Best Buy to offer $50 off all iPhone 5 & 4S models starting Sunday

Starting this Sunday, electronics retailer Best Buy will be offering $50 off the purchase of any new iPhone model with a service contract, marking a rare discount opportunity for Apple’s smartphone lineup.

The upcoming sale will be a four-week-long promotion that applies to the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S on Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint, the three largest carriers in the U.S. The discount does not apply to the iPhone 4, which is already free with a two-year service contract, the company confirmed to AppleInsider.

The sale means shoppers will be able to buy an iPhone 4S for $49, a 16-gigabyte iPhone 5 for $149, a 32-gigabyte iPhone 5 for $249, or the top-end 64-gigabyte iPhone 5 for $349.

Customers will need to buy a new two-year service contract in order to receive the typical handset subsidy and Best Buy’s special $50 discount. Discounts on some Android phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S III, are also planned to run from May 26 to June 1.

While discounts and buy one, get one free promotions are common for Android handsets and other smartphones, iPhone discounts tend to be infrequent because of Apple’s strict pricing strategy.

Best Buy to offer $50 off all iPhone 5 & 4S models starting Sunday

Bill Gates claims stake as richest American for 20th straight year

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has topped the Fortune 400 list as the wealthiest American for the 20th year in a row. His total net worth of $72 billion kept him well ahead of Warren Buffett’s second place finish of $58.5 billion. Gates saw his fortune increase by $6 billion over the past year while Buffett’s wealth ballooned by $12.5 billion during the same period.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s $41 billion nest egg remained flat over the year and was good for a third place finish, cementing the technology industry as the second-largest generator of billionaires. Nearly 50 of the people on the top 400 list are in the tech industry which accounts for a 12 percent share of the overall money pool.

Further down the list is Amazon’s Jeff Bezos (12th place) at $27.2 billion. Following in 13th and 14th place are Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Collectively, the Google duo are worth $49.3 billion. Facebook founder Mark Zuckberger is one of the youngest billionaires on the list. His estimated wealth of $19 billion is up thanks to the company’s recent turnaround on the stock market following a year of dismal results.

Interestingly enough, outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer placed 21st on the list at $18 billion. Last month, Ballmer announced plans to retire within the next 12 months. He has held the title of Microsoft CEO for nearly 13 years following Gates’ departure in January 2000.

Bill Gates claims stake as richest American for 20th straight year

HOW TO: Explore Mashable Articles with StumbleUpon

Mashable added a new feature today powered by StumbleUpon, allowing you to explore Mashable pages, rate them and get recommendations for Mashable content you might like.

StumbleUpon, as you may know, is a way to discover interesting web content based on your interests. Realizing that our readers would love to see a custom version of Mashable tailored to you, we?ve chosen to become a StumbleUpon Premier Partner, and we?d love your feedback on the new feature:
To Start Stumbling Mashable, click here!

This feature is also accessible by clicking the “Start Stumbling” button in the Mashable menu, as shown in the screenshot above. Once you see the StumbleUpon toolbar, you can “Like” an article, rate it, or hit “Stumble” again for another article. And of course StumbleUpon can recommend articles from other sites you may enjoy.

In addition to the ability to explore, rate and get recommendations for Mashable articles, you’ll also see a “Stumble counter” on selected Mashable blog posts – like this one! – that tracks the number of times that post has been Stumbled (note that we also include buttons for many of StumbleUpon’s rivals, and have done for some time).

We hope you enjoy the new feature, and please do give us feedback on how we can continue to improve.

HOW TO: Explore Mashable Articles with StumbleUpon

Asus M70 is the first desktop tower with integrated NFC

Asus over the weekend unveiled the M70 PC which they claim is the world’s first NFC-equipped desktop tower. The machine also comes equipped with Qi wireless technology that will let you charge a compatible smartphone or tablet simply by resting the device on top of the tower – a feature that works even with the computer is powered down.

The company didn’t go into great detail on the new machine but we do know it’s equipped with your choice of Intel’s fourth generation Haswell Core-i series CPU (i3,i5,i7). The system can also be paired with a discrete Nvidia graphics card (up to a GTX 650), Asus SonicMaster audio technology and Asus’ Universal Storage Module (USM) hot-swap drive bay.

In the event you are perfectly happy with your current desktop but are still interested in NFC, Asus has you covered with their NFC Express dongle. This $40 accessory was released last month and offers features similar to the M70 PC although do note that it only works with a handful of Asus boards.

With the NFC Express software on the M70, Asus claims you can log into Windows 8, quick launch chosen applications and automatically back up your Android device’s photos and videos. Of course, one could argue that NFC on a desktop is pretty pointless, especially when you consider the technology hasn’t exactly taken off in the mobile space as most believed it would.

Pricing and availability of the M70 hasn’t been announced thus far.

Asus M70 is the first desktop tower with integrated NFC

AT&T to reportedly add Apple's iPhone to GoPhone prepaid lineup

The nation’s second-largest carrier AT&T will reportedly add Apple’s iPhone to the list of devices customers can buy through its GoPhone prepaid brand on Friday, with the handset coming alongside the activation of 4G LTE and HSPA+ support for the service.

According to MacRumors, the addition of the iPhone to GoPhone’s lineup is part of a larger expansion of services set to take place on Friday, as AT&T will start offering prepaid customers access to its LTE and HSPA+ data network for the first time.

While iPhone owners have been able to use the prepaid service for some time, the terms never allowed for data network access, rendering many of the Apple handset’s capabilities useless.

Pricing will be arranged in three separate packages. At the top is a $65 per month plan which comes with unlimited calling and 1 gigabyte of data, while both the $50 and $25 monthly voice plans require an add-on fee for data.

Existing iPhone owners using GoPhone will automatically be updated with data access on June 21, though they have the option to manually upgrade to the new service.

