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Tag: sxsw 2012

  • 2012 SXSW Social Media Buzz: Get The Lowdown [Infographic]

    In this ultimate South by Southwest (SXSW) infographic discover the who’s who of this years festival and find out who the real stars of the show were. If you’re not familiar with the festival this is a great opportunity to learn what it’s all about. From what people were eating, to what brands made the biggest splash, this graphic covers it all.

    After you realize the magnitude of the SXSW festival you might have to put it on your ‘must attend’ list for next year. Devour these tantalizing facts and just imagine how great it would be to find yourself aboard for next years festivities. Thank TracX for this wonderfully informative infographic:

  • SXSW 2012: Google Maps House Bids Farewell To Austin

    Hey, did you know that South by Southwest happened in Austin, Texas, last week? Of course you did! News of the festival attached itself in some way to nearly everything related to technology and pop culture for the past week. Google was there in force as it commandeered the entire residential roadway of Rainey Street last weekend to erect the Google Village, Google’s very own Googleplex-To-Go created specifically for SXSW. If you happened to be in Austin and made your way to the Google Village, you no doubt wandered among the different houses Google established to represent different corners of Googleness.

    One of the houses, Maps House, compiled a video of the few days from last weekend that, as if a gesture of thanks for taking over the street, features a local Austin musician, John Arley, performing his original song, ‘Shooting For Pluto.’

    Have a look to see you missed, what you didn’t see if you were there, or what you forgot if you kept your brain in a fume-infested state of altered consciousness the entire time you were at SXSW.

    I totally want that costume.

  • Bruce Springsteen Schools ‘Em At SXSW 2012

    The man with the Number One album in America today, The Boss, took to the stage at SXSW to deliver the festival’s keynote address. Bruce Springsteen began by asking, “Why are we up so fucking early? I mean, uh, how important can this speech be if we’re giving it at noon. Every decent musician in town is asleep. Or, will be by the time I get this thing finished.”

    The video is almost an hour long. But, we watched through the whole thing for you. So, here are a few highlights until you get home and can pop some corn and see the whole thing for yourself, because you will not want to miss it.

    It’s fascinating to see what’s become of the music that I’ve loved my whole life. Pop’s become a series of new languages, cultural forces and social movements that have inspired and enlivened the second half of the 20th century and the first of this one. I mean, who would’ve thought that there’d be a sax-playing President or a soul-singing President, you know?

    When we started, 30 years old for a rock musician was unthinkable. When I look out from my stage these days, I look into the eyes of three generations of people.

    For a guy who realizes that U2 is the last band that he’s going to know the names of all the four members of, it’s overwhelming.

    Perhaps the most prophetic comment I’ve heard of the past quarter-century about rock music was made by Lester Nags upon Elvis’ death. In 1977, Lester Bangs said, “Elvis was probably the last thing we were all going to agree on, public enemy not countin’… So, instead of saying good-bye to Elvis, I’m gonna say good-bye to you.”

    So, as the records that my music was initially released on give way to a cloud of ones and zeroes, and as I can carry my entire record collection since I was 13 in my breast pocket, I’d like to talk about the one thing that’s been consistent over the years: the genesis and power of Creativity. The power of the songwriter, composer or creator. So, whether you’re making dance music, American, rap music, electronica, it’s all about how you’re putting what you do together. The elements you’re using don’t matter. Purity of human expression and experience is not confined to guitars, to tubes, to turntables, to microchips. There is no “right way”, no “pure way” of doing it. There’s just doing it.

    We live in a post-authentic world. And today, “authenticity” is a house of mirrors. It’s all just what you’re bringing when the lights go down.

    Every musician has their genesis moment… Mine was 1956: Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show. It was the evening I realized that a white man could make magic, that you did not have to be constrained by your upbringing, by the way you looked, or by the social context that oppressed you. You could call upon your own powers of imagination, and you could create a transformative self.

    I always tell my kids that they were lucky to be born in the age of reproducible technology, otherwise they’d be traveling in the back of a wagon and I’d be wearing a jester’s hat… It’s all about timing.

