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With iPad preorders officially starting tomorrow, attention has shifted to iPhone 4.0 software and what features it might bring to both the iPad and future iPhone models.

Apple Insider is now adding fuel to the long-standing rumors that the next big update to Apple’s iPhone OS will feature support for multitasking — that is, the ability for third-party apps to run in the background.

As anyone with a jailbroken iPhone knows, the multitasking limitation for third-party applications in the iPhone OS is purely artificial. Whether it is for security purposes, performance or battery life, Apple has chosen not to allow third-party developers (or even third-party Apple created apps) to run concurrently in the background.

This means that if you want to listen to Pandora while surfing the web in Mobile Safari, well, too bad. Of all the complaints levied against the iPhone, this is probably the one that impacts consumers the most. It doesn’t help that you can, for instance, use the iPod application while surfing the web or using other apps.

Push notifications have mitigated some of the need for many use cases for multitasking — but it’s not a true solution.

Multitasking in iPhone 4.0?

Even a year ago, the multitasking issue with the iPhone 3.0 OS wasn’t as problematic as it is now, in part because while competing mobile platforms did offer support for running third-party apps in the background, the competition from those platforms wasn’t as strong.

A year later, we have Palm’s webOS, the BlackBerry, Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series, and of course, what many see as the iPhone’s biggest competition: Google’s Android platform.

For the iPhone to remain as enticing to developers as it is now (and in turn, as attractive to users), future versions of the software will need to support multitasking by third-party applications in some capacity.

AppleInsider says that its sources say Apple has developed a “full-on-solution,” but details about how that solution will be implemented and what rules applications will need to follow to address multitasking was not revealed.

Steve Jobs is famous for taking features out of a product if they don’t meet his standards. As a long-time smart phone user who has used devices on almost every major smartphone platform, I can attest to some of the very real problems that multitasking or excessive backgrounding can cause for those devices.

They include, but are not limited to:

Decreased Battery Life — More apps running at once means more CPU usage, which means battery life can be reduced.

Slowdowns, freezes, crashes — As a long-time BlackBerry user before I migrated to the iPhone, I remember the “three finger salute” reboot mechanism far too well. At least once a day (more often if I happened to open up my RSS reader or my e-mail was particularly heavy) I had to reboot my Berry in order to reset the memory cache and allow the device to work at a pace that didn’t resemble molasses. Android devices I’ve used have had this same problem (although not to the extent as my BlackBerry Curve) and homebrew Palm Pre developers have even written a tool that schedules phone reboots to handle the issue.

Switching apps can be awkward — This is probably one of the biggest challenges Apple will have to face — beyond just the technical tricks for implementing better resource handling and allocation — the mechanism used to switch between open applications can be cumbersome, depending on the type of application. With it’s one-button design, the iPhone will likely have to employ some sort of gesture for opening or accessing other apps — if indeed it implements multitasking the same way that BlackBerry and Android do.

Rumors about multitasking coming to the iPhone in a supported form have been swirling for literally years, so any report on whether or not it will be a reality in iPhone 4.0 is pure speculation.

That said, if Apple doesn’t address multitasking with its next big release, it risks falling behind other players moving forward.

Tags: apple, iphone, iPhone 4.0, iphone os, multitasking

If you’re a Facebooker who’s lusting after the Apple iPad (so much so that you’ve joined a Fan Page), then chances are you’re aged between 18 and 25 and have an interest in popular culture — or so says RapLeaf, a company that analyzes social media stats to draw meaningful conclusions from the likes of Facebook Fan Pages.

RapLeaf looked at the top three Facebook Fan Pages (all of which are imaginatively named “The iPad”) to see if iPad fans could be easily grouped into a particular demographic.

The numbers are certainly there for such a study — the three pages together boast almost 98,000 members. While gender pretty much averaged out across all the pages, the age range came in at under Facebook’s average with 85% of overall fans 35 or under, and nearly 50% 25 and under.

iPad-owner-wannabes are also fairly social, with a third boasting more than 300 friends. Other Fan Pages they have joined include, in many cases (and perhaps unsurprisingly), iTunes, as well as other Pages related to caffeine, sleep, pop culture and humor.

What will be truly interesting to see as we edge closer to the April 3 iPad launch is how many of those 98,000 put their money where their Facebook fandom is and go out and buy the device.

