iPad coming to Belgium this Friday! Go get yourself one! http://j.mp/ctSpRT

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iPad coming to 9 more countries this Friday. Those countries: Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore.

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UK Government Building Facebook App

The Next Web

When the UK government announced its partnership with Facebook to crowdsource ideas for how to save public money, some wrote it off as a publicity stunt.

No details were released about how the partnership would work, and users have resorted to posting their ideas for spending cuts in long, rambling comment threads on Facebook’s Democracy UK page. As we noted this week, that isn’t really a good way to crowdsource ideas; too many arguments muddy the waters and you can’t see which ideas are really most popular.

A solution is on the way though. Facebook tells us that the UK government is currently developing an app. This will be added to the Democracy UK page and will presumably allow users to share their spending cuts ideas in a much more formal, ordered and useful way.

As it’s the weekend, we’re unable to confirm any details with staff at 10 Downing Street but it would make sense if the app mirrored the functionality of the Spending Challenge website, which allows users to submit and vote on ideas.

The government will no doubt hope that once the app hits Facebook it doesn’t suffer the same problems as the Spending Challenge site itself. It’s currently working in a stripped-down form, with a note explaining that it’s become a victim of vandals:

“As you may have noticed, the site has been the subject to a small number of malicious attacks so we have unfortunately had to pause on the interactive features for now, but we’re still keen to hear any further ideas you have, which we may publish at a later date.”

Original title and link for this post: UK Government Building Facebook App

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Augmented Reality Becoming More Like the Read/Write Web

ReadWriteWeb

hoppala_jul10.jpgWhen content management systems (CMS) like WordPress and Blogger hit the Web several years ago, the Internet entered a new age where it became quick and easy for anyone with a computer to contribute content. This week, augmented reality (AR) took a significant step toward becoming more like the read/write Web with the launch of an online mobile AR CMS for creating content on the Layar platform.

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"Augmentation" - a Web-based tool for generating mobile AR content - was created by Layar Partner Network member Hoppala. With a Layar developer account, users of Augmentation can easily and instantaneously place their content in Layar with zero code and a few clicks on a map. Custom icons, images, audio, video and 3D content can all be added by way of a full screen map interface, and Hoppala will even host all of the data.

The company has been providing content management solutions for Layar since launching a beta test of its Layarserver in August of 2009. This project, however, is new in that it provides a tidy user-friendly GUI for adding myriad AR data instantly to Layar. For a more detailed look at how the Augmentation Web app works, watch the video embedded below.

As more tools like Augmentation lower the bar of entry for augmented reality, a flood of AR data will begin to fill platforms like Layar, junaio and Wikitude. This progression is not unlike that of the Web with the widespread popularity of blogs. With the Web, however, powerful search engines make finding relevant content much easier and Websites are (for the most part) browser agnostic.

This is not the case with mobile AR, where content is limited to the browser it is built for. Efforts for standardization in AR will help ease this problem, but what is really needed is a new open mobile AR browser that can aggregate content from the other platforms. Looking forward, solutions like these will benefit the overall proliferation of AR, instead of fragmenting and limiting it.

Hoppala's Augmentation tool is a great next step for AR content creation, as it lets users focus on creating great content, not on the complex technical aspects of AR. That said, it signals the beginning of a new era for AR as content creation is as easy as hosting a blog. As augmented reality matures, the platforms through which we use it must mature as well.

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Apple, iPhone 4 and the Antenna: What’s Next?

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The Social Analyst is a weekly column by Mashable Co-Editor Ben Parr, where he digs into social media trends and how they are affecting companies in the space.

Now that the iPhone 4 press conference has wrapped up and we’re all going to get free iPhone cases, it’s time to decompress and look at the big picture for Apple and the iPhone 4.

In the nearly 90-minute presentation and Q&A, Steve Jobs provided a compelling and mostly frank defense of his company’s device, which he said is “perhaps the best product we have ever built.” He admitted that there was a problem but put it in the context of other competitive smartphones, which he said have similar issues. He addressed the concerns of unhappy customers with an offer of free cases and an option for users to return their iPhones. Above all, he admitted that Apple “is not perfect.”

Was it enough to quiet the critics, though? What’s next for the world’s most valuable technology company and its crown jewel?


The Storm Has Passed


On Wednesday, I wrote a post entitled What Apple Must Do to Stop the Bleeding. In it, I provided five suggestions for recovering from this most recent PR nightmare:

1. Acknowledge That the Antenna Problem Is Real

2. Go into the Technical Details

3. Roll Out the Software Update

4. Make the Bumpers Free

5. No Matter What, Don’t Issue an iPhone 4 Recall

Apple implemented all of these things to a reasonable degree. It acknowledged that the antenna problem is real, and the company even created a website detailing the specific issues. It went into specific data on dropped calls, user complaints and attenuation. It rolled out iOS 4.0.1. It made the bumpers free. And finally, it avoided a costly recall.