The news comes amidst a strong push for the iPhone from other U.S. prepaid carriers like Virgin Mobile, which last week debuted a 15 percent discount for iPhone 5 purchases made through its website. Regional carrier Cricket Wireless helped raise the handset’s marketshare after kicking off sales last year, while a rumored deal with Boost Mobile is said to be in the works.

AT&T to reportedly add Apple's iPhone to GoPhone prepaid lineup

Apple on Thursday released a new ad focusing on the iPhone as a music player, with its quiet, serene style following in the footsteps of the company’s last spot, and paving the way for a new breed of commercial.


Titled “Music Every Day,” Apple’s latest iPhone promo continues “Photos Every Day” in being near-silent, with only a tamped down background track and a few giggles or foot taps breaking the stillness.

The ad starts out with a shot of a woman positioned at the far left of the screen. Hunched over a wall, she is seemingly lost in thought as she slowly touches at the air with her fingers, almost twirling the unseen strands of a rising sun’s light. The tell-tale white wires and silhouette of Apple’s EarPods standout in relief against an otherwise gray background daubed with out of focus browns and blacks.

Next, a man just finishing an workout is shown, again at left of center, overlooking a city after what appears to be the end of a daily exercise routine. This is where the viewer catches their first glimpse of a product, a black iPhone 5, but the device is largely hidden in the hands of the runner.

In fact, throughout the entire commercial, viewers see very little of the iPhone itself and, except for two brief “slices of life” — one in which a DJ at a club scans a playlist, and another where the passenger in a car is holding the handset as his friends rock out in the back seat — the screen isn’t shown at all. The device remains hidden in almost every frame, nestled in someone’s pocket, obscured by a jar of jelly as someone eats. It never becomes the focus of attention.

The ad moves quickly from one scene to the next, the common physical thread being the iPhone and EarPods, but a more important underlying theme is the music the characters are listening to. This music goes unheard by the audience.

As the background piano track swells, a narrator says, “Everyday, more people enjoy music on the iPhone than any other phone.” The iPhone and Apple logos are displayed, and the commercial ends. So calm is the ad that the branding and dubbed voice are somewhat jarring, and feel out of place.

Surrounded by other ads, which are usually loud and attention-grabbing, Apple’s latest attempts stand out from crowd. The company is obviously crafting their latest commercials with expert care, focusing much more on subtleties like camera work and scene composition than in-your-face product placement.

Contemplative, simple and consistent, Apple’s latest spot manages to convey feeling through voiceless, nameless, almost generic characters. Nothing extraordinary happens, no explosions or humorous juxtapositions are shown. But that’s the point.

Like the first character dancing her fingers with the sun’s rays, Apple is toying with the ethereal nature of everyday life, and showing how the iPhone can be a part of that reality.

Apple airs new iPhone ad, continues brilliant 'quiet' TV campaign

Apple to unveil new iPads, Macs on October 15

We aren’t even a week removed from Apple’s iPhone 5S, 5C media event yet we’re already hearing rumors concerning Cupertino’s next major product announcement. Early indications suggest Apple is preparing to showcase the next wave of iPads at a special press event on October 15.

Most believe Apple will debut the next generation full-sized iPad as well as a new iPad mini a month from now. The larger iPad 5 is expected to have a slight redesign that will see it more resemble the iPad mini while the latter device will almost certainly receive a Retina display.

The second part of Tim Cook’s “busy fall” is likely to include new Haswell-powered Macs and the launch of OS X Mavericks. The updated operating system is said to be pretty much finished. As such, a gold master could arrive any day now unless Apple decides to seed one final beta to developers.

The rumored date originated from MacGeneration, a French blog with a track record that’s described as mixed at best so take the news with a grain of salt. Apple did launch the fourth generation iPad and iPad mini last October which means we could very well see the same thing for 2013.

Apple’s new iPhone 5S and 5C will begin shipping this Friday, September 20. Current iOS users can pick up a free copy of iOS 7 starting on Wednesday, September 18.

Apple to unveil new iPads, Macs on October 15

HTC America lays off 20 percent of workforce amidst reorganization

HTC has laid off 20 percent of their workforce in the US as part of an effort to streamline and optimize their organization and improve efficiencies following years of what they call aggressive growth. The division was home to around 150 employees and contractors which means roughly 30 of them are now among the unemployed.

The Verge obtained a letter from Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC America, where he noted the day was the most difficult during his career at HTC but the stark reality is that their business results aren’t where they want them to be. Mackenzie did promise to treat outgoing employees with the respect they deserve and provide them with resources to help bridge the gap as they hunt down a new job.

HTC has had a pretty tough go of it lately but they aren’t giving up. Their flagship HTC One smartphone is one of the best on the market and a new ad campaign featuring Robert Downey Jr. has been well-received thus far. The problem, according to insiders, has to do with CEO Peter Chou. These insiders claim Chou’s history of making quick decisions was once a strength for the company but is now becoming a weak point as there is no clear direction when looking to the future.

An official statement from HTC said the layoffs were a necessary step to achieve their long-term goals as a business and return maximum value to shareholders. Realigning human resources will let them advance into a new stage of growth and innovation.

HTC America lays off 20 percent of workforce amidst reorganization

Rumor: Apple to vastly expand color options with this year's 'iPhone 5S' & low-cost iPhone

Both Apple’s next-generation flagship iPhone and the company’s anticipated low-cost iPhone will come in an array of colors well beyond the current black and white options, a new rumor claims.

The rumors on Apple’s 2013 iPhone lineup were detailed on Thursday by Japanese blog Macotakara, which apparently heard from two separate sources about this year’s iPhone colors. The report indicated that Apple’s anticipated low-cost iPhone will see a limited production of 1,000 units in June for field testing.

While the cheaper iPhone option is expected to be available in a range of colors, the report said that black will remain exclusive to Apple’s flagship iPhone.

