidate selection process.

The underlying question here (related to convenience) is how much time do you want to dedicate to finding the most qualified talent? How confident are you in being effective in the selection process? Does your budget line up wth expectations?
---------------

Benefits and Drawbacks of Each Approach
---------------

Let's take a deeper look at some of the benefits and drawbacks of each method of IT staffing:
1. In-House Employees

(Moderate Convenience, Moderate Cost, Moderate Risk)
Benefits:
Longer term (employee) commitment to company
Permanent employment builds the internal talent pool
Allows most control over employees' daily activity
Employees have the greatest familiarity with a company's personnel and procedures
Drawbacks:
Employee costs (such as benefits, vacations, taxes, health insurance, etc.)
Skills might not be applicable to next project
Employee turnover (loss of company-provided training and familiarity)
2. Contractors Through Staffing Company

(High Convenience, Moderate Cost, Moderate Risk)
Benefits:
Immediate pool of talent
Performance guarantees (to a certain degree)
Quick ramp-up (staffing up and down with changing project requirements)
Drawbacks:
Mark ups on contractor hourly rates
Unknown interview process
Inconsistent goals (staffing firms make money by placing candidates, not necessarily effective ones)
3. Direct Freelancers

(Low Convenience, Moderate Cost, High Risk)
Benefits:
No middleman in business relationship
Flexibility of contract terms
Many potential candidates
Drawbacks:
Unknown reliability (it can be difficult to assure reliability)
Too many potential candidates (requiring sifting through job board responses and resumes)
Thorough interview and reference checking process "required" (high risk)
No business entity standing behind work
4. Outsourcing

(High Convenience, High Cost, Low Risk)
Benefits:
Existing structures for successful project implementation
Proven track record of success (documented)
Quickly staff up and staff down as needed
Drawbacks:
Seemingly higher cost (potentially fewer hours)
Hiring company needs to extended greater level of trust and give up a certain amount of control
5. Offshoring

(Moderate Convenience, Low Cost, High Risk)
Benefits:
Cheaper rates
Ready pool of talent
Strong desire of most companies and its employees to succeed
Drawbacks:
Communication issues (language barriers)
Potentially higher rate of project failures and difficulties
Questionable enforcement of non-disclosure agreements (international laws)
Time zone differences (many questions/tasks unseen until next day)
---------------

Conclusion
---------------

Remember, this is a balancing act between the factors of cost, risk and convenience. No one goes into an IT project expecting it to fail, but the fact is, many projects do fail. Properly handling risk management, decision making and cost control demands flexibility and advanced planning. Thoroughly understanding the options available and potential risks when staffing a software project will help ensure the most effective results.

Let us know in the comments your experiences with any of these options for IT project staffing.
---------------

More Business Resources from Mashable:
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- Why SMS Marketing Still Makes Sense for Small Business
- 5 Tips for Marketing Online to an International Audience
- HOW TO: Build Your International Business Network Online
- 5 Tips for Developing a Global-Friendly Website
- HOW TO: Optimize Your Mobile Site Across Multiple Platforms

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, jamesbenet

More About: freelancers, hiring, it, it staffing, List, Lists, offshoring, outsourcing, risk management, small business, software development, staffing

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