2010 January | Gadgets & Technology

Social Media Helps Red Cross Raise $4 Million

The Red Cross has raised more than $4 million dollars through text message donations to help the people of Haiti. The organization has raised the bulk of the amount so quickly through a $10 text message donation initiative (text “Haiti” to 90999), which is backed by the United States State Department.

Mashable confirmed the $4 million as of Thursday afternoon and Mashable’s Jennifer Van Grove made an excellent point:

The Red Cross’s involvement in the relief effort is to be commended. Not only did it immediately set up the simplest donation method possible, but its social media presence and outreach, when combined with the State Department’s involvement, has turned this into a viral funding initiative, topping Twitter trends and inspiring action. The Red Cross is also contributing an initial $1 million from the International Response Fund.

Go to the Red Cross newsroom for more information.

High Fashion Goes High Tech on ‘Project Runway’

projectrunwayhp 300x200 High Fashion Goes High Tech on Project Runway When “Project Runway” kicks off its seventh season tomorrow, viewers will notice an upgrade from past seasons: contestants will now have the option to use computers to sketch their designs.

“Technology is what’s next in fashion design. Forward-thinking designers are exploring new ways to use technology in the design process,” said Barbara Schneeweiss, VP of Production for The Weinstein Company.

Throughout then new season, fans will see some designers trade-in their traditional sketchpads and pencils for HP Touchsmart PCs and notebooks. A digital sketchpad of sorts, the HP tm2′s screen can be rotated around into a tablet.

Fans can also get involved and win in “Judge Your Way to a New Notebook” contest on the Project Runway website. Going live tomorrow (Jan. 14), entrants can enter their predictions for the final top three designers on the show — and be entered to win a HP Envy 15 notebook PC.

Tune into the Season 7 premiere of “Project Runway” tomorrow (January 14^th) on Lifetime at 10pm ET / PT.

Google Pulling Out of China in the Name of Free Speech?

Google announced today that it would no longer censor its Chinese search engine—even if it means Google has to pull out of China. Mashable reports that Google has decided to reevaluate its presence in China. Google has taken a stand against censorship that could have global implications.

The latest conflict between the Chinese government and the search engine giant is because of a recent attack targeting Chinese human rights activists. According to Mashable:

Google (Google) outlined in rather striking detail a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” that occurred last month, targeting around 20 companies. In its investigation, the search giant found that the attackers’ primary objective was accessing Gmail (Gmail) accounts of Chinese human rights activists. It also found that dozens of other Gmail accounts owned by human rights activists worldwide were compromised, most likely due to phishing scams or malware.

Google wouldn’t say it, but implications are that the Chinese government had something to do with these attacks.

Check out the Mashable post about Google and China.

Forbes: 14 Power Women to Follow on Twitter

Forbes has a list of the 14 Power Women to Follow on Twitter. These 14 women are “a new generation of Twitter powerhouses” and if you haven’t heard of some of these fabulous women—don’t worry, you will.

The list is diverse from tech evangelist @gwenbell to the “guard of the mommy bloggersphere” @jessicagottlieb to the “prom queen of online design” @kriscolvin. According to Forbes:

These women tweeters have brands that are soaring–they have found their niche and are capitalizing on it through their work, their personalities, their writing, and now, their Twitter followings. They land securely in the range of the almost-famous, with their eventual domination of the Twittersphere not yet complete. But the 14 showcased here are all gaining steam fast and are on schedule to double (or more) in size in six months.

Congrats to all of the women on the Forbes list and check out the entire list of the 14 Power Women to Follow on Twitter on Forbes.com!

Twitter Argument Leads to Murder?

An argument started on Twitter allegedly resulted in murder. According to Mashable, New York police may subpoena Tweets as evidence in the case. Jameg Blake, 22, is accused of fatally shooting Kwame Dancy also 22. Blake has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The two young men grew up together but hours before the shooting, a few angry tweets may have led to murder. This case may turn out to be the first in which Tweets are used as evidence in a murder trial.

Google Nexus One Getting Rave Reviews

google nexus one 238x300 Google Nexus One Getting Rave Reviews The Google Nexus One is getting a ton of love from journalists and consumers. The Google smart phone has received many shiny, happy reviews. It appears that the Nexus One was worth the wait!

TechCrunch calls the Google Nexus One the best Android phone to date.

It’s also the fastest and most elegant smartphone on the market today, solidly beating the iPhone in most ways.

Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal writes in his Nexus One review

It’s the best Android phone so far, in my view, and the first I could consider carrying as my everyday hand-held computer.

Huffington Post has a review of the Nexus One, along with a side-by-side comparison of Nexus One vs iPhone.

You can find out more details for yourself by visiting the Google Nexus One website (www.google.com/phone)

Google Nexus One Launches, Geeks Rejoice

Google introduced the Nexus One, the company’s new touchscreen phone today! Geeks and gadget junkies all over the world have been anticipating Google’s smartphone for ages and today geeky dreams came true!

Google’s Nexus One was designed to compete with the iPhone, according to The New York Times.

The phone is built by HTC and runs on Google’s Android operating system. The Nexus One has other sweet features, including:

3.7-inch screen
11.5 millimeters thin
Weighs 130 grams
5-megapixel camera with an LED flash that shoots still images and video

Check it out for yourself by visiting the Nexus One website at www.google.com/phone.

Not a bad URL, right? What do you think of the Nexus One?

Nexus One vs iPhone SmackDown, Why Google Smartphone is Game Changing

Google’s Nexus One smartphone is a game changer for the industry and I believe the Nexus One will launch a major smackdown between Google and Apple. Here are a few reasons why the Nexus One will bring about big change:

Android Demand Increases 250% in 90 Days – There has been a huge surge in consumer interest and consumer demand for Android smartphones that has turned the market upside down and inside out. One retail report claims that consumer demand for Android phones has jumped 250% in the last 90 days.

iPhone demand dropped 12.5% – In the same time period where the Android demand increased, the iPhone saw a 12.5 percent drop in consumer buyer interest.

Ad Requests from Android Phones - TechCrunch reports some eye-opening news from the mobile ad network, AdMob, that speaks volumes. Dig, if you will, this wake-up call:

AdMob writes that between October and December, the number of ad requests worldwide from Android devices increased a whopping 97% to over 1 billion ad requests. In other words, the number of requests from Android devices doubled in just two months.

What do you think about the Nexus One? Here are some other links about the Nexus One that I found interesting:

NPR – Google’s Nexus One: I Tried It, I Liked It

PC World – Five Predictions for Google’s Nexus One

Wired – Everything You Wanted to Know About Google’s Nexus One