One source who spoke with author Danbo said the cheaper iPhone will come in navy, gold, orange, white and gray. The other offered a slightly different range of white, pink, green, blue and yellow-orange.

It was said that after the trial run in June, the low-cost iPhone will go into mass production between July and September before it ships to customers.

Thursday’s report also claimed that Apple’s next flagship handset, often referred to as an “iPhone 5S,” will also get more colorful. Sources reportedly indicated that it will come in more than three colors.

Beyond the traditional black handset, which Apple has always offered, the report claimed that the company is considering offering gold and green iPhones. No mention was made of a white “iPhone 5S,” but presumably Apple would keep that option in its lineup, as it has done for years.

The latest rumors could be supported by images that surfaced online last week showing multi-colored SIM trays alleged to be for a next-generation iPhone. Those SIM trays were shown in two colors: one with a greyish hue, and another that appeared to be either golden or beige.

Earlier this year, analyst Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets claimed he was told by supply chain sources that Apple planned to release an “iPhone 5S” in a total of eight colors later this year. The options he gave were pink, yellow, blue, green, purple, silver, and slate — the same shades currently found on the iPod nano — along with a (Product)Red model with proceeds benefitting AIDS research.

Finally, Macotakara also reported on Thursday that the “iPhone 5S” is also expected to include a dual LED flash. Such rumors have persisted for years but have yet to become a reality.

The report said that the dual LED will be accommodated with a pill-shaped space for the camera flash modules. In addition, it said that the microphone space on the back of the handset would become a circle, ditching its current tiny “pill” shape.

Rumor: Apple to vastly expand color options with this year's 'iPhone 5S' & low-cost iPhone

Voice Messaging for Groups: Top Services Compared

Even though it’s not a new concept, sending voice message blasts to a group of people appears to be a service on the rise. We’ve decided to break down four sites with distinct offerings in the hopes that you can easily find your preferred option for sending rapid voice messages to groups.

From freemium to premium, and simple to robust, you’ve definitely got options should you opt in favor of voice message broadcasting.

We’re really curious how many people are actually using these services and for what purposes. We’d love to hear your thoughts about each service, your personal experiences, what you love or hate about group messaging, and whether or not you’d want to receive one of these messages. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

ShoutNow

ShoutNow is the newest, and simplest, addition to the space. The service, which was launched over the course of Indianapolis Startup Weekend in December, uses a pay-per-message model to let users send voice messages to a group of recipients. All you have to do is visit the website, enter your phone number, record your message, enter the phone numbers of recipients, pay your tab, and you’re done.

At 99 cents for a 1 minute message to up to 10 contacts, ShoutNow offers a relatively cheap, but professional alternative to other freemium plans that include advertisements. The site doesn’t appear to offer much in the way of additional features, like creating groups of contacts, but we can assume that is just a side effect to being brand new.

Phonevite

Phonevite, an older and more robust service (
that even offers an iGoogle gadget), tackles the voice-message-to-many challenge slightly differently. You’ll need to create an account and verify your phone number, but once you do you can import contacts, or add them manually, to create groups. Once you’re all setup, you can take advantage of the free account that lets you create up to 25 calls, each with an ad promoting Phonevite (
premium services are available starting at $25 and remove ads from calls).

To create a message just select to record via web (requires download) or phone, say your message, add contacts, and customize options like sending the message via email as well. Your message will be delivered with caller ID, and should you opt to include RSVP options for events, each recipient will be given the opportunity to select 1 for yes, 2 for no, or 3 for maybe, as well as record a response to the sender.

Tatango

Tatango is a multitasking service that takes on both voice and text group messages, and is a perfect option
when 140 characters just doesn’t cut it. Like Phonevite, Tatango offers users a free plan with advertisements tacked on to messages.

With Tatango, users create groups and use the group name to quickly alert a group of people with a text or audio message. Groups can also be promoted across social sites, like FriendFeed and Facebook, making it easy for event organizers and group coordinators to get an opt-in list of interested parties. Tatango’s additional features include the ability to review sent messages, customize settings per group, send group invites, create a flash widget, and automatically syndicate updates from an RSS feed.

When you’re ready to create your audio message from your phone, just text VOICE to 68398 and Tatango will call you so you can record your message. For members with more than one group, Tatango will text you back, before calling, with selection options.

Tatango’s smooth interface, dual service, group customization options, and social site promotion options, make this site a joy to use and an incredibly useful option for organizer types.

Pingercast

Positioned more towards artists and celebrities with a large audience,
Pingercast, by
Pinger, lets you broadcast your voice message to anyone who wants to hear it for free. Once you sign up, you’ll be walked through the process of creating a subscription widget for your website. Once you’re done with that you can upload an audio recording, or create one via web or phone. You can also customize the SMS message users will receive once they subscribe to your voice updates.

Even though
we originally thought the service was voicemail spam, I can immediately see a value in subscription-based voice messaging. As a group organizer, I can add this widget to the group site and members can subscribe to updates (should they choose to do so), and I can start recording informational messages on dates, times, events, and locations for group meetups. This particular option would save me some time and it’s completely opt-in, so I wouldn’t feel like I was harassing anyone.

Image courtesy of
iStockphoto,
acilo

Voice Messaging for Groups: Top Services Compared

Intel's new Z3000 Bay Trail chips for tablets have 2x CPU and 3x GPU performance

Intel's Clover Trail chips for low-power devices have had a decent showing on devices carrying them, but there's no question that the line's performance is questionable when it comes to things like graphic intensive applications. The good news is that its Bay Trail successor is finally here.

The multi-core, low-power chips are built on Intel's 22nm tri-gate technology and its new “Silvermont” micro-architecture that was announced back in May. The company is launching three new families of Bay Trail chips,  the most notable being the Z3000 processors designed for tablet devices.