Tags: apple, facebook, ipad, statistics

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

One of the most powerful aspects of social media and the web is the fact that it isn’t specific to any location. So long as you have an Internet connection, you can be halfway across the world Skyping, tweeting, and communicating with your friends. It has broken down barriers, given people the ability to work remotely, and made it so that your location doesn’t have to determine your destiny.

Still, to discount location would be foolish. It’s where we socialize and, for the most part, where we work. We grow to love (or hate) the neighborhoods and cities in which we live. And with the rise of smartphones and GPS, location-based social networks such as Foursquare and Google Buzz have been growing like wildfire.

Thus, I’m not surprised that a new debate has been raging in entrepreneurship circles over whether it matters where your startup is based. For web entrepreneurs, the perceived epicenter has always been San Francisco and the Bay Area – often known as Silicon Valley. With a huge collection of technology companies, venture capitalists, and talented engineers, many advocate moving to the area if you’re serious about building a startup.

That mentality has been challenged recently by growing startup hubs around the globe. One of the ones making a lot of headlines is New York City’s tech scene, which has been growing rapidly in recent years and includes startups such as Foursquare and VC firms like Union Square Ventures. Boulder, Colorado is also gaining traction due to the presence of Techstars, an early-stage seed venture firm.

Why Location Still Matters

While you have a lot of good choices for where to build your company, don’t let anybody fool you into thinking that location doesn’t matter; in fact, it does. Here’s why:

• Different locations have different entrepreneurial support communities.

These are vital, because entrepreneurship can quickly become lonely and nerve-wracking without mentorship and support.

• Talent pools around location. You will simply find more talented engineers in Silicon Valley, while you’ll find a larger pool of financial minds in NYC and media moguls in Los Angeles. You can find talent anywhere, but the pool matters.

• In-person meetings are just as important as they were five years ago. Being able to grab a coffee with a potential investor or partner is still going to be more powerful than Skyping or email.

With that said, it doesn’t mean that San Francisco or Silicon Valley is the best place to start a web company.

Yes, in a lot of cases it can be because of the influx of money and talent, but there are a lot of other things you should consider, including:

• Partnerships: Foursquare, an NYC-based company, has succeeded in striking a lot of great media partnerships, including ones with Bravo and The New York Times. Their location has surely helped: NYC simply has more advertising and media companies than other locations, and Foursquare has seized upon the opportunity it presents.

• Talent: While engineering talent is prevalent in Silicon Valley, you need to consider what your startup is about. For example, Boston has a strong startup community with great scientists and academics that come from MIT and Harvard.

• Happiness: If you live in a place that you simply hate, you are not going to be as productive. If your own needs aren’t fulfilled, how can you expect to fulfill the needs of a startup and its employees? If I have any piece of advice for where to create your startup, it’s this: make sure it’s a place that will make you happy first and foremost, and then go from there.

Location matters for your startup, but it doesn’t define success. Hard work, smart execution, and the right team are far more important. Don’t compromise those things in your quest to find your perfect startup city.

More business resources from Mashable:

- 7 Essential Online HR Resources for Your Small Business
- Google Buzz: 5 Opportunities for Small Businesses
- 5 Ways to Avoid Sabotaging Your Personal Brand Online
- 4 Elements of a Successful Business Web Presence
- HOW TO: Implement a Social Media Business Strategy

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Matejay

Tags: business, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, List, Lists, small business, startup

You can now see Chatroulette users’ locations, thanks to a new Google Maps mashup that pinpoints where in the world people are signing in to the voyeuristic video-conferencing service.

The new Chatroulette Maps website presents markers of users’ IP addresses on a worldwide map, meaning less anonymity than users have previously experienced (which may go some way to encourage folks to keep it in their pants).

Capturing screengrabs of the users, Chatroulette Map then adds them to the map using geo IP tools. The accuracy of tracking locations via IP addresses varies with the provider and area. It’s certainly not super precise technology, but in built-up areas with an ISP with an up-to-date database it can be up to 95% accurate, and elsewhere, certainly enough to get an idea of location.

Although Chatroulette uses Adobe’s Stratus platform, the actual webcam hook-up between two users is a peer-to-peer link, which means the user’s IP address is revealed by this direct means of connection.

Chatroulette Map says there are plans to make the images rateable, as well as filter out any NSFW content, but for now the service just offers a snapshot of Chatroulette users across the globe.

Anyone unhappy with being screengrabbed and mapped can get in touch with the site to have their marker and pic removed, provided they e-mail in a pic of themselves as proof.