    Doo-wop: The most sensual music ever made. The sound of raw sex, of silk stockings rustling on backseat upholstery, the sound of the snaps of bras popping across the USA. Of wonderful lies being whispered into taboo perfume dears. The sound of smeared lipstick, untucked shirts, running mascara, tears on your pillow, secrets whispered “in the still of the night”, the high school bleachers, and the dark at the YMCA canteen. The soundtrack for your incredibly wonderful limp-your-ass, blue-balled walk back home after the dance. Oh!

    Then, into my 13-year-old ears came ‘60s pop. Roy Orbison. Besides Johnny Cash he was the other man in black. He was the true master of the romantic apocalypse you dreaded, and knew was coming after the first night you whispered ‘I Love You’ to your first girlfriend. You were going down. Roy was the coolest uncool loser you’d ever seen. With his Coke-bottle black glasses, his 3-octave range, he seemed to take joy sticking his knife deep into the hot belly of your teenage insecurities.

    [After playing a verse and chorus of The Animals’ “We Gotta Get Out of This Place”]: That’s every song I’ve ever written.

    [The Animals] was the most unapologetic band name till The Sex Pistols came along.

    [Demonstrates how he stole Animals’ riff from “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” and used it for “Badlands”]: It’s the same fuckin’ riff, man. Listen up, youngsters. This is how successful theft is accomplished!

    The Sex Pistols were so frightening… Which is different from “shocking”. A lot of groups manage “shocking”. But, “frightening” was something else. There’s very, very few rock groups that manage “frightening”.

    I was signed as an acoustic singer-songwriter, but I was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

    Young musicians, learn how to bring it live. Then bring it night after night after night after night. Your audience will remember you.

    James Brown: underrated. Still today, underrated.

    If you were young in the 50’s and 60’s everything felt false everywhere you turned. But, you didn’t know how to say it. There was no language for it at the time. It just felt fucked up, you know? But, you didn’t have the words. Bob [Dylan] came along and gave us those words… And, the first thing he asked you was, “How does it feel? To be on your own?” And, if you were a kid in 1965, you were on your own, because your parents – God bless ’em – they could not understand the incredible changes that were taking place.

    Hank Williams went from archival to alive for me right before my very eyes.

    [Woody Guthrie’s world] was a word where speaking truth to power wasn’t futile, whatever its outcome.

    So, rumble young musicians, rumble. Open your ears and open your hearts. Don’t take yourself too seriously. And, take yourself as seriously as death itself. Don’t worry. Worry your ass off. Have iron-clad confidence, but doubt. It keeps you awake and alert. Believe you are the baddest ass in town. And [that] you suck. It keeps you honest. Be able to keep two completely contradictory ideas alive and well inside your head at all times. If it doesn’t drive you crazy, it will make you strong. Stay hard; stay hungry; and stay alive. And, when you walk onstage tonight to bring the noise, treat it like it’s all we have. And, then remember, it’s only rock n’ roll.

  • Fiona Apple Appearance At SXSW Was Huge For Fans [Videos]

    SXSW has been going on since March 9, and will wrap up on Sunday, but i’s clearly been a blast for many, whether they’ve attended for the interactive, film or music portion.

    Fiona Apple fans were treated to a performance by the artist, who previewed her first new material in five years. It had been as long since she performed outside of LA, according to Rolling Stone. Apple will have a new album out in June.

    Of course it wasn’t all new material. Videos are all over YouTube (some are better quality than others). I’m guessing they won’t be pulled down, since Apple has them plastered all over her site.

    All of her tour dates except one in New York are sold out.

  • SXSW: Google TV Developer Talks With LG, MOVL & Clear Channel

    The Google TV is a pretty impressive piece of equipment. It’s poised to be a major game changer for the television space. Google recently talked with people in the TV tech industry to ask them questions about Google TV.

    The panel of developers include Pete Hollenhorst of LG, Alan Queen of MOVL, and Harper Lieblich of Clear Channel. The developers talk about why they have decided to support Google TV with their various technologies.

    The talks were conducted over a Google+ hangout. If you missed it, Google developers have posted the entire 27 minute conversation on their YouTube channel. Check it out to see the new developments coming to Google TV.

  • Google Is Working On Making SEO Matter Less

    At SXSW there was a session called, “Dear Google & Bing: Help Me Rank Better!” As previously reported, Matt Cutts was supposed to be there, but couldn’t make it due to his wife having foot surgery. He was still able to appear remotely, and during the session, he just happened to mention that Google is working on some things that will “level the playing field” for people who just have good content, and don’t focus on much on SEO. Bing’s Duane Forrester also participated as Danny Sullivan moderated.