The Z3000 processors will come in both dual and quad core configurations, and according to Intel will clock in with double the CPU and as much as triple the GPU power compared to previous gen Intel Atom processors.

The Intel Atom Z3000 will run seamlessly with both Windows 8.1 and Android, on devices with 7 to 11.6 inches and with those in the $199 range. Despite the performance increases, smaller footprint and lower power usage, Intel claims the Z3000 “delivers leading performance with all-day battery life.” The company also mentions that it will bring 64-bit support to the Z3000 chips in early 2014, though it doesn't sound like that upgrade will make it into the lower end consumer devices, only enterprise-class and security applications.

At this point it is a little unclear when exactly we will start seeing devices with these SoCs. Intel says the chips will be in devices that will be made available to consumers “in the fourth quarter of this year from leading OEMs including,” Dell, Asus, Lenovo, Acer and Toshiba.

The other two families will build upon Intel's Pentium and Celeron devices.

Intel says the new Bay Trail M, which is for lower end notebooks with touch capabilities and “a number of innovative 2 in 1 devices,” will bring the cost of those types of devices down to a lower price point. Lastly the Bay Trail D line is for desktops including fan-less devices, vertical displays and will offer “up to 10 times better graphics than similar products from Intel just three years ago.”

Intel's new Z3000 Bay Trail chips for tablets have 2x CPU and 3x GPU performance

HOW TO 2008: How To Do Almost Anything With Social Media

During 2008, we’ve tried to bring you the best how-tos for achieving more with social media tools: everything from Google products to blogging to online video to productivity and beyond. Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Friendfeed, and Delicious all got the How-To treatment.

Today, as the year draws to a close, we bring you a hand-picked selection of Mashable’s social media How-To articles in 2008; some holiday reading, perhaps, or something to refer back to once you restart the daily grind in 2009. Enjoy!

Google How-Tos

How to Sync Google Services With Your Mobile Device

HOW TO: Use Google Reader Like A Rockstar

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Google Maps

How to Preview New Google Chrome Features

How to Install Google Chrome Greasemonkey Scripts (Windows Only)

HOW TO: Optimize a Pre-Existing Google AdWords Account

Facebook How-Tos

HOW TO: Add Facebook Connect to Your Blog in 8 Minutes

HOW TO: Search for Facebook Images Based on Shape, Color, Keywords

Twitter How-Tos

HOW TO: Build Community on Twitter

HOW TO: Win Friends and Twinfluence People

How to Improve Your Twinfluence and Twitter Grade

HOW TO: Quiet the Twitter Noise

HOW TO: Go Back in Time, Twitter-style

HOW TO: Turn Your Photos, Videos and Tweets into Stories

HOW TO: Use Twitter for Social Bookmarking

HOW TO: Track Expenses Using Twitter

HOW TO: Auto-Follow People on Twitter

Blogging How-Tos

How to Live Blog a Conference

HOW TO: Convert Your Blog Into a Podcast on iTunes for Free

HOW TO: Use Your Blog?s Domain as a Lifestream

HOW TO: Market to Bloggers According to Timothy Ferriss

Online Video How-Tos

How to Live Stream Your Life: 20+ Tools and Resources

HOW TO: Create Online Video That Works

How to Master Screencasts in Seven Steps

HOW TO: Add Live Video to Your Applications (Stickam API)

HOW TO: Convert Videos for Your iPhone (or Any Mobile Device)

How to Get Incompatible Videos to Your Apple TV Without Lifting a Finger

Social Networking How-Tos

HOW TO: Save Time With Website Registration and Profiles

How to Connect Your Email Address to Your OpenID Account

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of StumbleUpon

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of FriendFeed

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Technorati

How to Get the Most Out of LinkedIn

Business How-Tos

How to Track 500 Business Blogs in 10 Minutes a Day

How to Manage Your Social Profiles and Create Virtual Business Cards

How to Build Your Online Brand

How to Execute (Against) Your Resume

HOW TO: Market a Web Company in a Down Economy [Video]

HOW TO: Send Top Secret, Highly Classified Email Over the Web

Productivity How-Tos

HOW TO: Use Web-Based Office Tools Offline

How to Despam Your iPhone Email

25 Resources for Learning How to Customize Your Browser

10 Essential Sites for Tips and How-To?s

Social Media How-Tos

How to Turn Your Business Trip into a Social Media Experience

How to Know if You Should Fire Your Social Media Consultant

How to Measure Social Media ROI for Business

HOW TO: Grow a Startup 300% in 3 Days? SocialMedian Tells All

How to Develop a Social Media Plan for Your Business in 5 Steps

Best of the Rest

How to Chase Hurricane Fay Online

How to Find a Babysitter Online

HOW TO: Patch Your Applications

HOW TO: Instantly iPhone-ize Your Website

HOW TO: Make a Widget From Any New York Times Feed

HOW TO: Find Your Way Around Any New City

Bonus: More of Social Media in 2008

It’s been a busy year, and Mashable has been recollecting the top social media companies and events of 2008 throughout the month of December. We hope our coverage has helped you to make sense of the hectic pace of social media innovation; here’s our take on the key themes and happenings…

24 Most Underrated Websites of 2008

2008 on the Web: The 20 Key Events

8 Most Notable Redesigns of 2008

7 Promising Sites That Died in 2008

2008 in Review: Mashable’s 20 Most Popular Stories

Top image courtesy of
iStockPhoto,
Kronick

HOW TO 2008: How To Do Almost Anything With Social Media

Gigabyte repurposes Brix platform as a tiny gaming PC

Last month we took an in-depth look at Gigabyte’s Brix Mini PC featuring Intel’s third generation Ivy Bridge Core processors. The machine was impressive given its compact footprint but it also wasn’t terribly practical as there really isn’t much of a need for a pocket-sized desktop computer.

