Facebook Reveals Top Status Trends of 2010 Lead-Gen Startup Integrate Nabs $4.25M Series A from Foundry Group Integrate, a startup with a performance-based marketing platform that includes lead exchange and SEM (search engine marketing), has just closed a Series A round of funding from Foundry Group. The funding, which comes to $4.25 million, is a no-brainer for the Foundry Group, an early-stage VC firm based in Boulder, CO. “Foundry Group believes there is a large need and desire for performance-based marketing," said Foundry Group managing partner Seth Levine. "We think there is a huge swing to performance marketing, and Integrate provides the technology needed to make it succeed." Integrate’s platform is all about performance and transparency; its customers only pay for qualified leads and conversions — that could mean a sale or a phone call, depending on the type of campaign. Advertisers and publishers work together and communicate through Integrate's platform, where each party can review important information about the other party's business. Image courtesy of Flickr, daviddmuir.
"The Onion's" Fake Sports Site Launches on Comedy Central Satirical mastermind and cultural lampooner, The Onion, has just launched a brand new website for SportsDome, its funny/fake sports web show. The site is a collaboration with Comedy Central, which will be turning the web show into a television show in January. Anyone familiar with the SportsDome's current website won't feel too out of place at the new site. The site features clips from the show, clips from The Onion's video vault, extended interviews, a "photo finish" picture section and additional resources much like the websites for The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. What distinguishes the SportsDome site from its new cohort is how the website functions as an extension of the show. It will also function as a stripped down sports blog, previewing and teasing sections that may appear on the show or offering coverage on breaking sports news throughout the week. The SportsDome site still has some kinks to iron out.
Hands-on: CNN’s Stunning New iPad App [PICS] CNN's highly visual new iPad app hit the App Store on Tuesday morning, bringing many of the media company's best-known products — including all of its articles and videos from CNN.com, as well as live breaking news video coverage and hourly radio updates — to the iPad for free. Unlike the iPad apps of most other publications, CNN's app [iTunes link] replicates neither the format of its website nor a newspaper layout. Instead, users are drawn to headlines laid upon enlarged thumbnails to explore different kinds of content — sports is juxtaposed against tech, which is sandwiched between stories on finance and government policy — although they also have the option to browse by section and headline in a text-only format as well. "We've really worked to make this thing feel like it was meant for the iPad," said KC Estenson, SVP and general manager of CNN.com. The app is also more social than any of those released by other major media properties.
4 Top Employers for Social Media Professionals As an increasingly important and growing industry, it naturally follows that social media is a growing career field as clued-in companies look to the social space to better communicate with their colleagues, customers and clients. We've taken a look at some of the top companies that are great for social media-savvy professionals. Here are our top four picks, complete with insightful Q&As from key staff within the organizations. Whether you're interested in social media as a career choice, or you'd like to know how you can offer a similar environment for digital natives to prosper in your company, read on. 1. After a company-wide audit in 2009, Adobe established a dedicated social media team, adopting a "hub and spoke model," or Center of Excellence (CoE). Adobe's corporate social media team is made up of four members. Adobe clearly has a sound social media structure in place throughout its global operations. How does Adobe encourage you to innovate with social media? 2. 4.
Netflix Looking for Facebook-Savvy Engineer Nokia Plans Complete Overhaul of Symbian in 2011 Nokia's busy roadmap for 2011 includes the possibility of a dual-core smartphone and several upgrades to the Symbian mobile platform, Computerworld reports. On Tuesday, during the 2010 International Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing, Nokia gave a presentation highlighting some much-needed upgrades to Symbian, many of which are slated to come in the first quarter of 2011, including improvements to the browser's user interface. Next in line for Symbian, coming during Q2 and Q3 2011, is "a new look and feel for the user interface, a more flexible home screen, an updateable HTML5 browser and an easier software update experience," according to one of Nokia's slides. On the hardware side, Nokia plans to release models with 1GHz CPUs (Nokia's current flagship smartphone, the N8, sports a 680 MHz CPU) and more graphics memory in the second and third quarter. [via Computerworld]
Google Home Page Promotes Demo Slam Google is using its home page today to promote Demo Slam, a site where would-be filmmakers can square off against each other to show off the company's various technologies. The site was announced about a month ago with a soft launch. "We spend our time making a whole bunch of technologies that are free for the world, but a lot of people don't know about them. And that kind of sucks," reads a Google site explaining Demo Slam . "So, we thought organizing the world's most creative tech demo battle would be a great way to help spread the word and teach people about tech. Not to mention, it's a lot of fun." Such filmmakers can try to get into Demo Slam by submitting a video to YouTube. One Slam pits Google Search by Voice against Google Goggles. Google isn't offering any prizes to the winners aside from exposure.