Yes, Jobs dodged an apology to unhappy customers. Yes, Apple kept on pointing to the antenna issue as an industry-wide one. However, Apple’s actions are likely more than enough for the vast majority of its customers. The rest will either get a free case or return their mobile devices.

By addressing the media, Apple has effectively weathered this storm. The worst is behind them.


But the Damage Is Done



Apple didn’t come out of this unscathed, though. They had to take a beating from the media first. It doesn’t matter whether “antennagate” was overblown or not anymore: The damage has been done.

1. There will be financial damage (but not much). The free cases, free bumpers and iPhone returns will cost the company some revenue. However, we predict that the damage will be minimal in the face of overall profits. Expect record quarters — just not as high as they could have potentially been.

2. Apple is no longer perfect. That’s not to say that they ever were, but most people blamed AT&T for many of the iPhone’s problems rather than blaming the Apple team. Now, the door is open to criticism of Apple and its future products after Jobs’ admission of imperfection.

3. Future products will undergo more scrutiny. The media is just going to be more critical of Apple, at least for a while.

Consumers will likely remember “antennagate” when they purchase their next iPhone or iPad, and this episode might make them more cautious when they consider buying their next Apple product.


What’s Next?


Apple is moving on from this fiasco. It’s tough to tell now whether the antenna issues and resulting PR problems will be a quickly healing scratch or a long-lasting scar on Apple’s public face, but at least for now the company will turn its attention toward new products. The media will be on the lookout for the next opening though — and there will be one. When this happens again, many people — media moguls and end users alike — will be less likely to look past Apple’s imperfections.

However, consumers are almost certain to stay loyal to Apple. The explanation will be satisfactory to the vast majority of iPhone owners. Plus, who wants to give up their Retina Display and iPhone apps? I love Android (I own a Droid and an iPhone 4), but it doesn’t provide the iPhone experience. Anyone who’s become hooked on Apple products isn’t going to ditch them over “antennagate.”

The only thing Apple can is do is keep building products that enthrall millions of customers worldwide as users, media and Apple’s competitors watch ever more closely from the sidelines. Oh, and Android will continue to gain ground, providing more pressure on Apple to get as close to perfection as possible with its next few product launches.


Reviews: Android

More About: antenna, Antennagate, apple, Column, iOS, iphone, iphone 4, iphone 4 antenna issues, The Social Analyst

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Introducing The Boxee Box, Bringing Web Video To Your Television

Silicon Alley Insider

Boxee, the New York City startup focused on bringing web video to your television, has finally unveiled the final version of the Boxee Box, which goes on sale this fall.

Chief Product Officer Zach Klein shows off the final product here:

Introducing the first production-quality Boxee Box from Zach Klein on Vimeo.

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Apple Sells 3 Million iPhone 4 Units in 3 Weeks

Mashable!


At Apple’s press conference to address iPhone 4 reception issues, the company announced that it has sold 3 million iPhone 4 units to date.

Although 1.7 million devices were sold in the first three days following the release, breaking the three million mark in just over three weeks is nothing short of stunning. To put all of this in perspective, remember that it took 74 days to sell the first million units of the original iPhone.

The iPhone 4 is shaping up to be the fastest-selling smartphone in the company’s history. This is without a massive international push, as well; the iPhone 4 won’t hit many of its major international markets until July 30, when it will become available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The full international rollout is slated for the end of September.

Check out the history of the iPhone and its sales records in this infographic.

[img credit: Jorge Quinteros]

More About: apple, iphone 4, iphone 4 sales

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WIRED Predicted the iPad...11 Years Ago (Picture)

ReadWriteWeb

ipadquestonThe iPad isn't just a touch-screen dream come true for millions of people around the world...it's the realization of a prediction WIRED Magazine made a whopping 11 years ago.

In the April 1999 issue, the magazine's Hype List column discussed Apple's then-recent financial turn-around and said: "The next iMac attack promises new lollipop laptops, a more serious series of professional machines, and a wireless handheld dubbed the iPad." Betsy Mason, Science Editor for Wired.com today, posted the cell phone photo below of the magazine to Twitpic today and it showed up on Reddit late this afternoon.

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Pretty cool, huh?

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China now has 420 million Internet users, 277 million access by mobile phones

The Next Web

China now has 420 million Internet users according to official figures released by the Chinese government today. This is nearly a third of China’s population (31.8% penetration) and is up by 36 million since the end of 2009, making China the first country in the world to have over 400 million Internet users.

The China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) released the figures that included other staggering numbers: 277 million mobile users in China access the Internet over their phones and 142 million shop online. The numbers reflect up until the end of June.

Even with such staggering numbers, however, China still has a relatively low penetration rate: consider that Finland, which on July 1 made broadband access a legal right (not Internet access, mind you, broadband), which before that had roughly 96% penetration – i.e. 96% of the population (of a relatively small country, granted) used the Internet already. The US, a much larger country had a penetration rate of 76.3% at the end of 2009 with over 234 million people online.

(Note: Internet penetration stats from Wikipedia)

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Original title and link for this post: China now has 420 million Internet users, 277 million access by mobile phones

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