Gigabyte isn’t giving up on the platform, however. Instead, they’re repurposing it a bit by marketing new models to space-conscious gamers. The aptly named Brix II barebones system ups the ante in the graphics department thanks to Intel’s Iris Pro – the company’s top integrated graphics offering.

The system also includes a Haswell CPU, HDMI and mini DisplayPort output, four USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, built-in Wi-Fi and a 3.5mm audio jack on the front. The chassis is a bit bigger than previous offerings but given the boost in hardware, I doubt most people will mind too much.

If you aren’t familiar, Intel claims Iris Pro is up to three times faster than their current HD Graphics 4000 offering and is in line with Nvidia’s GeForce GT 650M discrete graphics. The combo can even run Crysis 3 to some degree, we’re told.

Keep in mind, however, that it’s still a barebones machine. That means you’ll need to supply your own storage, memory and operating system. Pricing starts around $199 and can balloon up to $699 depending on how you spec it out. Intel said we can expect to see the Brix II ship by December.

Gigabyte repurposes Brix platform as a tiny gaming PC

Apple's iPhone gets approved for China Mobile's 700 million subscribers

At yesterday's Apple event, many expected the company to announce the first details regarding a partnership with China Mobile, the world's largest mobile provider. Reports are now saying that Apple is indeed in talks with the Chinese mobile provider regarding selling the company's devices to the carrier's 700 million untapped customers.

A report from the Wall Street Journal says that China’s Telecom Equipment Certification Center has signed off on an iPhone that will be allowed to run on China Mobile's network. The carrier's TD-LTE bands (38,39 and 40) that are being implemented in its new 4th gen network, are supposedly supported by certain models of Apple's new iPhones. While none of the details have been officially confirmed, it appears the long expected play on the carrier is moving forward.

Another interesting point here is that China Mobile will require new devices to support TD-LTE band 41 by 2014. Currently Apple does not have a device that supports this, so some are expecting a third new iPhone designed specifically for the region.

On the other hand, keep in mind that Sprint already makes use of band 41, a company that just last year entered a long term, $15.5 billion deal with Apple, showing its dedication to the ongoing success of the iPhone. 

While Apple has been able to strike up deals with smaller Chinese carriers in the past like China Unicom and China Telecom, China Mobile has always denied Apple's specific contract requirements. Just last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook was reportedly in negotiations with China Mobile execs in Beijing.

Apple's iPhone gets approved for China Mobile's 700 million subscribers

HOW TO: Create Online Video That Works

David Rich is senior vice president, sales and marketing for
TurnHere, a leading Internet video production and advertising company that provides broadcast-quality online video for both large consumer brands and small businesses.

With the recent explosion and expansion of online video, the biggest question is how to best drive viewer action and monetize this new medium. Online video has a lot of promise. It offers what was once limited to expensive TV advertising: reach and emotional engagement with potential customers. And, it?s relatively cheap and provides immediate, measurable feedback.

Even with these strong benefits, most agree that the video opportunity has yet to be fully realized. Companies struggle to best make use of this new medium, and have found that porting television-style advertising to the Web is regularly rejected by the online audience. Thirty-second pre-roll, crazy user-generated ads, and the hunt for viral ads are all a hangover from the old TV world, still hunting for mass appeal without satisfying the demand for relevance of today’s online world.

It?s important to recognize that the Internet and television deliver two completely different video experiences. Television is ?lean back? where people engage with the content in front of them when they want to. The Internet is ?lean forward,? where people are actively controlling their experience. With users in control businesses must deliver information in a way that engages them when they finally say ?OK, talk to me.? Here are six steps to creating online video that works:

1) Make it Authentic

Customers are jaded by typical sales-pitches. When everything is available at the click of a mouse, having a good product is no longer enough.

Creating authentic video that captures the human element allows customers to connect on a personal level. This connection builds trust and drives action.

2) Make it Relevant

With customers in control, irrelevant video is at best ignored and at worst creates a negative impression when viewers feel their time is wasted. Video that works shares compelling stories that resonate with the audience. No gimmicks, no ploys. Respect viewers? time and provide them with actionable content.

3) Make it Engaging

Good information is no longer enough. With thousands of sites providing similar services, your online video has to stand out from the competition. Entertainment goes hand-in-hand with engagement. Video must deliver content in a format that interests and excites users.

4) Make it Google-Friendly

The advent of Universal Search has changed the search game. Engines now return more and more videos, blogs, news articles, books and more in their results. The new algorithms weigh video heavily, increasing your relevance in search results. Good meta-data, file naming, architecture, and distribution on sites like YouTube all help.

5) Make an Action Path

Our internal research has shown that adding video to a site can drive 36% more clicks, 20% more inbound calls, and more than double time on site. A recent
Kelsey Group study found 55% of people who view a video visit the company?s Web site; 30% visit a physical store; and 24% make a purchase as a result of watching.

Viewers only do this if there?s a reason to do so. Provide a call to action, a trackable URL to visit, a coupon, discount code, or unique phone number to call. This way your video can be evaluated against other marketing efforts.

6) Make it Shareable

YouTube taught everyone that video is portable and starts conversations between friends. Videos that don?t meet this new expectation limit their own effectiveness. Sharing is an easy action that viewers can take to promote your business. By enabling conversations to spread you?re giving yourself an easy opportunity to gain viewership.

To promote sharing make sure your video can be embedded, emailed and posted to the different social media sites. (Most video players, like
YouTube,
Viddler and
Blip.tv automatically include those options ? so take advantage of them!)

All in All: Make it Happen

Making online video that drives action requires us to understand how the Web makes the video viewing experience different from TV. It?s an environment with infinite choice and limited attention spans with all of the control in the hands of the user. Once this lean forward dynamic is understood and accounted for, making actionable video becomes much easier. It?s the falling back on our collective TV-watching experience as the model for Internet video that stymies action and hurts the success of the video.