    Today’s webmaster *audio* is a recording of our #sxsw panel: “Dear Google & Bing: Help Me Rank Better!” http://t.co/ddIH6VX5 22 hours ago via Tweet Button ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Here’s the official description for the session:

    If you build it, they might not come, if you haven’t thought about how search engines view your web site. Forget testing for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Search engines are the common browser that everyone uses. The good news is that search engine optimization (SEO) doesn’t mean terrible design or some type of black-magic trickery. Rather, there are good, sensible things that everyone should do that pleases both search engines and human visitors. In this session, representatives from Google and Bing provide this type of advice. They’ll even get you up to speed on the impact that social media is playing on search results. Even better, it’s all Q&A. Bring your top questions about how they rank sites and get answers directly from the source.

    The official SXSW page has the audio for the entire session. Hat tip to Barry Schwartz for pointing to this specific part of it.

    During the Q&A, one webmaster asked how a mom and pop doing its own optimization can stand a chance against all of those who are spending thousands of dollars on SEO.

    “The way that I often think about SEO is that it’s like a coach,” said Cutts. “It’s someone who helps you figure out how to present yourself better. In an ideal world though, you wouldn’t have to think about presenting yourself and whether search engines can crawl your website, because they’d just be so good that it could figure out how to crawl through the Flash, how to crawl through the forms, how to crawl through the javascript, how to crawl through whatever it is. And for the most part, most search engines have made a lot of progress on being able to crawl through that richer content.”

    Regarding the people that are optimizing “really hard” and doing a lot of SEO, Matt says, “Normally, we don’t sort of pre-announce changes, but there is something we’ve been working on in the last few months, and hopefully in the next couple months or so, or you know, in the coming weeks, we hope to release it.”

    “And the idea,” he says, “Is basically to try and level the playing ground a little bit, so all those people who have sort of been doing, for lack of a better word, ‘over-optimization’ or overly doing their SEO, compared to the people who are just making great content and trying to make a fantastic site, we want to sort of make that playing field a little more level. So that’s the sort of thing where we try to make the website…the Googlebot smarter, we try to make our relevance more adaptive, so the people who don’t do SEO, we handle that, and then we also start to look at the people who sort of abuse it, whether they throw too many keywords on the page or whether they exchange way too many links, or whatever they’re doing to sort of go beyond what a normal person would expect in a particular area. So that is something where we continue to pay attention, and continue to work on it…we have several engineers on my team working on that right now.”

    Duane Forrester joked that Bing has some hamsters working on this in the back room, spinning some wheels. He suggested having a great product and being engaged socially. These are strong signals for Bing, he said.

  • Foursquare Returns To Roots To Grow Ads (SXSW)

    Foursquare got its start at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) just as many of the great social media entities did that we enjoy today. Things are a little better than they were back in 2009 when Foursquare first appeared at the Austin media festival. Today they have over 20 million users and are looking for new ways to promote their services and encourage more user check-ins.

    Foursquare CEO,Dennis Crowley is a regular at SXSW and this year is no exception. He’s out in full force letting fans know that he has over 750,000 merchants on the line set to offer local deals to Foursquare users. He believes larger cities can benefit the most from the services as they are the most densely populated and packed with valuable products and services that square users are bound to want to take advantage of.

    He wants to bring Foursquare into the mainstream with the introduction of all types of location-based deals. He aims to make the world easier to navigate via the social media platform. Crowley says that Foursquare is working to bring more merchant tools to their site in order to meet these lofty goals.

    Check out the video with Crowley:

  • Dell and YouTube Gear-Up For Major Coverage

    Dell and YouTube Gear-Up For Major Coverage

    Another important announcement from the 2012 South By Southwest (SXSW) festival, Dell and YouTube are partnering up for some major music festival coverages. These are events you won’t want to miss and these industry giants are making sure you don’t have to.

    Check out what the partnership has planned:

    * New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (New Orleans) – April 27 – May 6, 2012 – A celebration of Louisiana’s indigenous music culture that features thousands of musicians on multiple stages over 10 days supported by 400,000 visitors.