Julian Assange Goes Free on Bail Met with cheers from inside and outside the court, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted bail Tuesday, with conditions that include a curfew, an electronic tag and surrendering his passport. Assange will be released on $310,000 bail until the next hearing in his case, set for January 11. Still, according to the Guardian's live blog (a still ongoing melange of tweets and other scattered tidbits), "Swedish prosecutors plan to launch an appeal against the decision to grant Assange bail. They have two hours to do lodge an appeal. Assange will not be freed until that process is over." The 39-year-old Australian has been in a London prison for a week now, after being arrested on an arrest warrant from Sweden, where Assange is accused of sexual crimes. Assange was recently placed on Interpol's wanted list. Assange surrendered himself to the police, stating earlier that he had agreed to meet with the UK police in regards to the outstanding warrant and rape accusations in Sweden.
“The Social Network” Nominated for 6 Golden Globes Including “Best Picture” The Social Network has been nominated for six Golden Globe awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Jesse Eisenberg for his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg). The film also picked up nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin), Best Director (David Fincher), Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin) and Best Original Score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). QR Code Scavenger Hunt Offers Ford Fiesta as Prize Whether it's Angry Birds or Foursquare, we at Mashable love to play games on our mobile devices. Which is why we were excited to hear that Neatorama and mental_floss are hosting a QR code-based scavenger hunt in New York City next week — and that they're giving away a brand new Ford Fiesta as the prize. The hunt begins at four different locations — the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, and in the East and West Villages — starting at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 21. Both @neatorama and @mental_floss will tweet the precise starting locations from their Twitter handles at 10:30 a.m. that day. When participants arrive at the first location, they will need to scan the QR code to get the clue for the next location. Including the starting point, there will be four stopping destinations altogether. Although only one person will win the car, random prizes will be given out by monitors throughout the event to make it a more enjoyable experience for all who participate.
Visa Brings Local Deals to iPhone Visa has announced that its official iPhone application is available for free in the iTunes App Store. It's completely in step with other popular consumer apps, as it's heavy on deals and location-based technology. Each user automatically receives customized offers, which are stored in the app and can be redeemed online or in brick-and-mortar stores. The app [iTunes link] gives its users a handy map and directions for locating retail outlets where they can redeem their offers, and it will also help Visa cardholders find nearby ATMs. At launch, Visa is working with about 50 hand-picked retailers to bring special deals to Visa account holders via the Visa iPhone app. As far as customization goes, users will be able to select from a handful of categories to tailor the offers they get; verticals include purchases such as clothing, jewelry, travel, dining, entertainment and other retail goods. What do you think of Visa's iPhone app at the outset?
Top 10 Movies for the Modern Tech Geek The Digital Entertainment Series is supported by the Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10, the seriously entertaining smartphone that knows how to have fun. Check it out here. It's a great time to be a tech geek with a love for the cinema. Not only is film technology evolving at a breakneck pace, the subject matter for films is also targeting tech audiences in a more nuanced, fulfilling way. The gaze in which technology enthusiasts are portrayed in film has changed too. We set out to make a list that represents the current landscape of the film industry and technology. In no particular order, here are 10 of the best movies for modern tech enthusiasts. 1. When the original TRON was released in 1982, it was a breakthrough not only in how computers were portrayed on screen, but how computers and technology were used in the creation of motion picture. Twenty-eight years later, the technical reception for TRON: Legacy is quite different. Photo Credit: Walt Disney Studios 2. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton 3.