All businesses, from the pizza place in Brooklyn to a top retail chain, can leverage this new video consumption to grow their revenue. By focusing on authenticity, and providing a clear, measurable action path, video can become a valuable component of any online marketing effort.

So, what do you think makes great online video? Show us your favorite videos and share your best tips to making great video in the comments.

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David Rich is senior vice president, sales and marketing for
TurnHere. A marketing professional with 20 years of experience growing brands ranging from Fortune 500 companies to startups, Rich brings a wealth of strategy and leadership expertise to TurnHere. With a strong sales and marketing background, Rich will further drive TurnHere?s market-leading online video strategy. Most recently, he was CMO of Razz, and prior, VP of Worldwide Marketing & Channel Sales at Kodak Gallery (formerly Ofoto). Before Kodak, Rich led marketing for Yahoo!’s Search, Classifieds and Local Media businesses. Rich holds a BA and MBA from Duke University.

Imagery courtesy of
iStockphoto,
fotoIE,
melhi

HOW TO: Create Online Video That Works

Amazon reportedly developing smartphone with glasses-free 'holographic' 3D display

Online retailer Amazon is said to be working on a “wide-ranging lineup” of new devices, including a smartphone with a display capable of producing 3D images without the need for special glasses.


Amazon’s apparent plans to push even further into the hardware space were revealed on Thursday by The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed people familiar with the company’s plans. The retailer’s rumored 3D-capable smartphone would “use retina-tracking technology” to produce images that appear to “float above the screen like a hologram,” author Greg Bensinger wrote.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD tablet debuted late last year..

The advanced device would apparently allow users to control it by just using their eyes. The three-dimensional image would apparently be visible from all angles — an improvement from Nintendo’s 3DS gaming console, which can only be seen in 3D without glasses from a specific vantage point.

The project is said to be in development at Amazon’s “Lab126″ facility, which is located in Apple’s hometown of Cupertino, Calif. Beyond the 3D smartphone, Amazon is also reportedly working on a set-top box that could compete with the Apple TV.

There’s no indication that any of the devices may see the light of day outside of Amazon’s top-secret labs. Rumors of an Amazon-built smartphone have persisted for years, though Thursday’s claim of an alleged glasses-free 3D display is a new detail.

Amazon already has a major presence in the tablet market, where its Kindle Fire competes directly with Apple’s iPad. The online retailer — known for its low-margin, high-volume business strategy — significantly undercuts Apple’s iPad lineup, with an entry-level Kindle Fire priced at $159.

Amazon reportedly developing smartphone with glasses-free 'holographic' 3D display

HOW TO: Install Google Chrome Greasemonkey Scripts (Windows Only)

I had heard about various methods of running Greasemonkey scripts in
Google Chrome, but now it’s easier than ever. Here’s how to install Google Chrome Greasemonkey scripts in 4 quick steps.

Of course, we are still all eagerly awaiting extensions. Leave your desired list
in my previous post, “Most Wanted Browser Extensions and Add-ons to Install in Google Chrome.”

4 Step Process

1. Install a recent
trunk build of Chromium – There are several new builds every day. Just grab the latest version, download to your preferred folder and extract.

2. Launch chrome.exe with the ?enable-greasemonkey flag – Create a shortcut to the new file and just copy/paste “?enable-greasemonkey ” after the shortcut.

3. Copy *.user.js files to the c:scripts directory on your computer –
Userscripts.org has all the Greasemonkey extensions out there. Click Install, right click and “Save as…”, edit the file name so it’s not just “26062.user.js” and save in the C:scripts folder on your computer (you most likely have to create this folder).

4. Script edits are picked up automatically; just refresh the page to see the changes – and you are done!

Now that you are using Greasemonkey in Chrome, head over to our list of ”
7 Essential Greasemonkey Scripts for FriendFeed” or ”
Top 12 Greasemonkey scripts for Stumbleupon.”

What scripts are you going to install?

HOW TO: Install Google Chrome Greasemonkey Scripts (Windows Only)

HOW TO: Kill Endless CC Mails in Your Office

Zapproved, a web-based service that lets you make instant “Approve” or “Deny” decisions within your company, launches officially today.

It’s not a project management tool like those from
37Signals: instead, it serves one purpose: get an instant “Approve” or “Deny” on decisions within your organization. We’ve been testing it internally at Mashable for a number of months, it was proposed in the comments during our hunt for the
Best Web Apps for Ideas, and we highlighted it as one of our
270+ Online Business Tools.

How To Get Decisions Made

1. Visit Zapproved, sign up up and click “Create Proposal”

2. Enter the email address of the person you want to approve the proposal

3. Enter the proposal in the text box and send it in

4. That person receives an email with a choice of “Approve”, “Deny” or “Comment”, and the decision is made.

Zapproved: Pros vs Cons

Having used Zapproved for an extended period, we’ve seen the advantages, and the disadvantages. These include:

Pros: avoids the ambiguity of decisions made on phone calls; puts a stop to endless carbon copy emails between an entire staff; provides an archive of all decisions for reference and accountability; the Zapproved team is extremely responsive to feedback

Cons: Zapproved quickly becomes another inbox; the “comment” option is the one you usually end up choosing, which just replicates the issue with cc emails

Zapproved might at first sound too simple to be at all useful, and yet you quickly learn that the simplicity is its strength: a very clear cut, black and white decision that prevents the endless back and forth of email. Approved.

HOW TO: Kill Endless CC Mails in Your Office

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Technorati

Chris Snyder is an online journalist specializing in new media. He writes about the tech biz for
Wired.com’s Epicenter blog.

Technorati with its search engine, tags, feeds and rankings has become the go-to source for all things blog. The site has undergone several makeovers over the years with the most
recent changes drastically simplifying the design with more of a focus on search.