    * Bonnaroo (Manchester, TN) – June 7-10, 2012 – Features 80,000 campers, 700 acres of Tennessee nature, 150 performances and 10+ stages of music.

    * Lollapalooza (Chicago) – Aug. 3-5, 2012 – Spanning over 115 acres of Grant Park and 95,000 attendees a day, Lollapalooza features multiple stages, and a diverse array of 130+ artists from hip-hop, electronica, reggae, indie, rock, modern roots, and many more.

    * Austin City Limits (Austin, TX) – Oct. 12-14, 2012 – ACL plays host to more than 130 artists from across the globe on multiple stages on 46 acres of green grass in beautiful Zilker Park, bringing 75,000 music lovers a day together with unforgettable music and unmistakable Austin vibe.

    Now you don’t have to miss any of these festivals. Coverage of these shows is a big deal, it would cost you thousands to travel to see them all. Take advantage of this collaboration and witness all the action from the comfort of your home!

    Robert Kyncl, global head of content for YouTube comments on the partnership:

    “As a platform, YouTube is committed to bringing original content and unique music experiences to fans, artists, and festivals in a way that benefits the entire music ecosystem,”

    “This live streaming partnership is an exciting example of our commitment to music and YouTube is thrilled to join Dell in bringing four incredible festivals to the world’s largest stage and a diversity of music to fans worldwide.”

    Michael Tatelman, vice president of Dell North America Consumer division also comments on the partnership:

    “Enhancing the music experience for customers is what the collaboration with YouTube is all about,”

    “Dell has a long-standing tradition of supporting music lovers, and all of these festivals have their own cool, unique vibe framed by the music culture of each city. Now with Dell technology, we are able to share that special vibe with millions of music lovers around the world via concert live streams,”

  • PayPal Digital Wallet Unveiled At SXSW: Here’s 20 Minutes Of Demo

    PayPal Digital Wallet Unveiled At SXSW: Here’s 20 Minutes Of Demo

    PayPal introduced a new digital wallet today at SXSW. “This is the future of what PayPal is going to be looking like over the coming months,” PayPal VP, Global Product & Experience, Sam Shrauger declares.

    He actually discussed the offering on the PayPal blog the other day. In that post, he ran down the following lis of what the new digital wallet will make possible:

    Separating the purchase from the payment: Buy something in a store, take it home and decide later how you want to pay for it. PayPal is the only wallet that will offer a 5-7 day grace period for consumers to change their minds.

    Switch from one funding source to another

    Decide to pay over time in installments

    Apply different sources of value (gift cards, airline miles, loyalty points, etc.)

    Personal Lists: Search for items, compare prices and create lists of things you want to buy for a variety of situations.

    Found Money: Your wallet will find deals and coupons for items on your personal lists once you’re in the store. Forgot about that coupon you were saving? The PayPal wallet won’t.

    Spending Rules. Create specific “set asides” like travel funds, set rules by purchase amount, tie specific payment instruments to specific merchants – all in your wallet, without setting up any new bank accounts or opening any new credit cards.

    Here’s about 20 minutes worth of demo of the new digital wallet from Shrauger:

    PayPal will begin rolling out the new features in late May.

    While we’ve yet to see it, PayPal is rumored to be launching a mobile payments dongle to compete with Square. Square has enjoyed unprecedented success in a short time of existence. Such an offering from PayPal, which is more of a household name, could do very well.

    In other PayPal news this week, vice president of customer advocacy and operational excellence Eric Salvatierra was killed when he was struck by a commuter train in Menlo Park.

  • Mass Effect Getting Anime Adaptation This Fall

    Have you ever wondered what Mass Effect would be like as a movie? Well, it’s not a movie, but Funimation is making an anime based on the series.

    Announced last year, nobody really had any idea of what an anime adaptation of Mass Effect would look like. We finally get our first look today at SXSW where Funimation’s James Vega showed off some concept art from the adaptation.

    The anime is called Mass Effect: Paragon Lost. It will focus solely on the character of James Vega who was introduced in Mass Effect 3. The animation will be handled by Production I.G. who are well known as the studio behind Ghost in the Shell. It should be out this fall.