Will this development put you off using Chatroulette? Do you see it as an invasion of your privacy? Let us know in the comments below.

[via Laughing Squid]

Tags: chat roulette maps, chatroulette

We now know how Conan O’Brien plans to leverage the huge swell of support he found online in the wake of being forced out at NBC: a nationwide comedy tour.

The comedian announced on his Twitter account this morning the launch of TeamCoco.com, where fans can buy tickets to one of 30 shows, kicking off in Eugene, Oregon, on April 12. The tour, fittingly enough, is called “The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour,” a reference to the deal he made with NBC that keeps O’Brien off the air until the fall.

A comedy tour has been rumored since shortly after Conan stepped down, and we suspected something might be in the works when he finally joined Twitter (and immediately found a huge fan base, and changed one random girl’s life along the way). Now, Conan officially has an outlet to keep the momentum going while he determines his next move on TV.

Are you going to go see one of Conan’s shows? Let us know in the comments!

Tags: conan o'brien, team coco

OK, Twilight fans, brace yourself because the first trailer for the upcoming third installment of the saga — Eclipse — is now available for your viewing pleasure.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is based on Stephenie Meyer’s novel Eclipse, and should be airing on June 30, 2010. However, you can have a taste of some action, and (of course) more of the vampire-werewolf-human (but-maybe-not-human-for-long) love triangle you’ve probably grown accustomed to in the first two movies.

Reviews: Eclipse

Tags: eclipse, twilight, video

According to the Guardian and Global Dashboard, Facebook has threatened to sue Daily Mail over an article that wrongfully claimed Facebook makes it easy for older sex predators to approach and seduce minors.

Daily Mail’s article, which can (in edited form) be found here, was written by a former police detective Mark Williams-Thomas, and had originally been titled “I posed as a girl of 14 on Facebook. What followed will sicken you.” It contained the account of the author posing as a minor on Facebook, which, according to him, attracted sexual predators right away.

The problem? He wasn’t really using Facebook to conduct the experiment, he used a “different social networking site,” as explained in today’s update to the article, added at the bottom by Daily Mail staff. The full text of the update is as follows:

“In an earlier version of this article, we wrongly stated that the criminologist had conducted an experiment into social networking sites by posing as a 14-year-old girl on Facebook with the result that he quickly attracted sexually motivated messages. In fact he had used a different social networking site for this exercise. We are happy to set the record straight.”

Needless to say, this caused a strong response from Facebook, which is still referenced throughout the article. According to the Guardian, a UK spokeswoman for Facebook said that the company was considering legal action due to the “brand damage that has been done.” “If you were a Middle England reader and your child was on Facebook, this sort of thing would have a very serious effect on what you thought of us,” she said.

Facebook has a point here; besides the obvious erroneous reporting, the article details how someone posing as a 14-year-old girl would get messages from older men (more accurately, users whose Facebook profile indicates they’re over 18 years old), which cannot be done on Facebook. Therefore, Facebook can argue it has measures in place to prevent exactly the kind of behavior the article describes, unlike the unnamed social network the experiment was conducted on.

We’ve contacted Facebook’s UK PR representative on this matter but have yet to hear back.

Tags: Daily Mail, facebook

If you’ve never been to Hong Kong, and you’ve heard legends about the busy streets of the city, you can now see how it looks for yourself without leaving your comfy chair, as Google has launched its Street View service for Hong Kong.

The huge city has been covered extremely well; just zoom out of Street View, pull the little yellow Street View figure on the upper left side of the screen and you’ll see that most of the streets are blue, which means Street View is available there.

In addition to Hong Kong, Google Street View is now also available in the city of Macau, south of Guangdong province.

Tags: Hong Kong, street view

Opera Mini 5 Beta was first introduced about five months ago, but owners of Android-based smartphones had to wait until now to get their hands on Opera’s nifty mobile browser.

This version is nearly identical to the Opera Mini 5 Beta for other handsets; the biggest improvements are speed dial, tabbed browsing, password management and better optimization for touchscreen phones. Compared to the old Opera Mini 4.2, it’s a world of difference, so if you’re an Opera Mini user, you should definitely try out, even though it’s a beta.

To get Opera Mini 5 Beta, point your mobile browser to m.opera.com/next, you can also search for “Opera Mini” in the Android Market.

Reviews: Android Market, Opera Mini

Tags: Mobile 2.0, opera mini, web browsers

Last week, an App Store error got the latest version of Foursquare for the iPhone into a few users hands a little bit early.