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Technorati

Found: Jimmy Kimmel pitches iPad mini as new iPhone, see what people said

Apple unveiled two new iPhones yesterday at a special media event in Cupertino yet as it turns out, not many people outside of tech enthusiast circles were aware of this. As we all know, the new handsets won’t be available to the general public until next week but that didn’t stop late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel from having a bit of fun with the announcement on Hollywood Boulevard.

You see, Kimmel sent an interviewer out on the streets with an iPad mini and told people it was the brand new iPhone to gauge their reactions. As it turns out, people are pretty much clueless and will say anything to get on television… assuming of course those interviewed aren’t paid actors. It’s something we wouldn’t put past Kimmel after he recently revealed he was the person behind the “girl on fire” YouTube twerking video.

Found: Jimmy Kimmel pitches iPad mini as new iPhone, see what people said

Aio Wireless launches prepaid iPhone 5 plans starting at $55 per month

Thursday saw the launch of a new prepaid wireless carrier as Aio, a subsidiary of AT&T, went live offering Apple’s iPhone 5 and service for $55 per month.

Aio (pronounced “A-O”) launches initially in select stores in Houston, Tex., Orlando, Fla., and Tampa, Fla., with additional stores opening in those markets in the coming weeks. Over the rest of the year, Aio will roll out service to additional markets in the U.S.

Aio customers will have “unlimited” (throttled after meeting a plan’s data cap) service on AT&T’s 4G network. Speeds on the network, though, are capped at 4Mbps, despite AT&T’s LTE capability.

Customers can choose from a variety of smartphones, tablets, and feature phones from Samsung, Nokia, ZTE, and others. Aio carries Apple’s iPhone 5 for $649, while an iPhone 4S costs $499. Customers can also bring their own unlocked, compatible handsets to the service.

Aio service is available in three tiers: Basic, Smart, and Pro. Basic provides 250MB of data per month for $40 per month, Smart 2GB for $55, and Pro 7GB for $70. Customers can also add 250MB for a tablet for $15 per month. An additional 1GB of data can be added to a plan for $10 per month.

Adding a prepay-centric subsidiary may allow AT&T to leverage its larger network and faster data speeds to attract customers from second-tier carriers. AT&T is the second-largest carrier in the United States, trailing only Verizon in terms of customer base. The last quarter, though, saw AT&T lagging Verizon in customer growth as the larger carrier added more than twice the new customers AT&T did.

The Aio subsidiary will also help AT&T address fluctuations in the major carrier segment, giving it a “simple” pricing structure to combat that of recently resurgent T-Mobile, which last month introduced a “no-contract” plan that sees customers paying more up front for smartphones but having their rates lower over time.

Aio will join Cricket, Virgin Mobile, and Walmart’s Straight Talk among prepaid carriers offering Apple’s bestselling smartphone.

Aio Wireless launches prepaid iPhone 5 plans starting at $55 per month

Phonebloks is the modular phone you custom build with blocks

Smartphones are amazing devices on so many levels but their effective lifecycle leaves much to be desired. What I mean is, they are great when first launched but after six months or a year when newer models are available, many are ready to trade up to the latest and greatest. For what, a slightly faster processor or more memory?

What about all of the other components in your dated smartphone that are still perfectly fine and current? Unfortunately you’ll be buying back most of those parts in the new phone while the outgoing handset gets traded in or perhaps even tossed in the recycling bin. But does it really have to play out like that?

Designer Dave Hakkens from the Netherlands doesn’t believe so which is why he has come up with a phone concept called Phonebloks. Described as a phone worth keeping, his device uses a series of modular components that plug into a base, or a motherboard of sorts. Every component of the phone is a block that can be added, moved or removed completely.

Don’t need Bluetooth or perhaps you store everything in the cloud? Remove the storage block and add a larger battery block instead. Love to take photos with your phone? Add a larger camera block for improved image quality. Or if you just want to keep it simple, do away with the camera, Bluetooth, etc. and opt for a larger processor and battery block.

The phone is built on an open platform but to get the project off the ground, Hakkens needs to get the right people and the right companies involved. That’s why he is using Thunderclap, a crowd-sourced platform that relies on users’ social media reach instead of donated dollars to help spread the word about a given project. If the project’s goal is reached, Thunderclap will blast out a timed message from all supports at once in an effort to create a wave of attention.

So what do you think? Would you invest in a modular phone platform that you could customize on a hardware level or is this a bit too gimmicky for you?

Phonebloks is the modular phone you custom build with blocks

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of StumbleUpon

Jake Marsh is a Social Media and Tech Evangelist. He authors a blog about technology, design, and programming at
TheJakeMarsh.com.

StumbleUpon has been around since 2001, and their tag line boasts “Discover your web” and, truly, that’s what this service does. It provides the unique feature of showing you a random website, anytime, anywhere, and also learns and adapts to your interests, showing you websites specifically tailored to your preferences. Here’s a guide for users of all levels that will help you get the most out of StumbleUpon.

Have a tip to add? Tell us about it in the comments.

The Toolbar

The first thing you’ll need to do after signing up for an account, is download/install the StumbleUpon toolbar. It’s available as a plugin for both
Mozilla Firefox 2.0 and 3.0, and
Internet Explorer 6 and 7 (No Safari or Google Chrome version just yet). The toolbar includes a few different buttons: The Stumble button, which will give you a new webpage with every click. The Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down buttons, which will add or remove sites from your favorites list, as well as tell StumbleUpon to show you more or less sites like the current one.

The Share button is used when you want to share pages you’ve found with your friends on StumbleUpon. The Channels section will let you view sites in all the categories and sub-categories. And lastly, some buttons to view your favorites and the favorites of your friends. It’s good to note that the toolbar allows you to favorite things you didn’t even find on StumbleUpon, and your entire list of favorites is saved on your StumbleUpon profile for later.

Select Your Interests

One of the best things you can do to help you get the best stumbling experience is to accurately fill out the ‘Manage Interests’ section. By selecting the sublets you prefer, StumbleUpon shows you webpages that you are interested in.