    Funimation also announced the release date for the Dragon Age anime which will be called Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker. It will be launching on May 29. There’s some footage here that shows off a style similar to Appleseed’s CG animation techniques.


    From The Floor: SXSW 12 – Mass Effect Teaser… by DM-Exclusives

    Some people are less than excited about the anime being based around James Vega. Since his introduction in the third game, some fans voiced their dislike of the new character’s starring role.

    [Source: Joystiq]

  • Turntable.fm Gets Deals With All Four Major Labels

    Turntable.fm has secured licensing deals with all four of the major record labels (Universal, Sony, Warner and EMI), which will obviously go a long way in making the service more useful to the mainstream.

    Chairman Seth Goldstein announced the news today at SXSW, and tweeted about it:

    Goldstein told Billboard, “This feels like an all-time record speed launch – when we launched we really didn’t come at this from the music industry, it was all new to us. Our model is unique – we’re not a radio service, not an on-demand service. We have interesting aspects that really require some out-of-the-box thinking. We felt that from the get-go the labels were absolutely different from what I’d been led to believe. They gave us a lot of time and attention. Compared to their user base, we’re a tiny service in the broad scheme of things.”

    As it is for many startups (and fans of music, for that matter), SXSW has clearly been a fun event for Turntable.fm. Here’s some video the company posted with its avatar DJing at the event:

    Turntable.fm + SXSW +Avatar DJ + Pepsi + Intel from Turntable.fm on Vimeo.

    They certainly do have a lot to celebrate now, as they become more of a competitor to more established services like Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, and all the rest. Rdio, by the way, just launched a new version of its site and apps, as well.

    Turntable.fm hasn’t even been around a full year yet.

  • Rdio Unveils “New Rdio” At SXSW

    Rdio revealed a new version of the Rdio site and desktop apps today at SXSW. Included is new drag and drop playlist creation, more personalization features and the ability to create private playlists.

    There’s also a new look and feel, a single view for music, playlists and users’ networks. Users can see what their networks are listening to from the People sidebar.Users can also see who has listened to an album by hovering over it.

    Users can also now add entire albums to playlists. The company says this has been one of its most requested features.

    The new version will come to all accounts in the “near future,” but you can upgrade it now if you use a web or unlimited subscription.

    If you want to see the actual unveiling of the service, you can watch the Rdio press event at livestream.

  • Facebook Boasts 3,000 Timeline Apps

    Facebook Boasts 3,000 Timeline Apps

    Facebook news comes by way of SXSW wherein the social networking site announced that third-party developers have taken kindly to this whole apps for timelines. In fact, the company says, nearly 3,000 apps have launched since Open Graph apps started stepping out into the Facebook world a mere two months ago.

    Foursquare, Nike, The Onion, VEVO, and Fandango are some of the latest companies to launch apps for Facebook timeline. Bolstering this newest wave of app launches, Facebook cited some app-encouraging statistics for some extant apps:

  • Pinterest grew its daily active Facebook user base by 60%.
  • Goodreads increased daily traffic by 77%.
  • Pose saw 5X growth in signups on its website and mobile app.
  • Now that apps allow users to tag locations and friends, app developers have all kinds of new ways to Facebook-ize updates from users. Here’s what you can expect from the newest wave of timeline apps:

  • Foursquare: Foursquare uses many of the new features announced last week to bring its location app to timeline. People can now add their Foursquare check-ins to their timelines and maps, share their badges and see the top places they’ve checked into.
  • Nike: The Nike+ FuelBand is becoming more social through a series of Facebook integrations. As of last week, people can use the Nike FuelBand iPhone app to find friends and see a leader board of how much Fuel they’ve earned versus their friends. Soon, people will be able to post their achievements and milestones directly to their timeline.
  • The Onion: Laugh alone no more. People can now log into TheOnion.com with their Facebook account to add The Onion content directly to their timeline and share articles and videos as they read and watch. Friends can discover articles in News Feed, and get personalized recommendations on TheOnion.com, making “America’s finest news source” more social.
  • VEVO: Vevo introduced a new integration that lets people sign into Vevo.com with their Facebook account, get personalized video playlists based on the artists they’ve liked, discover new music through friends, and post any music video from Vevo’s massive library directly to their timeline.
  • Fandango: Movie fans now have another way to bring their favorite films to their timeline. The new Fandango timeline app lets people add the clips they watch, the movies they rate and any films they want to see.
  • Viddy: Viddy, the mobile app for creating quick videos and adding filters, now lets people add clips to their timelines as they shoot. Now when people film videos from a vacation or everyday life, they can share them to Facebook and collect their clips on the Viddy app for timeline.
  • Endomondo: Endomondo brought its fitness app to timeline so people can share their workouts, progress and favorite routes with friends on Facebook. Sharing fitness activities with friends makes it easier to coordinate workouts and cheer each other on to new fitness goals.
  • RootMusic: The new RootMusic timeline app lets people mark their favorite songs and artists and the concerts they plan on attending from the Facebook Pages of bands, like The Stone Foxes. As people click “favorite”, “going to go” and “wants to go” on a RootMusic app, their picks will be added to their timeline.
  • This is likely good news for Facebook and will undoubtedly encourage more companies to launch their own timeline apps as the Facebook continues its transition from a private and person-driven site into the most spring-loaded diving board advertisers have ever enjoyed. While this is all well and fine for those companies, this means the morass you already have to wade through to find actual personal updates from your friends just got unfathomably deeper. The Onion, in a moment of brilliant introspection doubling as spot-on outward summary, sums up the impending wave of timeline apps succinctly with their invitation to dress your timeline in their own app:

  • SXSW: Play iPad Games With Your Cat

    There are a host of multiplayer games for the iPad that has players going up against an opponent on the same screen. These games can get pretty competitive, but I bet they can’t hold a candle to the most crafty opponent of them all – the common house cat.

    Friskies was at SXSW to show off You vs. Cat which has a human competing against a cat in a sort of air hockey style game on the iPad. The latest game is just one in a long line of games on the iPad and Android tablets targeted at our feline friends. The difference in You vs. Cat is that this is the first game that has a human competing against the cat.

    The previous games in the series: Party Mix-Up, Tasty Treasures Hunt and Cat Fishing, are solo affairs that have cats trying to bat away various on screen treats and fish. You can check out a video of these games below. They are all available for free alongside the newer games at the Games for Cats Web site.

    You vs. Cat will be available later this week. Remind me to download it so I can challenge my housemates’s cats to a few rounds. Their intellect outsmarts me every day as I try to keep them out of my room, but this way I can challenge them on an equal playing field – video games.

    As an aside, if you were concerned over the durability of the iPad’s screen, the Games for Cats Web site says that the iPad screen takes no damage from their cats’ claws. You may want to clip your cats’ claws as a precaution if they are really sharp though.

    [Source: ABC News]

  • Instagram For Android Coming “Very Soon.”

    Last week we reported on rumors that Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom might use his platform at this year’s South By Southwest (SXSW) conference to announce the launch of Instagram for Android.

    Sure enough, speaking at the conference yesterday, Systrom did just that. Though the app is not available yet, he promised that it would be coming “very soon.” In an interview with TechCrunch, Systrom promised that the app would be “better than our iOS app” in some ways.

    Systrom also highlighted the popularity of Instagram. One of the first apps to take full advantage of the much-improved camera of the iPhone 4, Instagram has been downloaded 27 million times since launching in 2010, Systrom said. In the year and a half since launch the app has remained iPhone-only, a fact with frustrated many Android users. The immense popularity of the Android platform, though, means that an Instagram Android app was virtually inevitable.

    There is no word on Instagram for Android’s availability apart from Systrom’s statement that it was coming “very soon.” The app is currently in private beta testing. There is also no word on price, however the app will almost certainly be free, just like the iOS version.

    While many Android users are understandably excited by this news, the reactions on Twitter tend to focus on how long it’s taken the Android version to be ready, with a few using it as an opportunity to score points in the never-ending Android vs. iPhone debate. Check out some of the reactions below.

    Hey cool, Android got instagram! Let me be the first to welcome you guys to 2010, you’ll love it here 3 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    So I hear that Android is getting Instagram… Congrats.. Better late then never I guess. 12 hours ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Oh yay! Instagram annouces an Android app. Now I can see even more crappy pictures of ducks and Starbucks cups. Whoo-hoo!! #sarcasm 4 minutes ago via TweetCaster for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Instagram for Android? Pretty sure there are no hipsters with Android phone guys – save your time. 10 hours ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Are you excited to see Instagram coming to Android? Let us know what you think in the comments.