That hiccup resulted in the app briefly disappearing from the App Store before finally returning early yesterday. Now the newly designed version of the app is in the App Store and available for everyone to check out.

Foursquare 1.7 features a new design, faster checkins and shouts, plus an easy way to view your checkin history. The app also features pull-to-refresh, a la Tweetie 2 for the iPhone. The app is a lot more responsive in our tests and the new interface is a big enhancement.

This is a nice improvement from the old release and a fitting first-birthday gift of sorts as the app is arriving just before SXSW 2010 — where the app made its first big splash last year — begins.

What do you think of the new Foursquare app? Let us know!

Reviews: Foursquare

Tags: foursquare, foursquare iphone, iphone apps

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.

Name: Scordit

Quick Pitch: A social site where you share the stuff you’ve bought or want to get, and win prizes by doing it!

Genius Idea: It’s nice to share your new purchases or “scores” with friends or to let people know what stuff you really want to score in the future. Likewise, it’s fun to see what your friends are scoring or adding to their wishlists. Scordit handles both tasks, plus integrates with Facebook and Twitter, making sharing and wishlisting easy.

Similar services to Scordit exist — we covered one called Hollrr last month — but Scordit is a little bit different in that you can browse or search for items (and it can poll places like Amazon.com for images or product names) you both have and items you want.

Scordit also issues users points for doing certain tasks — like adding scores or wishes to your profile, inviting a friend to the service or discussing products you already have. Each point gets you a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card each week and toward a bigger prize each month. The prize this month, for example is an iPad.

In the future Scordit will also let you earn coupons and discounts on items in your wishlist, based on the points you a have earned.

We like that Scordit supports account creation with both Twitter and Facebook and that you can selectively tweet or share your scores or wishes on those services.

Like Hollrr, we do wish that there was a bookmarklet that could make adding items to your scores or wishes even faster. These sorts of sharing sites have a lot of potential but being accessible from outside the main app is something we really want to see.

How do you share your scores with friends? Let us know!

Disclosure: Scordit is founded by Shane Snow, who has contributed to Mashable.

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

Entrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the “new CloudApp()” contest – use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).”

Reviews: Facebook, Hollrr, Mashable, PHP, Twitter

Tags: getglue, hollrr, product sharing, scordit

A new study from security firm Barracuda Labs provides some interesting insights into the state of the Twitterverse. Unfortunately for the microblogging startup, the stats say that most of its users aren’t very active.

The study looked at around 19 million Twitter accounts (PDF) in order to figure out how people are using Twitter. It started with one assumption: An active or “True” Twitter user has at least 10 followers, follows at least 10 people and had tweeted at least 10 times. By that definition though, only 21% of Twitter users are active users.

There’s a great deal of interesting data in the breakdown. Only 26% of Twitter users had 10 followers or more by December 2009, while only 40% were following 10 people or more (in fact, a majority of Twitter users, 51%, were following less than five people).

In terms of tweets, the report estimates that 34% of Twitter users hadn’t tweeted even once, while a whopping 73% of Twitter’s users tweeted less than 10 times. That means nearly all of the tweets on the social network were coming from about one-fourth of the userbase. Power users dominate.

Barracuda Labs also analyzed Twitter’s growth over time, and the numbers are consistent with previous reports that show while Twitter grew like wildfire in early 2009, it has dramatically slowed down in recent months. Going back further to early 2008, the report estimates that the microblogging tool grew by just 0.31%. However, with the quick rise of media coverage and the influx of celebrities such as Oprah and Shaq, Twitter use grew by 20% in April 2009 before dropping off to 0.34% growth in December 2009.

While the news isn’t stellar, it isn’t all bad for Twitter — these metrics are moving in the right direction. A full 79% of users had less than 10 tweets in June 2009, but that number dropped to 73% by December. Eighty percent of users had less than 10 followers in June 2009, but that percentage dropped to 74% by December. If that trend continues, you’ll hopefully see a more diverse and active Twitterverse going forward.

[via MediaMemo]

Tags: Barracuda Labs, followers, stats, trending, twitter

Forbes has released its annual list of the world’s billionaires and when it comes to technology, the list includes many of the same faces we see year after year.

After regaining the throne last year, Bill Gates has once again been displaced as the world’s richest man — this time by Carlos Slim (who held that post back in 2007), but he remains the richest man in tech by a wide margin with an estimated net worth of $53 billion.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who fell off the list last year, has rejoined, tied with 20 others at #212 with an estimated net worth of $4 billion.