Rate Everything!

By using the Rating system, StumbleUpon adapts to what you like, making sure that every time you stumble, you’ll see the content you really want to see. The system is pretty smart and if you remember to rate every page you come to, you’ll start seeing less and less stuff you don’t like.

Review, Review, Review.

Along with rating pages, reading and writing reviews will help you determine what sites of similar interests are the ones you really want to visit. A person is usually more inclined to check something out after seeing reviews and a positive rating for the particular item. Think of it kind of like
Rotten Tomatoes, but for webpages.

Make Some Friends

Like every other social networking site out there, the more friends you have, the better. But here, there’s actually some purpose to the madness. With StumbleUpon, the more friends you have, the better content you’ll be shown. StumbleUpon uses your friends list as another metric of what it should show you. So having friends with similar interests makes it even easier for you to find good content. By checking out your friends’ favorites you can see what content they found with StumbleUpon and what they rated it. If you are mindful about who you friend, chances are, it’s stuff you haven’t seen yet.

While you’re making new friends, be sure to
add Mashable here.

Stumble Specific Terms

The toolbar gives you a few different ways to actually discover new content. One way is to use a somewhat hidden feature which will allow you to stumble via specific term or query. All you have to do is open up the Toolbar Options panel by clicking “Tools > Toolbar Options…” and turn on the “Search” channel. This will add a magnifying glass icon to the toolbar. Clicking it will enable you to stumble through pages relevant to a particular query or search term.

Play With the Options

There’s a ton of helpful options for the toolbar. Just click on “Tools > Toolbar Options…” and explore all the different controls and shortcut button you can turn on and off.

Summon Your Inner Blog

Every user is given a sub-domain such as http://username.stumbleupon.com. StumbleUpon calls this page your “Blog.” This is basically your profile page. However there’s some real value in here. The blog helps keep everything you’ve found and done on StumbleUpon in one central place. You can post entries just like a normal blog, but you can also post videos, pictures, etc.

Each user’s blog houses all of their favorites, their tags, and allows for complete control of what content you show everyone. Use tags to find other users that are posting about things you like. Add these people as friends, and soon you’ll never be hitting that “Thumbs Down” button again.

Get Your GreaseMonkey On

In case you’ve been living under a GTD-proof rock the past few years,
GreaseMonkey is every power user’s favorite Firefox extension that allows downloadable “Userscripts” to modify the appearance and behavior of any website. And StumbleUpon isn’t immune from the treatment. There are a
number of
awesome

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of StumbleUpon

UniKey-powered Kevo aims to make Apple's iPhone the ultimate secure wireless house key

UniKey on Wednesday announced the new Kwikset Kevo, a Bluetooth-connected deadbolt door lock that pairs with Apple’s iPhone to make fumbling with house keys a thing of the past.

UniKey Technologies Chief Executive Phil Dumas spoke with AppleInsider about the upcoming product, which is a result of a partnership between his company and lock maker Kwikset. The main feature of the Kevo powered by UniKey is its “eKey” functionality, which allows iPhone owners to use Bluetooth Low Energy to open their front door.

Having a wireless digital key opens a whole new world of possibilities, Dumas explained, including the ability to remotely and temporarily provide another iPhone user with an eKey. With this feature, users can grant a limited-time key to a maid or contractor, or more permanent access options to fellow family members or roommates.“If you’re going to break into this, you might as well break into a bank account.” — UniKey Technologies CEO Phil Dumas

These advanced features are important, Dumas said, because he believes the idea of a smartphone-enabled door lock will never catch on unless it’s vastly superior to using a traditional key, all without sacrificing security. The UniKey system allows users to simply keep their iPhone in their pocket to gain authorized secure entry into their home.

“We put a big emphasis on elegance for people to overcome that issue of having a big and bulky door lock on their front door,” he said.

Using a UniKey product, an iPhone owner just taps on the exterior of the lock to gain access. The system, powered by four AA batteries that last over a year, scans to make sure an authorized iPhone is in range.

Users are notified that the door is unlocked by a flashing green light on the lock face. The system also supports traditional keys, and it includes a wireless keychain fob for non-iPhone users.Kwikset Kevo will be iPhone-only at launch, because of Apple’s support for the Bluetooth 4.0 low-energy profile.

Dumas, who has appeared on ABC’s “Shark Tank” to pitch his system, said UniKey decided to go iPhone-only at launch because of Apple’s established support for the Bluetooth Low Energy profile. As a result, the Kwikset Kevo will be compatible with Apple’s Bluetooth 4.0 mobile devices: the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, third- and fourth-generation iPads, iPad mini, and fifth-generation iPod touch.

“Apple is just so much further along with their low energy protocol,” he said.

From the company’s description, UniKey is a well thought out product. For example, the system is said to know whether the user holding an authorized iPhone is inside or outside of the door. This way, they won’t accidentally unlock the door by walking up to it to see who’s knocking.

The UniKey system also treats a user’s iPhone as a physical key, which means multiple phones can’t be logged into the account at the same time. If users lose their phone and log into another device, the lost phone’s key access will automatically be revoked.

The deadbolt can also be locked with a series of taps even if an authorized smartphone isn’t present, allowing visitors to easily lock the front door when letting themselves out of your home.

The Kevo also has support for Kwikset smart key technology, which allows users to re-key the new deadbolt to their old physical key. And the system is backed by what Dumas said is “military-grade encryption” for its wireless entry.

“If you’re going to break into this, you might as well break into a bank account,” he said.

Kwikset and UniKey have not yet determined the final pricing of the Kevo, but officials expect it to retail for under $250. Preorders for the device will begin in mid-June, and the product is on schedule to ship this summer. Details can be found at the official Kwikset site.

UniKey-powered Kevo aims to make Apple's iPhone the ultimate secure wireless house key