  • Marvel Unveils “Marvel ReEvolution” at SXSW

    Marvel Comics is embracing the digital age more than ever as they reveal ReEvolution at South by Southwest (SXSW). Since the popularity of the tablet has grown in recent years, comic book creators have adapted to this new medium by converting their publications to digital formats. Marvel is taking this one step further with “Marvel Infinite Comics”, a new comic book format, and “Marvel AR”, a new app that allows users to be further immersed in their comic book experience. Both are to be released with Avengers vs. X-Men #1 on April 4th.

    Marvel Infinite Comics is a new digital medium that allows creators to add motion and 3D effects to a comic within the typical format. Creators will now make the comic within this format instead of doing the drawings on paper and then converting them to digital.

    “We call these Marvel Infinite Comics because the storytelling possibilities are, frankly, infinite. Writers and artists now have a whole host of new tools at their disposal to redefine the comic book medium,” said Alex Alonso, Marvel comics Editor in Chief. “Current tablets and smartphones, along with comiXology’s Guided View technology, allow us to develop new, full length stories for a different medium that are very much truly comics—but experienced by readers in a way no other major company has ever executed.”

    Marvel AR features include the ability to scan comics with the Marvel AR logo and view them with the app. Added 3D effects and bonus material bring the comics to life. Users can view original pencil drawings and behind the scenes content from the creation of their favorite comics.

    In an interview with Forbes Magazine, Alonso outlines the details of Marvel ReEvolution and the future he sees for comic book technology:

  • SXSW 2012: Android Powered LEGO Robots Clash For Fame And Fortune

    LEGO may be a building toy, but people can also build awesome robots with it. Google is doing just that this year at SXSW with the Google LEGO MINDSTORMS Hackathon.

    The event sees teams building a robot out of LEGO running on Google’s Android operating system. Teams have from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to build their robot and make it race ready before the main event starting at 8 p.m. It’s pretty awesome as its like the Iron Chef of LEGO robots with the teams only being allowed to use the pieces they are given at the event. After they build their LEGO robot, teams will have to use an Android device and the MINDdroid app to compete.

    If you are at SXSW, you might want to check out the event and watch the teams building their awesome LEGO robots. For those of us who aren’t lucky enough to be at SXSW, Google will providing a live stream on YouTube of the main event at 7:30 p.m. CST. You can check out the video here.

    In the meantime, here’s last year’s LEGO event:

  • Adobe Reveals Full Line-up for SXSW

    Adobe Reveals Full Line-up for SXSW

    Adobe will host the following panel discussions at SXSW this week. If you are in Austin, check them out…

    The Future of Access to Digital Broadcast Video
    Friday, March 9, 2012, 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
    Austin Convention Center Room 9 ABC

    A Panel of Media Professionals will help Adobe professionals understand accessibility requirements and how to better implement them. Presenters include Andrew Kirkpatrick, Group Prod Mgr, Accessibility, Adobe Systems Inc and Craig Cuttner, Sr VP, Advanced Technology, Home Box Office.

    The State of Browser Developer Tools
    Saturday, March 10, 2012, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
    Austin Convention Center Ballroom A

    This series will focus on tools for debugging web-sites, remote mobile device debugging and other functions. Presenters include Brandon Strom, Garann Means, and Joe Stagner.

    Social Role-Playing: Brands and Publishers
    Monday, March 12, 2012, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
    Sheraton Austin, Creekside I & II

    A panel for publishers, Experts discuss the role of publishing in social media.

    Adobe Creative Camp – a full day of Adobe fun
    Monday, March 12, 2012, 9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
    Radisson Town Lake Ballroom

    • 9:30 a.m.: The Future of HTML5 Motion Design
    • Paul Trani talks about Adobe Edge, tools for creating motion and interactive web content.

    • 11:00 a.m.: Boost your Mobile Workflow with Adobe
    • Adobe will unveil a new product for web designers and developers to help with mobile web workflow.