Check out how some other tech heavyweights weighed in:

Larry Ellison: $28 Billion

The Oracle founder and CEO is the sixth richest person in the world this year, sitting pretty with $28 billion as his estimated net worth.

Sergey Brin & Larry Page: $17.5 Billion Each

The two Google co-founders both place 24th on the list with $17.5 billion in estimated net worth.

Steve Ballmer: $14.5 Billion

Thanks to a rise in Microsoft’s stock price, Ballmer saw his net worth rise and he sits at #33 on the overall list.

Paul Allen and Michael Dell: $13.5 Billion

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen might appear to spend money like its water, but he’s still ranked at #37 on the list, tied with Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell.

Jeff Bezos: $12.3 Billion

The Amazon founder and CEO is ranked #43 with $12.3 billion in estimated net worth. That’s a lot of e-books!

Eric Schmidt: $6.3 Billion

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is ranked #117 this year, tied with News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Steve Jobs: $5.5 Billion

Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs has watch his company’s stock price soar over the last twelve months. He’s ranked #136 with an estimated $5.5 Billion.

Pierre Omidyar: $5.2 Billion

The eBay founder is ranked #148 on the list.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg: $3 Billion each

While most filmmakers don’t necessarily fall into the category of technology players, I think we can make an exception for the guy who gave us Jaws, E.T. and Minority Report and the guy that gave us Star Wars and Howard The Duck. Both directors are tied at #316.

Jerry Yang: $1.3 Billion

Hey, being ousted wasn’t the worst thing to happen to Yang — Yahoo’s stock was up 26% in the last year, buoying the co-founders net worth along with it.

Reviews: Facebook, Google

Tags: bill gates, billionaires, mark zuckerberg, steve jobs

Twitter has just flipped the switch on geolocation within Twitter.com. Now at least some users can pull up location-based information from individual tweets on the microblogging website.

While attaching locations to tweets has been possible for several months now through third-party apps, Twitter.com itself hasn’t done much geolocation until today. It was first noticed yesterday, but the full rollout seems to be happening today.

It’s a simple integration: With any tweet that has a location attached to it (mostly via apps that support it, such as Foursquare and Tweetie), a small location icon will appear at the end of the byline of that tweet. Clicking on it will bring up a Google Map showing the location where that tweet was sent.

Here’s a screenshot:

It’s a simple integration, but it’s important to the future of Twitter. Location has become this year’s big trend, and with Facebook set to launch location features next month, the company can’t afford to be left behind.

What do you think: Is this an important market for Twitter to command? What location features should it launch next? Let us know in the comments.

Reviews: Foursquare, Twitter, tweetie

Tags: geolocation, twitter

Sony has named its forthcoming PlayStation 3 motion controller “PlayStation Move.” The controller is Sony’s answer to Nintendo’s Wii Remote and Microsoft’s Project Natal for Xbox 360 — a way to use motion to play video games instead of (or at least in addition to) buttons.

The controller was originally announced at the E3 interactive entertainment conference last year, but it was not named. Since then people have simply called it “the PlayStation motion controller.” It’s good to have a name to work with even though it’s a straightforward one.

Move is expected to launch in fall of 2010, right next to Microsoft’s competing Project Natal peripheral for the Xbox 360. Both devices will use cameras to track movements, but the similarities end there. Move uses a spherical light, which is tracked by the camera in concert with internal sensors. Natal, on the other hand, uses 3D camera technology to track the entirety of the player’s body without a controller.

Sony plans to charge less than $100 for a package including Move, the PlayStation Eye camera and one game. The pitch: It’s far more accurate than Nintendo’s Wii remote, so it will appeal to hardcore gamers who play difficult games, not just casual gamers who enjoy party games.

The sensor controller will be accompanied by an attachment with an analog stick, just like the nunchuk that Wii owners attach to their Wii remotes.

Move will be supported by new games Ape Escape, Echochrome 2 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, plus old games LittleBigPlanet, Flower and Resident Evil 5. Others are planned, too, including several made specifically for the controller: boxing game Dukes, family party game Move Party, high-def sports suite Sports Champions, Kung Fu game Slider and shooter The Shoot.

Here are some images of the controller, some screenshots from the planned games, and an embedded trailer from Sony.

Images

PlayStation Move Trailer

[img credit: Kotaku]

Update: Sony blogged about PlayStation Move, adding tons of details and images. We’ve added the info here.

Tags: GDC, gdc-2010, motion controls, nintendo wii, playstation 3, playstation move, sony, video games, wii remote

Google has just released an alternative player for Google Reader that gives those with a penchant for browsing news the ability to do so in an image-heavy, TV-like fashion.

Dubbed Google Reader Play, the new tool is an experimental Google Labs project that presents stories one by one — based on their Recommend Items technology — using enlarged photos and auto-playing videos (in lieu of text) on a black backdrop. Viewers can redefine categories and star, like or share stories, with those behaviors further contributing to what Google displays.

Google Reader Play could be both an entertainment utility for browsing the web and a complement to your Google Reader experience. Actions that you take in Reader or Reader Play are shared between the two products, and the recommendations in Reader Play are personalized based on the people you’re following in Reader.

Google Reader Play is certainly eye-catching, but it’s more pop than it is substance. In fact, given that Google Reader appeals to fairly narrow audience today, we believe the product was intended to up the entertainment factor and introduce Reader-esque features to a much broader set of users.

It’s nice to look at and worth a try; whether or not that’s enough to attract the attention of those outside the web/tech realm remains to be seen. We do, however, think that Google Reader Play on an iPad or actual TV set, say via something like Boxee Box, would be worth watching.

Reviews: Google, Google Labs, Google Reader

Tags: Google, google reader, google reader play, tv

Web-based Twitter client Brizzly has three major developments to report: a new free iPhone app, a new Brizzly Guide (which gives trending topics on Twitter their own hub pages as permanent resources for information on the top Twitter discussion items over time), and the acquisition of WikiRank.

The Brizzly Guide is a user-editable area that fleshes out the backstory and adds contextual information to Twitter trends. Loading up the Guide shows the top 10 current trending topics at the left, and either a description of that topic or a prompt to be the first to explain the trend.

Taking cues from wiki-style user-editable sites like Wikipedia, the Brizzly Guide encourages users to curate the landing pages that will act as resources for current and past Twitter trends over time.

The free Brizzly iPhone app is available now in the App Store, featuring multiple account support, lists, photo uploads, saved searches syncing, classic-style retweet functionality, and support for the new Brizzly Guide with user-editable trends and news topics.

Further evidence of Brizzly’s adoption of wiki-style philosophy comes with the announcement of the company’s acquisition of Wikirank, an app that visualizes Wikipedia data and will soon, presumably, help visualize Brizzly data and build out a more robust Brizzly Guide. Wikirank displays popular and trending pages in a clean and easy-to-use interface. CEO Jason Shellen said of the acquisition, “We will be integrating Wikirank technology into the Brizzly Guide over the coming months,” so we should expect to see more from the Twitter client surrounding trending and data visualization in the near future.

Are you a Brizzly user? What do you currently use to monitor Twitter trends?

Reviews: Brizzly, Twitter, Wikipedia

Tags: brizzly, iphone, iphone apps, twitter

Last night at its Campfire One event, Google officially launched the Google Apps Marketplace. The Google Apps Marketplace offers third-party developers and services a way to integrate directly with the Google Apps platform and sell that integration at whatever price point they choose. This is a huge win for the cloud because it finally allows other cloud services to tap into some of Google’s APIs for things like Gmail and Google Docs at a much deeper level, which can benefit their own customers, as well as offering additional value to Google Apps itself.

Although the launch was yesterday, many companies and developers have been preparing for this event for quite some time and a number of very cool and useful apps are already available in the Marketplace. Here are just a few that stand out to us.

1. Zoho for Google Apps

Zoho and Google Apps actually offer a lot of the same services: hosted email, word processing, spreadsheet and presentation tools, wikis, chat, etc. However, that doesn’t mean that Zoho doesn’t benefit from Google Apps integration.

Plus, because Zoho also offers services that go beyond what Google Apps can do, direct integration can be a nice way for Zoho to keep customers using their product (or even make them more interested in checking it out).

Zoho has two products in the Google Apps Marketplace: Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects. Zoho CRM is free for up to three users and then $12 per month per user starting with the fourth user. Zoho Projects is free for one project and starts at $12 per month for unlimited projects.

Both tools allow users to plugin Google Apps into the Zoho CRM or Zoho Projects system.

2. Intuit Online Payroll

Intuit, makers of Quicken and Quickbooks, has an online payroll tool called Intuit Online Payroll. Intuit Online Payroll for Google Apps was one of the applications demoed at the Campfire One event yesterday and it lets users access their payroll or paychecks from anywhere in Google Apps.

For instance, paychecks can be retrieved from Google Calendar, users can print checks or E-File their taxes and run the payroll application from directly within Google Apps.

Pricing is $39 per month for one employee filing taxes in one state, each additional employee is $1.50 per month and each additional state for filing taxes is $12 per month.

3. Manymoon

Manymoon is a team collaboration application that integrates with Google Apps. Think of it as a project and task management tool.

The Manymoon app was built to deeply integrate with Google Docs, Google Calendar and Gmail. The company has also created a Google Gadget for managing and monitoring tasks.

Manymoon is free and is currently the highest rated app in the Google Apps Marketplace.

4. Aviary

Aviary offers web-based tools for things like image editing and creation, vector graphics, and audio editing. Now Aviary can integrate into Google Apps, which lets you use Aviary to create graphics that can be used and accessed within things like Google Docs and Google Sites.

The free app lets you do all kinds of stuff, like edit images for business cards, presentation slides and labels, create scalable vector art, record and remix audio and even edit the markup from websites or slides.

This is the sort of functionality that Google doesn’t have the resources to offer, which is why it’s great that Aviary can just plug into existing Google Apps accounts!

5. Expensify

Expensify is a service designed to make expense reporting less painful. Expensify’s Google Apps app integrates directly with Google Apps, which eliminates one more step in the expense-report creation process.

Once reports are submitted and approved, they can be exported to QuickBooks or other accounting solutions in one-step. Expensify is always free for report creation and submission and for two submitters a month, the approval process is free too. After that, approval for each individual submitter is only $5 a month.

6. Box.net

Like Zoho, Box.net shares some features with Google Apps. Box.net has really morphed from a file storage service into a full-fledged cloud-based content management system akin to something like Microsoft SharePoint. Many of the companies that are creating apps for the Google Apps Marketplace also have apps for Box.net’s OpenBox platform.

However, while there is some overlap in terms of services offered (especially since Google Docs added file storage support in January), there is even more opportunity for users of both services.

Box.net is offering a Cloud Content Management app for Google Docs that will let you basically access and integrate your Google files directly within the Box.net ecosystem.

That means you can create a Google Doc or Google Spreadsheet as a file type within Box, which means you can then utilize the collaboration tools of both platforms. You can also access and manipulate your Box content directly from within Gmail and Google Calendar — which really makes this attractive for companies that want to look at replacing both Exchange Server and SharePoint.

Existing Box.net users can call their account manager to start the setup process of integrating the two systems and new users can sign up for a free trial of Box.net and automagically add it to Google Apps, plus get 30% off upon sign-up.

More to Come

We’re only scratching the surface in terms of what the Google Apps Marketplace can potentially offer users — as well as developers and other providers — but just looking at some of the apps and integrations that already exist, we have to say, this is exciting.

The power of the “cloud” really isn’t realized until you can see how easy it is to not just access files from various places (like on mobile phones), but also when you can easily share and integrate with other services. For small business users especially, the extensibility options offered to Google Apps via the Marketplace makes Google’s platform even more compelling.

Have you tried any of the new Google Apps apps? What do you think? Let us know!

Reviews: Aviary, Box.net, Gmail, Google, Google Docs, zoho

Tags: Aviary, box.net, cloud computing, Expensify, google apps, Google Apps Marketplace, intuit, manymoon, Zoho

Remember the Stanford iPhone Orchestra and their kick-ass musical stylings? Well, there’s a new smartphone virtuoso on the scene by the name of PixieTea who could become more synonymous with the word “telephone” than Lady Gaga herself. The Chinese artist created a video and song — mostly on an iPhone 3GS — that has been going viral over in China.

PixieTea’s video has become a hit on Youku (basically the Chinese YouTube), racking up 1,670,109 hits and counting since it was posted back in December. Gizmodo brought the vid to the attention of the U.S. today when it shared it on its site.

According to Gizmodo, the girl made use of apps like DrumMeister, Bassist, iDrum, NlogSynthesizer, NESynth and iShred, as well as a laptop, a camera and photography software. And let’s not forgot those sweet pants, which recall the ones rocked by fellow foreign viral legends, the Norwegian curling team.

Check out the video below, which puts all those tape deck recordings of “Like a Virgin” that my sister and I made when I was six to utter shame.

Oh, and bonus points to anyone who can translate the lyrics for us so that we can sing along.

Tags: apple, iphone, music, viral video

It seems like every city in America wants Google Fiber. And who can blame them? Ever since Google announced its plan last month to bring ultra-high speed Internet connections (as in, up to 100x faster than what most of the country has today) to between 50,000 and 500,000 people, cities across the U.S. have been clamoring to curry the favor of the search giant.

First there was Topeka, KS, which renamed itself by proclamation to Google, KS. Then Duluth, MN upped the ante by promising (comedically, we hope) to name all the town’s first-born children after Google. Then Greenville, SC entered the fray with their all-out “We Are Feeling Lucky” social media campaign that included a landing page, YouTube channel, Facebook events, and Twitter hashtag.

But will any of these efforts be enough?

The Competition

Topeka, Duluth, and Greenville are not alone in wanting Google to trick out their municipalities with super fast Internet speeds. A growing number of American cities are making their pitch to Google in advance of the March 26th deadline, and some of them are pretty creative.

Peoria, IL, for example, is playing off its reputation as the prototypical middle American town and the famous “Will it play in Peoria?” catchphrase. They’ve launched Google Plays in Peoria in an attempt to convince the company that their town is the perfect test-bed for Google’s new technology.

Perhaps taking a cue from Topeka, on the other hand, Sarasota, FL has also renamed itself… to Google Island. Their site includes the standard YouTube videos, Facebook Fan Page, Twitter account, and cleverly, a “Declaration of Independence from Narrowband Networks.”

Other cities have also pulled out all the stops in their campaign to get Big G to invest in their infrastructure. Baltimore, MD thinks a petition is the way to go, and presents their case using a Google Maps mashup, YouTube videos, and a list of local startups that could use a few more bits on their BmoreFiber.com pitch page.

Austin, TX, Charlottesville, VA, Greensboro, NC, Portland, OR, Grand Rapids, MI, and Indianapolis, IN are also in on the action with either official or citizen-led campaigns to catch Google’s attention.

Who Wins? Google, For One

Google has yet to reveal how it will pick where its magical fiber will be implemented — glitz and numbers may ultimately have nothing to do with it. However, no matter which city wins the ultimate prize of having Google come to town and pimp out their Internet connections the way Xhibit pimps out cars, Google itself is a big winner in the process. So are social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Google wins because they get to further their agenda. The stampede among cities to compete for Google’s trial has already demonstrated the desire that people and municipalities have for faster Internet infrastructure and “open access” networks. “It’s obvious the ISPs and incumbent utility providers don’t feel the incentive they need, the pressure they need, to keep themselves up to date,” wrote a commenter on a blog post from Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn’s office declaring their intention to compete for Google Fiber. Making the public more aware of the issues that Google cares about (better/faster infrastructure, universal access, net neutrality) is a win for Google, whose plans for the cloud-based computing hinge on faster and more ubiquitous broadband connections.

Facebook, meanwhile, has proven to be one of the most popular meeting grounds for Google Fiber advocates. Most of the campaigns already mentioned in this post have a presence on Facebook, and some communities and citizen-led groups have put the entirety of their energy on promoting the case to fellow citizens through the social network. There are growing Facebook groups for Google Fiber in Ventura, CA, Columbia, MO, Davis, CA, Huntsville, AL, Buffalo, NY, Baton Rouge, LA, Rochester, NY, Fresno, CA, Cincinnati, OH, San Luis Obispo, CA — to name just a few. In fact, a Groups search for “Google Fiber” on Facebook this morning yielded almost 250 results.

Other cities and towns are turning to Twitter to make their case. Madison, WI, for example, has a Twitter account and is using the hashtag #madfiber to spread the word about Google Fiber to other Madison residents. And Memphis, TN mayor A.C. Wharton, Jr. is using his Twitter account to tweet about his city’s pitch and encourage citizens to get involved using the #memphisgoogle hashtag.

Social gathering places like Facebook and Twitter are used all the time for campaigns bigger than the Google Fiber competition, so it may seem naive to call those sites winners here. But like Google, social networks would benefit immensely from faster, more universal broadband access, so getting their brands entangled in the movement early might be a major boon down the road.

Is your city gunning for Google Fiber? Which of these campaigns do you think will best catch Google’s attention? Let us know in the comments.

Reviews: Facebook, Google, Google Maps, Twitter, YouTube

Tags: facebook, Fiber Optic, Google, google fiber, Google Kansas, ISP, isps, social media, tech, trending, twitter, youtube