    • 12:30 p.m.: “The Page is Dead,” Responding to the Responsive Web
    • A session focused on design philosophy and development techniques

    • 3:30 p.m.: Demystifying Devices: Understanding the Future of the Web and Apps
    • Discussion on CSS, HTML5, jQuery Mobile, PhoneGap, TypeKit and Sencha Touch

    • 3:30 p.m.: Efficient Frontier/Context Optional Meet-up
    • 5:00 p.m.: Building online businesses with Adobe Business Catalyst and Dreamweaver CS5.5

    Efficient Frontier/Adobe Happy Hour
    Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
    Austin Convention Center

    Adobe wrap party – Adobe will give away Efficient Frontier branded Moleskine Journals with one Golden Ticket inside. One lucky happy hour guest will get setup with CS5.5

  • More Relevant Review Service Launches At SXSW

    Are you sick of recommendations from people who don’t know you and don’t seem to suggest anything that suits you? So is LOCALFAVE. Today, they announced their official launch at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. The utility of the sites services comes from the fact that all their recommendations will come from friends who live in close proximity to you. The greatest thing about them are they’re discrete, the recommendations don’t tell you the exact date and time of the review.

    Vishal K. Gupta, CEO of localfave commented on the service:

    “Location-based services are so helpful, but the average user may not want to explicitly share their location as many services require,”

    “At localfave, our goal is to provide a vehicle for our users to rank and categorize the places they’ve been in the past and to share their experiences easily with friends. That’s localfave. It’s a location based service for everyone.”

    Probably the worst thing about a recommendation from a friend is that they expect you to like what they recommended. Unfortunately that’s not always the case. Not everybody has the same basis for comparison or gets as easily excited about new businesses.

    Pat McCreary, CTO of localfave comments on this phenomenon:

    “We’ve noticed that it is harder and harder to discover truly great venues. One person’s 5-star review, is another person’s 3-star. This is the reason we created the idea of a ‘fave’. Ultimately, knowing that your friend’s favorite sushi joint is around the corner is much more important than knowing that it has averaged 3.5 stars.”

    Their ‘fave’ button is a way to keep things in perspective, you know how some people are, everything you mention is their “favorite’. They’re just very excitable people. Localfave challenges them with the ‘fave’ button. Once you mark something as a ‘fave’ you can’t feature anything else as a ‘have’ in the same category. After all, there is only one favorite, that’s what the word means. I can appreciate this option from Localfave.

    Sounds like a well needed service if you ask me. I look forward to getting some recommendations from their site. Has potential to be more than just another review site. I like the features they are showcasing and I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it comes to my computer.

  • South by Southwest Evolution Through The Ages

    If you’re like a lot people you’re probably wondering how the South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival got to be such a big deal and who attends the event. The following infographic from Rocksauce answers that exact questions and gives us some fun facts about what goes on there as well.

    Before we get into the infographic I’ll give you a brief summary of the typical demographic which attends SXSW. A majority of SXSW attendees are between the ages of 21 and 50 and make over $85,000 per year. In fact, if you make under $55,000 per year there’s a slim chance you’ll be attending. Successful startups that have launched from the SXSW festival include Twitter and Foursquare. Most interactive registrants came from the West, Southwest, and Northeast.

    Here’s the facts according to Rocksauce:

    There you have it, it was planned small, turned out huge and has just kept getting bigger ever since. Sounds like Woodstock. Hopefully you are lucky enough to attend. I wonder what the future will bring for the festival?

  • How to Recognize an SXSW Fan on Facebook

    Swaylo, a facebook app that measures how much attention you get on what you post, has released a new infographic measuring the trends of the 200,000+ people who have liked SXSW on Facebook.

    If you like SXSW on Facebook, odds are you also like Johnny Cash, Radiohead, and The Doors. You are probably listening to NPR, drinking Dos Equis, eating Chik-Fil-A and watching Dexter, though probably not at the same time.

    All the hipster fanfare is there, minus the PBR…

    You may also like wayfarer glasses, emo hair, and handle bar moustaches, though I don’t think that was part of the study.

    Pregaming for #sxsw listening to Skrillex on TDGN on @slackerradio getting my hipster on……. 2 minutes ago via HootSuite ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    SxSW = the hipster Burning Man Festival 9 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    If hipster were a religion, Austin would be Mecca and #SxSW he hadj. 28 minutes ago via Plume for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto